At the recent Conformance Agreement Group (CAG) meeting #78 of the Global Certification Forum (GCF), Rohde & Schwarz verified non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) NB-IoT test cases for RF and radio resource management (RRM), successfully meeting all test platform approval criteria (TPAC). The R&S TS-RRM and R&S TS8980 test platforms were approved for every type of NTN NB-IoT test (RF, Demod and RRM), making Rohde & Schwarz the only company to have activated both NTN NB-IoT RF and RRM work items (WI) in the GCF.

NTNs are wireless communication systems that operate above the Earth’s surface. They are essential to realizing ubiquitous connectivity, bringing coverage even to remote areas that do not have access to traditional terrestrial networks.

Rohde & Schwarz continued its success in verifying NTN narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) test cases at the recent CAG meeting #78, satisfying all TPAC with the R&S TS-RRM and R&S TS8980 conformance test systems. This achievement allowed the GCF to activate WI 336 in its device certification program. It also means that Rohde & Schwarz now supports the complete certification of Release 17 NB-IoT user equipment for NTNs.

The R&S TS-RRM and R&S TS8980 are conformance test systems designed to facilitate NB-IoT certification across LTE and other radio access technologies (RAT). The R&S TS-RRM is a fully automated conformance test system for running RRM conformance test cases and runs 5G NR and LTE inter-RAT RRM test cases for certifying wireless devices. The R&S TS8980 is the most compact full-range conformance testing solution on the market. It supports the entire device certification process for RF and RRM.