Netgear has selected the CMP180 radio communication tester from Rohde & Schwarz for the development of future Wi-Fi 8 access points. By integrating the tester into their design validation test environment, Netgear looks forward to speeding up the development of performance optimized Wi-Fi products, as the company has claimed in a statement.

Wi-Fi 8 is the next generation Wi-Fi based on the upcoming IEEE 802.11bn standard. With the focus on ultra-high reliable (UHR) WLAN, this new technology has the intention of improving the wireless user experience at homes, offices and factories. Some of the features include: high-speed connectivity under all conditions with low latency for gaming, learning and working applications which will use augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) for immersive user experience.

Design validation of Wi-Fi 8 access points requires test solutions which support the latest Wi-Fi 8 features like distributed resource units (DRU) or unequal modulation (UEQM) with up to 320 MHz wide channels in all supported bands and highest modulation schemes (4096QAM), while providing the performance (EVM), and scalability (4×4 MIMO) required to optimize the wireless device performance.

Rohde & Schwarz provides Netgear with the CMP180 radio communication tester, a non-signaling testing solution for wireless devices, which can be used in research, development, validation and production. It supports many cellular and non-cellular technologies including the latest Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8 and 5G NR FR1 in frequencies up to 8 GHz and bandwidths of up to 500 MHz.

The CMP180 comes equipped with two analyzers, two generators and two times eight RF ports in a single box, plus the possibility to scale up by stacking several testers.

Additionally, it can be tested throughout the entire development cycle: from engineering validation tests (EVT), design validation tests (DVT) and production validation tests (PVT) to mass production (MP).

Joseph Emmanuel, VP, Consumer Business Unit HW Engineering at Netgear, notes: “Working with Rohde & Schwarz enables us to bring our Wi-Fi 8 products on the market with the expected high quality and extremely high performance for the best multi-gigabit Wi-Fi experience everywhere at home”.

Goce Talaganov, Vice President Mobile Radio Testers at Rohde & Schwarz, concludes: “We are grateful for the close collaboration with NETGEAR on the latest Wi-Fi 8 technology. Our experience in wireless device testing and early cooperation with Wi-Fi 8 chipset and device vendors helped us to improve our test solution for the upcoming broad Wi-Fi 8 market”.