Cobham demonstrates new 5G testing capabilities at Mobile World Congress

Demonstrations include a 5G user equipment (UE) simulator with industry-first 10Gpbs throughput testing capability

STEVENAGE, UK – Cobham Wireless today announced it will demonstrate the industry’s first software-defined 5G user equipment (UE) simulator, based on Verizon’s open 5G standard, which can test downlink throughput of 10Gbps. The company will also showcase an IoT proof-of-concept (PoC) solution, which is able to emulate up to one million 5G IoT devices, validating network performance in preparation for IoT connectivity. These demonstrations will be taking place at Mobile World Congress this year in Barcelona.

Cobham Wireless, a leader in the provision of advanced wireless coverage and mobile network infrastructure test and validation systems, will demonstrate how service providers can test their networks in preparation for deploying 5G connectivity. This includes testing anticipated 5G downlink throughput of up to 10Gpbs, which ensures it can perform to the high standards for delivering 5G services.

The UE simulator can also support multiple simultaneous 5G air interfaces which are compatible with various wireless standards, including 3GPP’s 5G New Radio (5GNR). This means that the UE simulator can support current and future cellular standards, as the technology develops. The solution features programmable data logging and signal visualisation capabilities to enable early 5G air interface integration testing and debugging. The demonstration is in collaboration with National Instruments, which provided the 5G programmable radio frequency (RF) front-end PoC solution.

Cobham Wireless’ software-defined 5G test UE simulator enables the development of a virtualisable test solution, supporting a Lab-as-a-Service model for 5G testing towards a Virtual-Radio Access Network (V-RAN) architecture. Dr Li-Ke Huang, Research and Technology Director at Cobham Wireless said, “Virtualising the solution provides operators with the flexibility to test technology and share hardware, software and licenses via the cloud. The scalable, agile nature of the solution will help operators realise cost savings through reduced investment in physical architecture, while increasing test times, efficiency and coverage.”

In addition, Cobham Wireless’ 5G IoT PoC solution can demonstrate how service providers will be able to support the scale, density and complexity of 5G’s massive IoT test requirements. “In the near future, service provider networks will have to be robust enough to support the huge increase in 5G IoT devices. Our PoC demonstrates how service providers can test their networks in the face of growing demands,” added unagHuang.

Other 5G innovation

The 5G technology showcased by Cobham Wireless during this year’s Mobile World Congress forms a key part of the ‘virtualised 5G architecture’ test bed research programme at the 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) at Surrey University. Members of the 5GIC include all UK operators and many top-tier vendors. Researchers from the 5GIC will join Cobham Wireless to present the virtualised 5G infrastructure test bed. The solution will be used to demonstrate the researcher’s development of a  5G mobile edge computing (MEC) service architecture which can support   Gaming-as-a-Service based 5G VR and AR services and applications.