Accelerate 5G TestFrom Characterization to Production

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���, Jermaine ChenRegional Manager, Southern China,National Instruments

5G Rollout and Feature Timeline

Release 15 (Phase 1)

• Draft complete in 2017, Finalized in June, 2018• New bands from 600 MHz to 42.5 GHz• Increased carrier bandwidth to 400 MHz• Higher spectral efficiency• OFDM-based waveforms• Non-standalone and standalone operation• Forward-compatible with Phase 2

Release 16 (Phase 2)

§ 3GPP Release 16 to be finalized in Dec, 2019§ Expanded frequency range to 100 GHz with focus

on 57-71 GHz, 63-64 GHz, 76-81 GHz, 60 GHz§ Expected total bandwidth: 500 MHz - 2 GHz

5G: Phase 2

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

5G: Phase 1Research

*Massive MIMO is key component of New Radio; research ongoing

Non-Standalone Standalone Release 16

NI CONFIDENTIAL

Critical 5G Technologies

mmWaveMulti-Antenna Wider Bandwidth

300 MHz

3 GHz 30 GHz

28 GHz

38 GHz

70-90 GHz

60 GHz

ni.com/5g

Full Duplex MIMO, LTE UE

Emulation

Samsung

Lead Users for Massive MIMO

CRAN-Massive MIMO

Intel

96-Antenna Massive

MIMO System

Facebook ARIES Testbed

128 antenna Massive MIMO

Bristol & Lund

Lead Users for mmWave

NokiaFirst mmWave

Prototypes

14.5 Gbps

Verizon 5GWorld’s First 2x2 MU-MIMO 5GTF

AT&TWorld’s Most

Advanced Channel Sounder

NTT DocomommWave, First

System Field Trials

Requirements for 5G Test

Fast & Flexible Test Solution

Excellent Measurement Performance Agile Test Strategy

“Figures of merit like error vector magnitude (EVM) are highly dependent on yet-to-be-determined physical layer characteristics. We require test equipment that has not only the RF performance needed but also the flexibility to generate or acquire a wide range of IQ data using waveforms from various sources.

…We can’t just recompile a PA to get better EVM performance, as getting better EVM requires a thorough understanding of the electromagnetics and thermals and requires lots of characterization.”

- Dirk Leipold, Qorvo

Deployment Scenarios:- Potential Phasing

LTE eNB NR gNB

Evolved Packet Core (EPC)

In non-standalone deployments, the UE manages two radio connections, and the LTE eNB and NR gNB manage the

connection through the evolved packet core (EPC)

5GRadio

4GRadio

Phase 1: Non-Standalone Only

LTE eNB NR gNB

NextGen Core

5GRadio

4GRadio

Future: Standalone or Non-Standalone

5GRadio

4GRadio

In future stand-alone deployments, both LTE eNBs and NR gNB’s manage connections through a common nextGencore – with the UE managing a single radio connection

5GRadio

4GRadio

Shared Uplink - LTE + NR Device Validation

Advantages of Shared Uplink Challenges of Shared Uplink

5GRadio

4GRadio

Expand existing UE design and test with NR

LTE LTE NR LTE NR LTE

Share common TX path, avoid dynamic coordination with known UL pattern

Bands of operation far apart make designs difficult

Potential for self-interference with some combinations

Challenges of Simultaneous LTE + NR

5GRadio

4GRadio

LTE LTE

NR NR

Expand and coordinate test and measurement resources

Ensure proper sharing of time and frequency resources

Potential for cross-interference and intermodulation

Coexistence with Unlicensed Spectrum

Understand NR + 802.11 operation Flexibility to work with new potential 5G bands

1 2 3 4 5 6GHz

n1-3n50-51n66n70,74n80,84

n7n38n41n85

n77n78

802.11a/n/ac/ax570 MHz

802.11b/g/n/ax94 MHz

Potential NR bands

Integrated 5G FEM

Initial sub-6 GHz 5G Radio Designs

• Use discrete parts for different 2G -4G and much wider 5G bands

• TDD and FDD Multi-band require increasingly complex multi-mode front-ends

• Validate time alignment of LTE and NR

• Meet LTE-NR UE power transmission

• Avoid self-interference

• 3GPP may help to select bands to reduce self interference

Multiple transceivers with single multi-band front-end module

Multi-Band 2G/3G/4G FEMBasebandProcessor

Modulation

Demodulation

Digital Predistortion

PA

ADC

0°

90°

ADC

DAC

0°

90°

DAC

ADC

0°

90°

ADC

DAC

0°

90°

DAC

ADC

0°

90°

ADC

DAC

0°

90°

DAC Power Management IC

Test System for PA/FEM (3G/4G + 5G) – Simultaneous ULPXI System

SMU

Digital

VST

VSA

Switch

Integrated 5G FEM

Multi-Band 2G/3G/4G FEM

PA

VST

VST

Characterize:• IQ impairments over large BW• Non-ideal amplitude & phase

over frequency

Front End Module

Sub-6 GHz 5G: PA/FEM Test

500 MHz ET bandwidth§ Fully Synchronized§ 2 Vpp (differential)

swing with programmable DC offset

§ 160 MHz of higher voltage capability§ > 3 Vpp (differential)

DPD and Envelope Tracking

PA

Power Modulator

ETPower Supply

NI 5820 NI 5840

AM/AM AM/PM Higher-order, high-bandwidth memory effects

1 GHz RF bandwidth

SiP Combined PA and LNA at 3.3 – 4.2 GHz

400 MHz bandwidth

Rapidly tested with a wide variety of waveforms

“The wide bandwidth, excellent RF performance, and the flexibility of NI’s PXI test system were critical in helping us introduce the industry’s first commercially available 5G FEM. Qorvo’s focus on innovation was clearly demonstrated at the 20th GTI Workshop in London.”

—Paul Cooper, Director of Carrier Liaison and Standards

ni.com

ni.com

“Skyworks is pleased to be utilizing NI’s RF VST to validate performance of our Sky5™ solutions for 5G NR applications.”

-Kevin Walsh, Director of Mobile Marketing, Skyworks

SEMICONDUCTOR TEST

Skyworks

NI CONFIDENTIAL

Key Test Challenges for mmWave 5G

4G: 200 MHz

4.5 G: 640 MHz

5G: 800 MHz (Phase 1)

5G: 2 GHz (Phase 2)

Ultra-wide Bandwidths

Multi-Standard / Multi-BandCoverage

28 GHz

37 GHz 60 GHz

70 & 90 GHz39 GHz

Channel Scalingfor MIMO / CA

2 – 128 MIMO channels

…

Spatial Dependence of Measurements

– 50 dB

+18 dBm ± 0.5 dB

– 32 dBm ± 0.5 dB

Calibrated Air Interfaces and Chambers

Near field / Far Field

Antenna Arrays and Beamforming Validation

Total Cost of Test

ni.com/5g

OTA Performance

PhaseNoise

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

NI CONFIDENTIAL

mmWave IC Architectures Vary by Application§ Application level requirements dictate extent of functional integration in IC designs

§ Early deployments will validate appropriate architectures and integration

§ Test solutions must be flexible to scale by architecture and frequency

Baseband

RF Transceiver

RF to/from IF frequency conversion

Beamformer

N-Channel split w/ phase and

amplitude control

DAC/ADC

Modulator/ Demodulator

IF to/from Baseband frequency conversion

FEM

FEM

FEM

…

IF (2-20 GHz)IQ OTAmmWave

(28, 39, 60, 71 GHz)

NI CONFIDENTIAL

PXI• Simple I/O insertion scalable port

counts• Tight timing and synchronization • high throughput data movement

NI 5G Test: A Platform ApproachSub-6 GHz mmWave

• High linear Tx power for high PAPR signals• 9 kHz – 6.5 GHz contiguous frequency range• Clock synchronization and signal sharing for MIMO• Low slot count modules for high channel density• Cellular and WiFi for coexistence testing

• Flexible test port configurations (Dig, BB, IF, RF)• Targeted mmWave frequency extensions for flexible

frequency scaling and port expansion• Leveraged capital with common baseband/IF• Simple integration to cabled and OTA configurations

LabVIEW FPGA• Custom and NI supplied IP• Ultimate instrument flexibility• Hardware timed measurements

RFmx• Standards compliant measurements• Parallel high performance processing• Approachable yet flexible API

RFmx

Vector Signal Transceiver ArchitectureWide BW DACs and ADCs + Integrated FPGA for real-time processing and measurement acceleration

Accelerate Design for Test thru Platform Standardization

NI STS T1NI PXI NI STS T4NI STS T2

PXI, LabVIEW, TestStand

STS Standardized Docking and Cabling Interface

Typical for Characterization

Typical for Production

ni.com

Why Choose NI for 5G Test?

• R&D-grade accuracy• Modulated measurements for full

5G NR bandwidth• Fast test times and throughput• Modular and flexible• Software-upgradable• Unified solution for

characterization and production

• Established 5G collaborations with leading fabless, IDMs, and carriers

• NI architecture directly maps to customers’ DUT requirements

• 350+ deployed STS

Extensive 5G Knowledge & Expertise

Technologically Superior Platform-based Approach

Deep Industry Relationships

• Regular 3GPP contributions• Extensive 5G research

demonstrations• mmWave products to 100+ GHz