VIAVI Solutions announced that it has added colocation capability to its VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN (VALOR) facility to address the increased demand for comprehensive testing from Open RAN customers. Based in Chandler, Arizona, VALOR is funded by the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (PWSCIF).
As an alternative to its on-demand customer labs, VALOR’s colocation model offers more flexibility and capacity. Customers can access the lab for a longer period and conduct comprehensive testing throughout the product lifecycle with a semi-permanent setup. Network data in the lab is segregated using VLANs to ensure secure, isolated environments for each customer’s testing requirements, ensuring optimal performance and data integrity across various testing scenarios.
“We’re excited to introduce this new colocation offering at VALOR. With two available engagement models, VALOR can now service both vendors who are looking for specific tests during the development and pre-certification process, as well as those seeking longer-term, comprehensive end-to-end and scalable testing,” said Erik Probstfield, Senior Director, VALOR, VIAVI.
“This colocation framework builds upon the NTIA PWSCIF model. Focused on wireless infrastructure, PWSCIF acts as a force multiplier where federal spending is a catalyst drawing additional investment from private industry. Ultimately, this accelerates the development of open, secure wireless ecosystems with industry-wide investment value significantly greater than the base federal funding. We look forward to providing this expanded service offering to our customers in alignment with the mission and objectives of the NTIA and PWSCIF.”
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. In addition to the colocation lab and two on-demand labs, customers can also access a state-of-the-art RF chamber for Massive MIMO and beamforming over-the-air (OTA) validation, including system-level Massive MIMO performance testing for up to 16 parallel spatial layers.
Leveraging VIAVI’s industry-leading NITRO Wireless Open RAN Test Suite, the VAMOS unified framework for hybrid physical and cloud-based testing, reference O-RUs, O-DUs and O-CUs, as well as a knowledgeable support team, the VALOR Lab enables emerging Open RAN technology vendors to test their products without significant upfront investment. Risks associated with building in-house Open RAN testing capabilities are offloaded to VIAVI, resulting in quicker time to market and more flexible deployment.
