Evaluation Engineering - 15

Communications Business Unit at Analog
Devices: "We are seeing the challenges of
5G falling into two buckets: sub-6GHz
massive MIMO and mmWave (mmW)
deployments. Both groupings are critical
elements in the rollout of 5G, but while
the short-term market focus is on sub6GHz, 5G mmW is also starting to ramp
up. We are seeing a marked year-over-year
increase on mmW program activity from
all our lead customers, mimicking the increasing pace of mmW auctions around
the world. Based on U.S. mmW spectrum
acquisition, costs have thus far been reasonable, which is promising for return on
investment and capital expenditures for
operators spending on mmW deployments in the next three to five years. The
market sentiment has shifted from discussing whether there will be a market
for mmW 5G to when it will happen in
scale as rollouts move from localized fixed
wireless access trials to the first handset
deployments. Regarding test & measurement, suppliers already have their first
generation of 5G instrumentation, which
is comprised of both mmW and sub 6GHz,
and now the next generation of equipment
is being developed to focus on a combination of improved performance, wider
bandwidths, cost optimization and future
scalability."

and services provide the most benefit to
customers as newer technology begins
to solidify and plans are made for high
volume production. This applies to 5G just
as in other industries and we are looking
at how manufacturers in 5G are planning
their production test strategies and where
signal switching systems can improve efficiencies in test."

Roger Nichols, 5G program manager at
Keysight Technologies: "Keysight has been
involved in 5G since 2013 so it is exciting to
see the actual rollout of the first production
systems. Our legacy is helping engineers
design, simulate, and measure the physical layer and of course the RF/microwave
parts of that represent core challenges
in 5G technology. While we now have a

Erik Luther, vice president of X-Microwave:
"When you weed through the hype about
5G, there are three pressing questions: How
quickly will 5G below 6 GHz roll out in existing spectrum?; who will be the first to
broadly deploy mmW for fixed wireless applications?; and will mmW ever be suitable
(technically and economically) for mobile
applications?"
Applications Engineering, AR RF/
Microwave Instrumentation: "AR sees
5G and Wi-Fi products increasing over
the next several years, and with them the
need for RF amplifiers for component and
end-product testing. The usage of wider
bandwidths by 5G systems and need for
highly linear amplifiers plays right into
AR product offerings."
Bob Stasonis, technical product specialist at Pickering Interfaces: "Our products
JUNE 2019 EVALUATIONENGINEERING.COM

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Evaluation Engineering

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