In this exclusive interaction, we spoke with Mr. Ruchir Srivastava, Senior Director – Asia Pacific at VIAVI Solutions, about the latest developments in telecom testing, network performance and assurance, advancements in 5G, the evolution towards 6G, and the growing role of network intelligence in enabling next-generation connectivity.
We also explored the opportunities and challenges shaping the global telecom ecosystem, including network reliability, testing and assurance, and the technologies needed to build faster, smarter, and more resilient communication networks.
Let’s delve into his insights on the future of telecommunications and VIAVI Solutions’ role in advancing next-generation network technologies
EE: How do VIAVI’s partnerships with hyperscale and cloud providers strengthen its role in shaping efficient, resilient, and future-ready data center ecosystems?
Ruchir Srivastava: The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is driving demand for higher-speed Ethernet and optical technologies, including 400G, 800G, and emerging 1.6T networks. Close collaboration with hyperscalers, cloud providers, network equipment manufacturers, and ecosystem partners enable VIAVI to stay aligned with evolving AI data center architectures and emerging validation requirements.
These partnerships provide early insight into technology roadmaps and real-world deployment challenges, allowing VIAVI to develop validation solutions that address customer needs across the entire lifecycle—from research and development and manufacturing to deployment and operational assurance.
VIAVI delivers comprehensive test and validation capabilities across the AI data center ecosystem, including high-speed Ethernet validation, optical testing, AI workload emulation, and network performance and security validation. By working closely with industry leaders, VIAVI helps accelerate technology adoption, improve interoperability across multi-vendor environments, reduce deployment risk, and enable resilient, high-performance AI infrastructure that is ready to support future workloads.
EE: How can organizations validate next-generation AI and security infrastructure operating at multi-terabit speeds using advanced 400G testing capabilities?
Ruchir Srivastava: As AI workloads, cloud applications, and high-speed networks continue to expand, organizations need to validate the performance, scalability, and security of increasingly complex data center infrastructures under realistic, production-scale conditions.
While individual network interfaces are advancing to 400G and beyond, modern AI and cloud environments require validation at multi-terabit aggregate scale to ensure interoperability, resilience, and consistent performance across the entire ecosystem. This requires advanced testing solutions capable of emulating real-world encrypted traffic, application behavior, and security scenarios.
The VIAVI CyberFlood CF1000 Appliance helps network equipment manufacturers, hyperscale data center operators, and service providers validate next-generation security and application infrastructures at scale. The platform provides comprehensive Layer 4–7 testing capabilities, including realistic application traffic generation, encrypted traffic validation, and security effectiveness testing.
CyberFlood enables customers to evaluate critical infrastructure such as next-generation firewalls, application delivery controllers, DDoS mitigation systems, VPN gateways, zero-trust architectures, and AI-enabled data center environments under demanding operational conditions.
By combining high-scale traffic generation, threat simulation, application emulation, and security validation, CyberFlood helps organizations identify performance and security gaps, reduce deployment risk, accelerate validation cycles, and build resilient infrastructure ready to support future AI and cloud workloads.
EE: How is Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) transforming real-time monitoring, security, and protection of large-scale infrastructure assets?
Ruchir Srivastava: Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) is evolving from a traditional event detection technology into an intelligent infrastructure monitoring platform.
While early DAS deployments focused primarily on applications such as pipeline monitoring and perimeter security, advances in sensing technology, signal processing, and AI-based analytics are expanding its use across critical infrastructure environments.
Today, DAS is being applied in areas including telecom and data center protection, border and perimeter security, pipeline monitoring, subsea power cable integrity, and structural monitoring.
VIAVI’s DAS solutions combine advanced True-Phase DAS technology with AI and machine learning capabilities to improve sensing accuracy, event classification, and real-time decision-making.
By transforming distributed sensing data into actionable intelligence, VIAVI enables operators to detect events faster, reduce false alarms, improve situational awareness, and protect critical infrastructure assets more effectively.
EE: Aerospace and defense industry is witnessing robust growth. As avionics and aerospace systems become increasingly connected and software-defined, how is VIAVI adapting its testing portfolio to support next-generation aircraft systems?
Ruchir Srivastava: Modern aircraft systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, incorporating advanced digital architectures, software-defined systems, and complex communication, navigation, and surveillance technologies. This evolution requires highly accurate, reliable, and field-deployable test solutions to support aircraft development, certification, maintenance, and operational readiness.
From the factory to the flight line, VIAVI’s bench and flight-line avionics test solutions, backed by global service and support capabilities, provide precise instrumentation to test, troubleshoot, and calibrate airborne equipment across a broad range of avionics systems.
Supporting communication, navigation, surveillance, and specialized avionics applications, VIAVI solutions help engineers and maintenance teams ensure system performance, interoperability, and compliance with global aviation standards, including FAA, EASA, ICAO, and other regulatory requirements.
As aircraft platforms continue to evolve with greater connectivity, automation, and mission-critical capabilities, VIAVI enables aerospace and defense organizations worldwide to test, validate, calibrate, and maintain critical airborne systems with precision and confidence. Our proven avionics test portfolio helps improve safety, reliability, operational efficiency, and mission readiness across the aviation ecosystem.
EE: What are the key technological breakthroughs and solutions VIAVI is unveiling at IMC 2026, and how are they shaping the future of connectivity and network innovation?
Ruchir Srivastava: At India Mobile Congress 2026, VIAVI is showcasing test, measurement, and assurance solutions spanning 6G and AI-RAN, NTN, quantum-safe communications, resilient PNT, wireless and fiber networks, AI-driven operations, and high-speed Ethernet for AI data centers. Together, they demonstrate how VIAVI helps customers validate, secure, assure, and optimize networks across the lifecycle.
RAN Simulation Digital Twin and AI-RAN – AI-RAN validation, data assurance, and AI-for-RAN capabilities through vendor-independent black-box testing of AI-native L1/L2 models. AI-RAN data health checks cover data quality, integrity, diversity, lineage, and training suitability. VIAVI’s RAN Simulation Digital Twin leverages TeraVM AI RAN Scenario Generator (AI RSG) and TM500 to accelerate 5G-Advanced and 6G development through realistic RAN scenarios, AI model and data validation, and scalable UE/RAN emulation, at site scale and at city/network scale.
6G and ISAC – Next-generation air-interface technologies, integrated sensing and communications, and AI-enabled 6G innovation. Highlights include AI-aided CSI compression, ISAC-based disaster monitoring, and comparative sensing performance evaluation. Agentic-AI-powered ray tracing with drone-enabled mapping will demonstrate automated simulation, visualization, and rapid heatmap generation.
Massive MIMO & Channel Emulation – VIAVI’s Vertex Channel Emulator recreates complex real-world RF propagation and channel conditions in a controlled laboratory environment. This enables repeatable validation of 5G-Advanced, 6G, Wi-Fi 7/8, ISAC, gNBs, antenna arrays, beamforming, and advanced radio performance, helping reduce dependence on costly and time-consuming field trials.
Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) – VIAVI’s integrated NTN solution combines TM500 and TeraVM to enable realistic network, UE, traffic, and core emulation for end-to-end NTN validation. Supporting performance, mobility, interoperability, and 3GPP NTN scenarios, the solution accelerates satellite-enabled connectivity and hybrid terrestrial–non-terrestrial networks for 5G-Advanced and 6G.
Network Security & Quantum-Safe Communications – VIAVI enables comprehensive validation of network security, resilience, and quantum-safe readiness. TeraVM Security and CyberFlood validate security, resilience, and PQC performance, while MAP-300 supports physical-layer validation for emerging quantum communications and QKD. Our QST-1000 capabilities bring these elements together for hybrid network evaluation, helping validate the interoperability and performance of classical, PQC, and QKD technologies as networks transition to quantum-safe communications.
Wireless Network Test & Field Assurance – OneAdvisor 800 Wireless provides portable, intelligent test capabilities for wireless deployment, activation, troubleshooting, and maintenance. It enables technicians and engineers to perform real-time RF analysis and validate network performance throughout the network lifecycle. RF Viewer augmented reality eliminates guesswork in interference hunting. Technicians see signal strength overlaid directly on the physical environment – no interpretation, repeat trips, or safety exposure from multiple rooftop visits.
Automated RF & Application Monitoring – VIAVI XEdge provides continuous visibility into private 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi networks through distributed sensors, centralized dashboards, and intelligent analytics. This enables automated monitoring of RF and application performance and helps organizations identify issues before they impact users.
Fiber, Optical Transport & Sensing – VIAVI will also demonstrate solutions spanning fiber inspection, remote monitoring, optical transport, and high-speed testing. INX 762, ONMSi, and OneAdvisor 800 with 800G testing provide visibility from the physical fiber layer through high-speed, multi-protocol transport networks, supporting more automated and reliable network assurance. FTH DAS sets a new benchmark for real-time infrastructure intelligence, combining high-precision distributed sensing with edge-based intelligence.
AI-Driven Network Operations & Location Intelligence – VIAVI NITRO AIOps combines AI, analytics, and automation to bring together multivendor network data, accelerate troubleshooting, and streamline NOC operations. Complementing this, NITRO Location Intelligence delivers building-level geolocation analytics, turning subscriber and device location data into actionable insights for network optimization, customer experience, and operational decision-making.
Secured PNT and Synchronization – SecurePNT and SecureTime address the need for resilient positioning, navigation, and timing across critical communications and infrastructure. These solutions help maintain availability, accuracy, security, and continuity when reliable PNT is essential.
AI Data Center & High-Speed Ethernet Validation – VIAVI brings together ONE LabPro, TestCenter, and CyberFlood for end-to-end validation of AI data centers, from physical connectivity and high-speed Ethernet through application and security layers (L0–L7). Demonstrations include high-speed traffic generation, congestion and latency analysis, interoperability, performance benchmarking, application testing, and security validation for Ethernet deployments up to 1.6 Tb/s.
Scaling Photonic Test for AI Infrastructure – The MAP-300 platform, combined with optical test modules, enables the next wave of AI infrastructure build-out at the photonic layer. From optical sources and receivers to the complete signal path in between, MAP-300 provides scalable, production-ready validation within a single platform.
