- The Open RF Association, an open industry consortium dedicated to creating a 5G ecosystem that enables hardware and software interoperability of RF front ends (RFFEs) and electronic chipsets, has announced that NI has joined the organization and will chair the OpenRF Compliance Working Group.
NI (formerly National Instruments), a developer of automated test and measurement systems, will work with OpenRF members to address interoperability issues related to components operated by 5G telecommunications equipment.
“NI’s global scale, strong brand, and long-standing expertise in system testing will be an invaluable asset to the organization as we embark on developing a compliance program to improve the cost, efficiency, and time-to-market of wireless communications devices,” said Kevin Schoenrock, OpenRF chairman.
“5G significantly changes the way we interact with each other. This is leading to new ways of interaction between 5G devices that need to be able to be properly tested,” said Chen Chang, director of strategic business development, NI. “As Compliance Working Group Chair, we are excited to work alongside other companies to continue to address the evolving needs of the industry and advance OpenRF’s mission to accelerate 5G innovation and adoption.”
OpenRF members are collaborating to develop an open framework that standardizes hardware and software interfaces without limiting innovation. 5G communications equipment integrators will be able to benefit in terms of time to market, cost, performance.
The ”OpenRF 5: Compliance” working group was officially formed in January 2021. It will develop a program to support an ecosystem of interoperable RF front-end platforms and circuits. OpenRF 3: Compliance is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year.
The OpenRF Association (OpenRF) is open to smartphone chip, RF front end (RFFE) and integrator (OEM) vendors and industry companies. It is led by Broadcom, Intel, MediaTek, Murata Manufacturing, Qorvo and Samsung.
