Qualcomm, Thundercomm and Keysight Partner to Launch 5G mmWave Lab

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., in collaboration with Thundercomm Technology Co., Ltd. and Keysight Technologies, Inc., announced their cooperation in the establishment of a new 5G mmWave laboratory in Koto-ku, Tokyo, by Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute (TIRI).

This effort aims to lower the barriers for many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Japan to start designing, developing and testing private and local 5G mmWave products, which will play a key role for commercial adoption of 5G infrastructure in smart factories, smart cities and other industrial applications.

SMEs can now use the lab to complete 5G mmWave beamforming characterization and verification. This is an important processes in finalizing new product designs, including overall physical design, 5G mmWave antenna location and directions and definition of product enclosure materials. During the process, each antenna’s behavior can be accurately quantified in terms of input and output of mmWave phase and amplitude for the purpose of defining how a most effective set of mmWave beams are generated to optimize the quality of actual communication.

Private and local 5G mmWave networks provide various benefits, including multi-Gigabit speeds with massive capacity, seamless mobility, extensive reuse of licensed spectrum with dense infrastructure deployment, cellular grade security in private network, and more. The abundant spectrum available at mmWave frequency bands above 24 GHz band can deliver extreme capacity, ultra-high throughput and ultra-low latency.

TIRI, established in April 2006 by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, focuses on research and development efforts to support SMEs for leading, creating and supporting new product categories as well as on strategic support for creating new industries and for solving issues affecting society as a whole.

In setting up the TIRI lab, Qualcomm Technologies’ engineers trained and supported Thundercomm before and during its initial beam characterization and verification work.

Thundercomm used a development kit based on their T55 System-On-Module, which supports many 5G and 4G bands, including mmWave bands such as n257, n258, and n261. The development kit is built using the Snapdragon® X55 5G Modem-RF System and Qualcomm® QTM525 mmWave antenna modules.

The lab is equipped with Keysight’s 5G device test solution, which includes 5G network emulator E7515B with sophisticated software capabilities and mmWave over-the-air (OTA) test chamber F9650A, to verify the radio frequency (RF) performance of 5G devices developed to support private 5G applications.

“The industry is seeking solutions to expand the 5G ecosystem with mmWave technology. Our work with Thundercomm and Keysight helps to establish the technologies and testing facilities companies need to develop new products without being overly burdened by the cost of entry,” said Kenji Nemoto, senior director, marketing, QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, Y.K. “The achievements made in the 5G mmWave lab can enable exciting use cases across verticals such as industry 4.0, automotive and streaming, and allow Japan to remain at the forefront of 5G innovation.”

“Benefits of mmWave technology are not only to evolve personal wireless communication but to revolutionize every industry, including smart factories, smart cities, mobility, health care, sports, and entertainment, as a key technology of 5G,” said Masanori Imai, president, Thundercomm Japan. “5G communication module T55 SOM and its Development Kit implement hardware, protocol software required for 5G communication as well as PCIe and USB interfaces, thus reducing the cost and time for customers developing 5G mmWave devices. The joint efforts between Thundercomm, Qualcomm Technologies, and Keysight at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Research Institute lab lowers the barriers for device developers to develop 5G mmWave devices and is a major step toward making the true 5G revolution a reality.”

“We’re pleased to cooperate with Qualcomm Technologies and Thundercomm to support an expansive deployment of private 5G in Japan by enabling comprehensive 5G device validation,” said Cao Peng, vice president and general manager, Keysight's wireless test group. “Keysight’s network emulation test platforms enable a connected ecosystem of device makers, mobile operators and research institutes to effectively combine 5G technologies, resulting in accelerated commercial launch of private 5G, supported by the Government in Japan.”