5G and performance testing

You have probably seen that 5G roll-out has started and the first installations are in place in several countries all over the world.

So, are we all done now?

No, we are still far from finished and there is still a lot left to do in the development of 5G networks. These first installations often contain a new or upgraded radio base station that can handle 5G but actually talks to a 4G core network. In telecom lingo this is called Option 3 in migrating to a full 5G network.

Two of the key benefits with 5G is the possibility to transfer large amounts of data and with low latency (i.e. being able to watch an event in real time without delay).

To handle all data in an efficient manner there is a new architecture put in place for the core network which contain special nodes for efficient handling and scaling. One of the main nodes shuffling data between radio and data network is the UPF (User Plane Function). To test that a node like UPF can do its job we need to have control over the signaling (N4 interface) and the transfer of data between the radio side (N3) and the data network side (N6). With a good tooling in place your testers can concentrate on getting the proper tests in place for proving features and node capabilities.

Of course, there are lot of challenges in testing 5G independent if it is a project for securing end-to-end performance in one of the migration options or if it is a test environment for node testing. For sure we can now say we are living our life of extreme performance testing.

If you are in need of support for your testing, we are here to help.