VIAVI Expands Open RAN Lab-as-a-Service Facility with Industry's First Test-as-a-Service Offering for Massive MIMO OTA Performance Testing

Core Insights - VIAVI Solutions Inc. has expanded its VALOR Lab with a new RF-shielded anechoic chamber and two additional customer labs to enhance its Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN testing [1][4] Group 1: Facility Expansion - The expansion includes the industry's first test-as-a-service offering for Massive MIMO and beamforming over-the-air (OTA) validation, allowing system-level performance testing for up to 16 parallel spatial layers [2] - The project is funded by the U.S. National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund [1] Group 2: Testing Capabilities - Customers can access over 500 test cases compliant with O-RAN WG4, WG5, WG11, TIFG, and 3GPP specifications [3] - The RF chamber is provided by ETS-Lindgren, a leader in wireless OTA performance testing [4][5] Group 3: Industry Impact - The expansion addresses the growing demand for Open RAN testing, providing a comprehensive, on-demand test suite throughout the product lifecycle [4] - VALOR serves as a hub for the AI-RAN Alliance, fostering innovation in AI-powered telecommunications [6] Group 4: Certification and Collaboration - VALOR is the first test service authorized by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) for its system performance certification program [7] - The lab collaborates with AT&T and Verizon to accelerate Open RAN testing, with a full suite of O-RAN tests available to referred customers [6]