Viavi Solutions has announced that it will showcase test, automation and optimisation solutions through a series of collaborative demonstrations with over 20 partners at MWC Barcelona on February 26-29, 2024.

This is VIAVI’s highest number of partner collaborations at MWC, highlighting the company’s integral role in the ecosystem and the need for aligning advancement in the industry.

Commenting on the announcement, Sameh Yamany, chief technology officer (CTO), VIAVI, said, “Open, intelligent and automated networks depend on trusted ecosystems delivering solutions whose conformance, performance, interoperability and security have been independently verified. VIAVI has harnessed its decades of leadership in network test and optimisation, our critical role in industry organisations such as the open radio access network (ORAN) ALLIANCE, and our relationships with other major vendors to ensure our customers have access to tailored and best-of-breed solutions.”

Throughout MWC Barcelona, VIAVI will be conducting joint demonstrations with the following technology and solution partners:

New architectures and solutions to maximise 5G performance and lay the groundwork for 5G Advanced and 6G

  • Cisco: Cisco will showcase the mobile services platform ecosystem including RAN, devices, and applications. The VIAVI CLAW GPS simulator will provide synchronisation (NCS540) during live radio turn up. The location is Cisco stand #3E30.
  • NEC: NEC will demonstrate vRAN with Arm, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Red Hat, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Juniper Networks, Inc., featuring the VIAVI TM500 Network Tester. The locations are Arm stand #2I60, Red Hat stand #2F30, Qualcomm stand #3E10 and NEC stand #2H40.
  • Rohde & Schwarz: The two companies will demonstrate an end-to-end non-terrestrial network (NTN-NR) testbed including the VIAVI TM500 Network Tester. The location is Rohde & Schwarz stand #5A80 and VIAVI stand #5A18.

Proving the commercial robustness, maturity and cost effectiveness of ORAN

  • AMD and SRS. AMD will demonstrate end-to-end O-RAN performance with the VIAVI TMLite2 providing subsystem testing and core emulation. The demo uses AMD silicon for both the O-RU and virtualised radio access network (vRAN) ORAN distributed unit (O-DU) ORAN/centralised unit (O-CU). AMD has collaborated with SRS for the software stack running on a SuperMicro internet of things (IoT) A+ EPYC 8004 server. The location is AMD stand #2M61.
  • DELL: VIAVI and DELL will showcase how the open telecom network will fuel innovation in all layers, realising the full potential of 5G at optimal cost of ownership. Demonstration of DELL’s methodology and benchmarking at open telecom ecosystem labs (OTEL) and the VIAVI NITRO Wireless ORAN test suite. The location is VIAVI stand #5A18.
  • Digital Catapult: Digital Catapult will validate O-DU/O-CU security using the VIAVI ORAN Security Suite. The location is VIAVI stand #5A18.
  • Ericsson: Ericsson will demonstrate secure, interoperable ORAN fronthaul. VIAVI will provide the XHaulAdvisor for real-time fronthaul analysis, and the TM500 for radio unit (RU) and user equipment (UE) simulation. The locations are Ericsson stands #OA1.20 and #2O60 and VIAVI stand #5A18.
  • Metanoia: The VIAVI TM500 O-RU tester and R&S SMW200A vector signal generator, R&S FSVA3000 spectrum analyser and R&S vector signal explorer software validate frequency range 1 (FR1) conformance of the 5G Metanoia jura O-RU reference design for 4T4R sub-6GHz market. The location is Metanoia stand #5L26MR.
  • Rohde & Schwarz: The VIAVI TM500 O-RU tester will support a joint demonstration of O-RU radio frequency (RF), protocol and performance testing; improvement in network efficiency and energy savings at the O-RU; and a new compact solution for O-RU research snd development (R&D) testing. The locations are Rohde & Schwarz stand #5A80 and VIAVI stand #5A18.

RAN intelligence and artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) (featuring VIAVI TeraVM RAN intelligent controller (RIC) test for platform validation and app training)

  • Aira Technologies: Aira will demonstrate RANGPT on the VMware RIC in conjunction with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Tech Mahindra. The locations are AWS stand #8.1C64 and Tech Mahindra stand #2C40.
  • Broadcom: The VIAVI Geolocation xApp and rApp and intent-based optimiser rApp will run on the VMware RIC. A second collaboration will demonstrate the joint VMware/VIAVI RIC testbed as a service which will enable mobile operators to evaluate and benchmark RIC applications before deployment. The locations are VMware stand #3M11, Hall 3 and VIAVI stand #5A18.
  • Ericsson: Ericsson will showcase the VIAVI geolocation rApp on the Ericsson intelligent automation platform. The locations are Ericsson stands #OA1.20 and #2O60 and VIAVI stand #5A18.
  • Rakuten Symphony: Rakuten will demonstrate its RIC platform. The location is Rakuten Symphony stand #2D46.
  • Samsung: Samsung’s non-real time (non-RT) RIC platform provides application programming interface (APIs) to onboard, deploy and register for configuration and performance data services. It monitors rApp lifecycle management and checks the status of multiple rApps —VIAVI’s geolocation rApp, Zinkworks’ traffic and quality of service (QoS) prediction rApps, and a QoS-based handover optimisation rApp. Samsung displays the status of these rApps on its platform’s rApp dashboard. The location is Samsung stand #2M20.
  • Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD): SUTD presents an integration of its energy-saving rApp with VMware’s non-RT RIC and the VIAVI TeraVM RIC test. Employing state-of-the-art AI technologies, the rApp optimises cell control, achieving significant energy savings without compromising service quality in realistic scenarios. The location is VIAVI stand #5A18.