VIAVI Solutions announced that it has expanded its VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN (VALOR) testing facility with an RF-shielded anechoic chamber and two additional customer labs. Based in Chandler, Arizona, the VALOR Lab offers a highly automated, open and impartial Lab-as-a-Service / Test-as-a-Service suite for Open RAN interoperability, performance and security. The project is funded by the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund.
The new RF Chamber is the industry’s first test-as-a-service offering for Massive MIMO and beamforming over-the-air (OTA) validation, including system-level Massive MIMO performance testing for up to 16 parallel spatial layers. An evolution of Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) technology for previous generations of wireless technology, Massive MIMO utilizes large arrays of antennas to support the increased data rates and spectral efficiency of 5G. Compared to traditional testing using electrical cabling between test instruments and the device under test (DUT), OTA streamlines the testing process by placing the DUT in a chamber shielded from outside interference and testing it with wireless signals to further emulate real-world scenarios.
In addition to the RF chamber, two additional labs are now available. Customers can access over 500 test cases compliant with O-RAN WG4, WG5, WG11, TIFG and 3GPP specifications.
“This expansion addresses the growing demand for our innovative Open RAN Lab-as-a-Service offering, which helps democratize Open RAN testing for technology vendors by providing them with a comprehensive, on-demand test suite throughout the entire product lifecycle,” said Erik Probstfield, Senior Director, VALOR, VIAVI. “With the new RF Chamber, we are excited to offer OTA testing that will help accelerate O-RU commercialization and innovation.”
The RF chamber is provided by ETS-Lindgren, a world leader in wireless over-the-air (OTA) performance testing.
“Congratulations to VIAVI on the successful expansion of the VALOR Lab,” said Andy Warner, President, ETS-Lindgren. “We are proud to support the team with this state-of-the-art, customized chamber to bring the next generation of OTA base station test methodology to the industry.”
VALOR provides conformance, performance, security and interoperability testing leveraging VIAVI’s industry-leading NITRO Wireless Open RAN Test Suite, the VAMOS unified framework for hybrid physical and cloud-based testing, as well as reference O-RAN compliant O-RUs, O-DUs and O-CUs provided by several reputable partners.
As the first AI-RAN Alliance-endorsed lab, VALOR serves as a hub for members of the AI-RAN Alliance, fostering innovation and enabling cutting-edge advancements in AI-powered telecommunications. In addition, as part of VIAVI’s collaboration with AT&T and Verizon to accelerate Open RAN testing, VALOR’s full suite of O-RAN tests will be available to customers referred to the lab by ACCoRD.
Complementary to most currently existing industry testing labs, VALOR facilitates better readiness for the certification, badging and acceptance tests at OTICs and CSP labs. It is the first test service to be authorized by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) for its system performance certification program.
