Vendor-neutral, 'pay-as-you-go' VALOR™
Lab-as-a-Service democratizes and speeds Open RAN interoperability,
performance and security testing
CHANDLER, Ariz., Oct. 8, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- VIAVI Solutions Inc. (VIAVI) (NASDAQ: VIAV) has
opened its VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service (VALOR™) Open RAN
testing facility in Chandler,
Arizona with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by senior
VIAVI management, customers, partners, government officials and
dignitaries. Funded by a grant from the U.S. National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public
Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, VALOR offers a fully
automated, open and impartial Lab-as-a-Service / Test-as-a-Service
suite for Open RAN interoperability, performance and security.
VALOR addresses the challenges to accelerate Open RAN adoption
and encourage competition by providing access to test capabilities
that, typically, have only been within the reach of large,
established players. Now, with its highly automated, on-demand
"pay-as-you-go" approach to standardized testing, VALOR simplifies
the development and deployment of Open RAN technologies, offering
new entrants and start-ups a pathway to U.S. certification without
the need for significant investment in hardware and software.
Complementary to most current existing industry testing labs,
VALOR facilitates better readiness for the certification, badging
and acceptance tests at OTICs and CSP labs and is the first test
service to be authorized by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) for
their system performance certification program. A dedicated online
portal allows customers to easily sign up for the service, set up
and schedule tests and generate reports optimized for technology
development, system verification and pre-certification performance,
security and pre-deployment simulation.
VALOR brings together the NITRO Wireless Open RAN Test Suite,
the VAMOS (VIAVI Automation Management and Orchestration
System) unified framework for hybrid physical and cloud lab
testing, and technologies from industry-leading partners. These
include a joint O-RU testbed with Rohde & Schwarz for O-RU
conformance and network energy saving tests, a large
ETS-Lindgren RF anechoic chamber for Massive MIMO and beamforming
over-the-air (OTA) performance testing, and 'golden' Open
RAN-compliant O-CU, O-DU and O-RU reference technologies from
Fujitsu, SOLiD and Capgemini.
VALOR leverages VIAVI's proven performance and interoperability
tests used throughout the industry for 3GPP and Open RAN with
cloud, intelligence, automation and digital twin technology.
Services include TM500 O-RU and O-DU and TeraVM O-CU subsystem
conformance, performance and interoperability testing, and
end-to-end testing with core emulation and TeraVM RAN scenario
generator RIC/SMO tests covering conformance and performance
validation and training of rApps and xApps. The service will
ultimately offer over 500 test cases compliant with O-RAN WG4, WG5,
WG11, TIFG and 3GPP specifications.
"The grand opening of the VALOR lab is an important step in
democratizing Open RAN testing for technology vendors by providing
them with rapid access to comprehensive end-to-end solutions for
everything from product development to performance stress tests,"
said Oleg Khaykin, President and
Chief Executive Officer, VIAVI. "Supporting the services of
existing industry test labs, VALOR closes existing test gaps and is
set to play a key role in accelerating Open RAN adoption and
encouraging new entrants to the Open RAN ecosystem."
"We know testing and evaluation is critical to Open RAN's
success and look forward to seeing the impact of these grants for
years to come," said Sarah
Skaluba, Special Policy Advisor for Telecom Policy and the
Innovation Fund, NTIA.
Quotes from the VALOR Chandler Lab Grand Opening
Ceremony
Telecom Infra Project
"We are thrilled to
congratulate VIAVI on the opening of their VALOR Lab. This
important milestone underscores the industry's commitment to
advancing the Open RAN ecosystem through comprehensive testing
frameworks. As the first TIP-authorized test lab, VALOR's
cutting-edge virtual testing environment enhances TIP's
capabilities, driving innovation and ensuring robust,
high-performance network solutions. By strengthening supply chain
resilience and accelerating the global adoption of Open RAN
technologies, our collaboration is set to provide operators with
more flexible and cost-effective solutions. We're excited about the
positive impact this partnership will have on the industry."
Kristian Toivo, Executive Director, TIP
Rohde & Schwarz
"We are looking forward to
strengthening our partnership with VIAVI Solutions, which has
experienced substantial global growth. The inauguration of the
VALOR Lab represents a pivotal advancement in bolstering the Open
RAN ecosystem. At Rohde & Schwarz, our commitment to supporting
O-RAN installations in the US remains unwavering, and we are
enthusiastic about delivering local assistance for this initiative.
Together, Rohde & Schwarz with VIAVI Solutions will continue to
innovate intelligent solutions for our customers, driving progress
in the industry."
Frank Dunn, President and CEO,
Rohde & Schwarz USA,
Inc.
Fujitsu
"Fujitsu is committed to accelerating Open
RAN through multivendor network interoperability, performance and
security. With the addition of Fujitsu O-RAN compliant radio units,
vRAN and transport equipment to the VALOR lab, we are embracing
cooperative, open and impartial testing, thanks to VIAVI and the
U.S. National Telecommunications and Information
Administration."
Annie Bogue, Chief Operating
Officer, Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.
SOLiD
"SOLiD is gratified to contribute our C-Band
radio equipment to the VIAVI VALOR lab to support cooperative,
impartial testing of open 5G network architectures. As a full
supporter and major contributor to Open RAN development, SOLiD
looks forward to the advancement of interoperability enabled by the
VALOR Lab, as well as continued growth of the ecosystem
overall."
Yong Hoon Kang, Ph.D., Chief
Technology Officer, SOLiD
ETS-Lindgren
"We are excited to see VIAVI's
innovative approach for OTA testing of base stations. Our
collaboration with their talented team resulted in a customized
chamber to bring the next generation of OTA base station test
methodology to the industry."
Joel Kellogg, Subject Matter
Expert and Global Director of Marketing, ETS-Lindgren
Red Hat
"The importance of fully tested and
interoperable solutions is a key challenge service providers face
when modernizing their radio access networks (RANs). Red Hat is
pleased to collaborate with VIAVI and the other partners involved
in the VIAVI VALOR Lab to create pre-integrated, multi-vendor open
RAN solutions that can benefit from the use of an open source and
cloud-native application platform to help reduce complexity and
cost, and to drive new revenue opportunities."
Mark Longwell, Director,
Telco and Edge Alliances, Hybrid Platforms Business Unit, Red
Hat
About VIAVI
VIAVI (NASDAQ: VIAV) is a global provider
of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for
telecommunications, cloud, enterprises, first responders, military,
aerospace and railway. VIAVI is also a leader in light management
technologies for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer
electronics, industrial, automotive, government and aerospace
applications. Learn more about VIAVI at www.viavisolutions.com.
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SOURCE VIAVI Solutions