VIAVI TM500 Network Tester for 4G and 5G Base Station Testing

Network tester that emulates thousands of mobile devices to test 4G, 5G and Open RAN base stations across the full protocol stack.

3GPP releases: 16, 17 and 18 including NTN and RedCap
Network modes: 5G SA and NSA
Carrier Aggregation: DL 8 CC/4 CC UL
MIMO: 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO

Datasheet

Overview

The VIAVI TM500 Network Tester is a test system for early functional, system integration, capacity, performance and regression testing of 4G and 5G base stations. It emulates thousands of mobile devices and covers the protocol stack from the physical layer up to the NAS and application layers, providing statistics and logs from the individual layers. The TM500 family includes entry-level and advanced models and is also offered as Test as a Service for chipset manufacturers, network equipment manufacturers, system integrators and service providers.

5G and Open RAN lifecycle testing

Functional testing covers L1/L2/L3 layer testing, 3GPP compliance and interoperability, and data throughput verification. Performance, capacity and stress testing loads the network with thousands of devices over long periods to check data rates, latency per application and QoS targets. Regression testing confirms that the network behaves repeatably between software releases. The TM500 works with the TeraVM Core Emulator, which provides an emulated core in which errors can be inserted on the N2 interface to check the robustness of a gNB design.

For end-to-end validation, the TM500 covers mobility, traffic and handover scenarios for 4G and 5G, including disaggregated RAN networks built from O-RAN components. It supports validation of control, user, synchronization and management plane messaging. The same tool is used from functional through conformance, interoperability, capacity and performance testing.

O-RAN and MU-MIMO

The TM500 O-RU Tester, developed in partnership with Rohde & Schwarz, generates real-time O-RAN C/U-plane messaging for the IQ data stream for conformance, interoperability and performance testing of O-RUs from different vendors. TM500 fronthaul options also emulate the O-RU to test the O-DU directly over eCPRI. The TM500 for advanced MU-MIMO testing has a modular design and, combined with TeraVM, supports RF, O-RAN, OTA and end-to-end MU-MIMO testing.

Functionality

Test scenarios use real, stateful data applications per emulated device, configurable for thousands of data flows and different traffic profiles. A graphical interface is used to design, schedule and analyse test cases, with drag-and-drop management of scenarios containing thousands of mobiles. Detailed measurement logs, KPIs and protocol metrics support performance analysis, and automation is available through APIs.

Key Features

Emulates thousands of mobile devices on 4G/4.5G and 5G/Open RAN
Advanced 3GPP roadmap including Releases 16, 17 and 18 with NTN and RedCap
Supports 5G SA and NSA
Carrier Aggregation (DL 8 CC/4 CC UL)
2x2 and 4x4 MIMO
Vendor-agnostic across RAN and Core
Realistic mobility models for accurate RF conditions
Multi-user MIMO testing and beamforming
Comprehensive NSA and SA mobility scenarios
Supports OTA, RF and eCPRI
Reuses existing TM500 platform for O-RAN testing
Automation capabilities with available APIs
Unified software release across the TM500 family
Layered mode testing (PDCP, NAS, MTS) for parallel gNB development and testing
Integrated mobility models remove the need for separate fading channel simulators
Comprehensive logging and debugging with default settings during long tests
Real data applications with stateful end-to-end traffic generation
Embedded fast fading mobility models
MU-MIMO 16 layers
Mixed numerologies
FR1 and FR2 support
Works with TeraVM Core Emulator

Specifications

Capabilities

3GPP releases	16, 17 and 18 including NTN and RedCap
Network modes	5G SA and NSA
Carrier Aggregation	DL 8 CC/4 CC UL The page overview also cites 10 CC Carrier Aggregation
MIMO	2x2 and 4x4 MIMO
MU-MIMO	16 Layers
Frequency ranges	FR1 and FR2
Test interfaces	OTA, RF, and eCPRI

O-RAN Fronthaul Capability

O-RAN Fronthaul server	1 server/ 2 x 25GbE NIC per server 3, Cat B servers per E500
O-RU/NIC mapping	Up to 2 O-RU per Fronthaul server Phased as per customer requirements
CC/MIMO O-RU mapping	2x CC 2x2MIMO, 1CC 4x4MIMO per O-RU 2CC 4x4 and 4CC 2x2 phased
Transport	10/25 Gb Ethernet A Single-Mode or Multi-Mode fibre SFP28 module can be used in each of the SFP cages
Transport header	eCPRI
Radio Access Technology	5G NR TDD, 5G NR FDD and 4G over RF
O-RU category	CAT A, CAT B Phased as per customer requirements
M Plane support	Full M-plane startup procedure supported. Supported database is customizable With NETCONF connectivity support between DU client and O-RU server utilizing SSHv2
Separation of C/U and M Plane traffic	EtherType, VLAN ID
C-Plane Section Types	0, 1 and 3
Compression	Block Floating Point, modulation compression
Section extension types	1,4,5,6,11
O-RAN WG4.CUS.0-v02.00 Timing Parameters	Aligned with numerology
Frequency	FR1, FR2
PRACH preamble format	Configurable
Nominal Sub-carrier Spacing	FR1 30 kHz, FR2 120 kHz, with mixed numerology support (e.g. 240KHz/120KHz) (SSB 120 kHz) Phased as per customer requirements to align with TM500 RF capability
Channel Bandwidth	All channel bandwidths up to 100 MHz Other bandwidths phased as per customer requirement
Downlink MIMO support	2x2 and 4x4 MIMO
Uplink MIMO support	2x2 MIMO
MU-MIMO	4 layers FR1 32TRX 2TRX UE O-RAN fronthaul capability
Beamforming	Digital on FR1 and analog on FR2
TM500 Test Modes	As per RF MTS, NAS, PDCP

O-RAN Fronthaul KPIs

C/U plane receiver statistics	RX_ON_TIME, RX_EARLY, RX_LATE, RX_CORRUPT, RX_DUPL, RX_TOTAL RX_DUPL i.e. duplicate
Status information	O-RU M-plane status, O-RU S-plane sync status, O-RU C/U plane connection status, O-RU status

O-RAN Fronthaul Server Hardware

Platform TK1046	POWEREDGE R740 server
Processor TK1046	Two Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, 18 cores per processor
Memory TK1046	192 GB ECC DDR per server
Power supply TK1046	Platinum; Hot plug power supplies with full redundancy
Form factor TK1046	Rack (2U)
Max depth TK1046	752 mm
Power dissipation TK1046	550W/ 700W/ 850W maximum for 0/ 1/ 2 Radio Cards

Specifications are taken from the manufacturer's documentation. See the datasheet for complete and current values.

Applications

4G/5G macro base station test
System integration test
Capacity test
Conformance test
Performance test
Regression test
Massive MIMO test
End-to-end test
O-RAN component and interoperability test
Small cell test
Private 5G test
Security test
Non-terrestrial networks (NTN)
eMBB
URLLC
Massive IoT
Military communications

Options & Accessories

Option	Description
TK1046	O-RAN Fronthaul Server — Hardware. Up to 2 per E500; supports up to 2 O-RU per server; 2x 25GbE NIC per server; 2x CC 2x2MIMO, 1xCC 4x4MIMO per O-RU
TK2072	TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - 8 LAYERS 1RU — Software option
TK2041	TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - mMIMO MU-MIMO FR1 CAT-A 32TRX, 4 LAYERS — Software option
TK2071	TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 (4 LAYERS, 1 O-RU) — Software option
TK2073	TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 (2 O-RUs) — Software option
TK2107	TM500 5G NR O-RAN FH OPT 7-2 - NON CONTIGUOUS PRB SUPPORT — Software option