Viavi Solutions Inc. VIAV recently announced that its NITRO Wireless test portfolio has successfully validated the over-the-air (OTA) performance of Nokia Corporation’s NOK Massive MIMO radio, operating within the upper 6 GHz frequency band. 

With the continued growth of 5G applications pushing the limits of available spectrum, future wireless technologies are increasingly focused on tapping into new frequency bands that can offer the necessary capacity, efficiency, performance and coverage. The allocation of the upper 6 GHz band is expected to provide up to 200 MHz of mid-band Time Division Duplex spectrum per operator, helping meet the growing spectrum requirements in the second half of this decade. 

Elaborating on VIAV’s Test Validation

To demonstrate the real-world capabilities of the Nokia AirScale platform in this expanded frequency band, a proof of concept was carried out at Nokia's Otava lab in Oulu, Finland. The test setup featured Nokia’s industry-leading AirScale Habrok platform, equipped with a 128TRX Massive MIMO radio, operating within the upper part of the n104 band (6425–7125 MHz). 

VIAVI’s state-of-the-art NITRO Wireless test portfolio, featuring several advanced testing tools, played a key role in this validation. The testing suite included the TM500 Network Tester, a leading platform used globally by network equipment manufacturers for various use cases. It provides in-depth insights into network behavior, coverage, capacity and performance across different conditions. 

In addition, Viavi’s OneAdvisor 800 spectrum and signal analyzer was employed to verify signals transmitted in the downlink, conducting conformance testing and analyzing 5G channels, including RF characterization, beamforming, timing and synchronization over the air. This equipment also assessed the overall performance of the radio base station transmission. 

The successful test cases validated several aspects of the upper 6 GHz OTA performance, including spectrum analysis and peak throughput validation for both single and dual Component Carriers with Carrier Aggregation in both downlink and uplink. Furthermore, performance and capacity were validated using hundreds of emulated User Equipment and real-world data traffic applications.

Increasing Client Base to Drive VIAV Performance 

Viavi boasts a comprehensive product portfolio that offers end-to-end network visibility and analytics, helping to build, test, certify, maintain and optimize complex physical and virtual networks. Its wireless and fiber test solutions are in the early stages of a multi-year investment cycle fueled by the transition of Original Equipment Manufacturers and service providers to superfast 5G networks. Strength in wireless & fiber testing, 3D sensing products, optical transport, Ethernet, broadband access, video testing and storage network testing markets is likely to augment its revenues in the long run.

With a strong presence in more than 100 countries, this leading provider of network test, monitoring and service enablement solutions is expected to benefit from an increasing customer base. This will likely enable the company to generate higher revenues in the upcoming quarters. Improving financial performance is likely to propel the stock upward.

VIAV Stock’s Price Performance

Shares of Viavi have gained 26.8% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 59.9%.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

VIAV’s Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Viavi currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
 
A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader industry have been discussed below:

InterDigital, Inc. IDCC sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy) at present. It has a long-term growth expectation of 15%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

IDCC pioneered advanced mobile technologies that enable wireless communications and capabilities. The company designs and develops various advanced technology solutions for digital cellular, wireless 3G, 4G and IEEE 802-related products and networks.

Keysight Technologies, Inc. KEYS carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 5.1%. 

Based in Santa Rosa, CA, Keysight is a provider of electronic design and test instrumentation systems. The company’s suite of connected car test solutions includes the Virtual Drive Test Toolset, which facilitates automakers to build virtual test routes in the lab by integrating network and channel emulation capabilities and combining data captured in the field. 

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

Nokia Corporation (NOK) : Free Stock Analysis Report

InterDigital, Inc. (IDCC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Viavi Solutions Inc. (VIAV) : Free Stock Analysis Report

To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Zacks Investment Research