Stretching Connectivity | JMA Demos Industrial-Grade Capabilities of XRAN and CellHub

JMA, a U.S innovator of 4G and 5G technology, demonstrated ground breaking capacity and flexibility on its Private Wireless platform in the latest round of performance tests.

The tests, conducted and validated on the Keysight UE emulation platform, focused on delivering the key elements required for Enterprise environments – maximum simultaneous users, peak bandwidth, and overall flexibility.

JMA’s Private Wireless platform is anchored by XRAN, a 100% software baseband leveraging open interfaces and a virtualized architecture delivering 4G LTE.

Initially built for commercial wireless networks, XRAN supports central deployment in any data center or edge location, running on common hardware, allowing basic plug-and-play deployment on standard racks and servers.

CellHub radios reach beyond a typical access point or small cell, providing flexibility, scale, and versatility. Key to reaching peak performance, CellHub radios support the full 150 MHz CBRS band supporting U.S. Private Wireless deployments, broad licensed carrier band options, carrier aggregation, higher order modulation (QAM), and MIMO configurations.

Both CellHub and XRAN are 5G ready via software update, requiring no hardware change. JMA’s software-based platforms are designed and manufactured in the United States, making them unique among competitors in the Private Wireless / 5G space.

Connected Devices and Peak Speed

JMA achieved more than 5,000 simultaneous connected users on a single multi-network supported CellHub radio, delivering a baseline of performance critical for the breadth of devices required in diverse IOT, smartphone, and data-connected enterprise environments.

In a parallel test, the same platform demonstrated speeds of 800+Mbps to a single device. The CellHub platform is rated to support 1.6 Gbps to a single device but is currently limited by commercial device capability.

Peak speeds and minimized latency are required when integrating applications like augmented or virtual reality, large file downloads such as schematics, or supporting edge-based cloud applications such as gaming or complex manufacturing operations.

Bandwidth tests were conducted using 100 MHz of cellular spectrum - a single licensed band and 4 aggregated CBRS bands. Performance was maximized using high order modulation, 256 QAM, and a 2x2 MIMO configuration, allowing more wireless signal path to reach a device simultaneously. CellHub reaches full speed potential when deployed in a 4x4 MIMO configuration.

“JMA has achieved outstanding results, showing their leadership in delivering 5G performance,” said Giampaolo Tardioli, vice president of Keysight Technologies’ network access group. “Collaboration with JMA has enabled us to demonstrate the power, flexibility and ease of use of both their software-based platform and Keysight Technologies’ testing solutions.”

Flexibility and Security

In previous testing, JMA validated significant platform flexibility, allowing simultaneous connection to dozens of distinct core networks, and data delivery over “virtual cells,” supporting a new level of security for co-located wireless networks on XRAN-driven platforms.

Additionally, the platform showcased network slicing, the ability to intelligently allocate spectrum resources for different networks and applications simultaneously and securely.

Network slicing will be a vital component to provide enterprises new levels of custom application support such as dedicated secure voice communications, integrated building IOT operations and significantly augmented bandwidth for employee or machine use. As more critical enterprise functions move to the edge of the network, a highly secure design becomes paramount.