RF PHY test system providers for IEEE 802.11be WiFi 7

This page mentions RF and PHY test system providers for WiFi 7 devices developed as per IEEE 802.11be standard. The popular vendors of 11be test equipments useful for WiFi 7 testing are LitePoint, Rohde & Schwarz, Keysight technologies etc.

Introduction: IEEE 802.11 series of standards have been developed for various applications viz. Wireless LAN, VoIP, Video streaming, Cloud computing, telemedicine, voice/video conferencing, gaming, VR, AR, IoT and so on. All the IEEE 802.11 standards define Physical (PHY) and MAC layer specifications.

What is WiFi 7 ?

This is latest in the series of WLAN standards referred as WiFi (i.e. Wireless Fidelity). The specifications of WiFi 7 are under development and will be published under IEEE 802.11be by EHT working group by 2024.

Following are the technical specifications of WiFi-7.
• Frequency Bands : 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz
• Bandwidth : 20, 40, 80, 80+80, 160 and 320 MHz
• Technology : Uplink and downlink OFDMA along with MU-MIMO
• Modulation : Upto 4096 QAM
• Security : WPA3
• Spatial streams : Up to 16 spatial streams
• Enhanced OFDMA : Preamble puncturing, Multi-RU
• Other features : Multi-Link Operation (MLO)

The figure depicts benefits of WiFi 7 standard. It offers high data rate (~40 Gbps), lower latency, high spectrum efficiency, better interference mitigation, higher power efficiency, high capacity density and so on.

802.11be WiFi 7 test system from LitePoint

The LitePoint which is a Teradyne Company has developed test system for WiFi device testing. The test box include functionalities of VSG (Vector Signal Generator) and VSA (Vector Signal Analyzer). It is very useful for testing various parameters of RF and PHY layers as per IEEE 802.11be standard as well as WiFi 7 conformance specifications. It is one of the best test system for 4096QAM measurement due to its low residual EVM floor.

Features of WiFi 7 test system from LitePoint Model IQxel-MX^TM are as follows.
• It covers frequency range from 400 MHz to 7300 MHz.
• Signal generation supports OFDMA RA, multi-RU and MLO features.
• Signal analysis supports bandwidth up to 320 MHz.
• Transmitter and receiver PHY measurements such as spectral mask, frequency error, spectral flatness, constellation error, receiver sensitivity, ACR (Adjacent Channel Ratio) are supported.
• MIMO testing with up to 4 x 4 configurations are supported.

In addition to WiFi-7, this test platform addresses WiFi test requirements as per IEEE 802.11ax (i.e. WiFi 6/6E) and legacy IEEE 802.11 standards such as 11a/11b/11g/11n/11p/11ac/11ah/11af/11j as per LitePoint.

802.11be test system providers or vendors

Following table mentions providers or vendors of WiFi 7 test system developed as per IEEE 802.11be specifications.

Vendors	Description
LitePoint	The company develops test and measurement equipments for testing devices as per WLAN, Bluetooth 5.x, Zigbee, Z-wave, DECT, LoRa, WiSUN and Sigfox standards. ➨Visit website litepoint.com for more information.
Rohde & Schwarz	The model R&S^® FSW signal analyzer can be used for 802.11be signal analysis upto 320 MHz bandwidth. It can analyze EHT-MU PPU packet format. It can be used to test 802.11be compliant devices. Both transmitter as well as receiver parameters such as transmit power, EVM, spectrum emissions, sensitivity etc. can be tested. R&S develops VSG (Vector Signal Generator) and VSA (Vector Signal Analyzer). The company also develops wireless test system for cellular standards as per GSM/4G LTE/5G specifications. ➨Visit website rohde-schwarz.com for more information.
Keysight Technologies	The company develops test and measurement equipments as per various standards viz. RFID, Zigbee, UWB, Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMAX, DVB, 4G LTE, 5G and more. ➨Visit website keysight.com for more information.

Resources on RF and PHY measurements

Physical Layer Measurements GSM Measurements RF Measurements WCDMA Measurements LTE UE Measurements

WiFi 6 Resources as per IEEE 802.11ax

Advantages and disadvantages of 802.11ac (WiFi 5) Advantages and disadvantages of 802.11ax (WiFi 6) BSS coloring in 11ax RU in 802.11ax MU-OFDMA in 802.11ax MU-MIMO in 802.11ax Difference between 802.11ac Wave1 and Wave2 Difference between 802.11n,11ac,11ad WLAN 802.11ac tutorial WLAN 802.11ax tutorial WLAN 802.11ac frame structure WLAN 802.11ac Physical Layer 802.11ac MAC Layer 802.11ax basics WLAN 11a,11b,11n,11ac frame structures

Useful Links to Legacy WLAN Standards

WLAN SIFS, PIFS, DIFS, EIFS, AIFS What is DCF and PCF in WLAN What is RTS and CTS in WLAN What is wlan? WLAN standards-11a,11b,11g,11n,11ac 11a WLAN Physical layer 11b WLAN Physical layer 11n WLAN Physical layer WLAN basic tutorial 802.11ac tutorial 802.11ad tutorial Difference between 11a,11b,11g,11n Difference between 11-n,11-ac and 11-ad WLAN router providers WLAN providers

IoT Wireless Technologies

THREAD EnOcean LoRa SIGFOX WHDI NFC Lonworks CEBus UPB

RF Wireless Test and Measurement Solutions

Test and Measurement Equipments
BER Testing equipments
Agilent T & M Solutions
Anritsu T & M Solutions
Rohde & Schwarz T & M solutions
wireless channel emulator
Vector signal generator
Vector signal analyzer
Power Analyzer Equipments
Protocol Analyzer

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