MediaTek And Anritsu Achieve Industry First Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) Handover For 5G New Radio (NR)

MediaTek inc. and Anritsu Corporation are pleased to announce that the first DAPS handover for 5G New Radio (NR) has been verified with a device containing the MediaTek M80 5G modem and Anritsu’s MT8000A Radio Communication Test Station with Rapid Test Designer (RTD) application software.

The 5G NR standard is evolving beyond the traditional Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) to support use cases for Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC). URLLC targets latency of 1 ms or lower and reliability over 99.999%. These targets must be maintained during handover of mobile terminals across cells.

Current Handover procedures have a Handover Interruption Time (HIT) of 30 ms – 60 ms during which a mobile terminal cannot transmit or receive user data. DAPS handover has been introduced in 3GPP Release 16 to shorten the HIT to as close to 0 ms as possible. DAPS allows a mobile terminal to receive and transmit data simultaneously to source and target cells in a handover to ensure seamless data continuity.

“The ongoing collaboration of MediaTek and Anritsu continues to strengthen with this milestone achievement. Anritsu’s industry-leading test platforms directly benefit our R&D activities, enabling us to continue creating technology-leading 5G modems,” said JS Pan, General Manager of Wireless Communication Technology at MediaTek.

“We have achieved yet another important industry milestone and are looking forward to our continued partnership with MediaTek to bring advanced 5G use cases to market,” said Takeshi Shima, President of Test & Measurement Company, Anritsu Corporation.

MT8000A Product Outline
The Radio Communication Test Station MT8000A is an all-in-one platform supporting RF and protocol testing, functional and application operation testing, beam characteristics testing, and more. As well as supporting both NSA and SA-mode base-station simulation functions required for development of 5G chipsets and terminals, it also covers FR1 frequency bands, including 600 MHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 4.5 GHz, and 6-GHz unlicensed bands, as well as the FR2 24 GHz, 28 GHz, 39 GHz, and 43-GHz mmWave bands, to support all the main bands used by 5G services.

Additionally, the MT8000A supports the functions required for high-speed communications, such as 4x4 MIMO in FR1, 8CC and 256QAM in FR2 as well as supporting the latest 3GPP Release 16 features. Furthermore, the MT8000A provides a versatile and efficient test environment that is easily configured using a simple user interface and software to test device performance.

About Anritsu
Anritsu is a provider of innovative communications test and measurement solutions. Anritsu engages customers as true partners to help develop wireless, optical, microwave/RF, and digital solutions for R&D, manufacturing, installation, and maintenance applications, as well as multidimensional service assurance solutions for network monitoring and optimization. Anritsu also provides precision microwave/RF components, optical devices, and high-speed electrical devices for communication products and systems. The company develops advanced solutions for emerging and legacy wireline and wireless technologies used in commercial, private, military/aerospace, government, and other markets.

For more information, visit www.anritsu.com.