5G module as a real user equipment replacement in base station software system testing

Abstract

The numerous new features and improvements introduced by the 5th Generation (5G) mobile network also demand advancements and innovation in base station testing methods. The usage of commercially available 5G modules as real User Equipment (UE) test tools in system testing 5G base station software is studied in this thesis. In addition, the applicability of Quality of Service (QoS) measurements (latency and jitter) in the context of the same testing is explored. Potential benefits of using 5G modules over conventionally used devices like smartphones and purpose-built test phones include cheaper procurement costs and increased reliability, ease of use, and safety. Testing procedures currently have little support for these modules, a precondition for widescale utilization of the modules in testing. Following constructive research methodology, a minimum complexity test environment was constructed to study the viability of the proposed concept by comparing it to a commonly used test device, the HMD Nokia 8.3 smartphone. Viability criteria were selected to be equal or better performance. Throughput and QoS (latency and jitter) measurements were conducted with both devices under various signal strength values. The tested 5G module, Quectel RM502Q-AE, was determined to have steadier and higher performance. Excellent performance and the previously mentioned advantages make the tested module a favorable option for base station testing. A correlation was observed in QoS measurements between latency and Block Error Rate (BLER). Further testing is still recommended based on the efforts in this work to get a more comprehensive view of the subject area, as the number of tested devices was limited, and the test setup was rudimentary.