FR1–FR3 carrier aggregation

Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have demonstrated carrier aggregation across FR1 and FR3 frequency ranges.

At the heart of the test setup is the CMX500 one-box signaling tester from Rohde & Schwarz, extended with the new RFU18 board to provide coverage up to 18GHz. RFU18 is a modular hardware upgrade for the CMX500 platform, giving customers a straightforward, cost-effective path to extend existing testers towards 6G. As device under test (DUT), Qualcomm Technologies provided a Mobile Test Platform (MTP) powered by the Qualcomm Modem-RF System, enabling comprehensive validation of RF performance and protocol behavior across the aggregated FR1 and FR3 bands.

The FR3 frequency range (7.125 to 24.25GHz) has been identified by industry and research as a “sweet spot” for combining wide-area coverage with high capacity. FR3 in terrestrial networks (TN) and non-terrestrial networks (NTN) is expected to support demanding applications such as eXtended Reality (XR), connected and autonomous vehicles and industrial automation. By validating FR3 as an additional frequency range for future networks, the partners are helping accelerate 6G development and ecosystem readiness.

The CMX500 is a modular, powerful and future-proof one-box signaling tester enabling comprehensive multi-technology testing – from RF to protocol – across all relevant frequency ranges (FR1, FR2 and FR3). All existing CMX500 platforms can be enhanced with the new RFU18 board to extend frequency coverage and capabilities without replacing the entire system, offering users a simple upgrade path.

Engineered for data rates up to 20 Gbps, the CMX500 is one of the most versatile mobile device test platforms, supporting wide dynamic range, 4096QAM and up to 16 device antenna ports for advanced spatial multiplexing. With its multi-band capabilities, it covers LTE and NR in SA/NSA modes, NR-NTN, NB-NTN, Direct-to-Cell (D2C/DTC) testing, and WLAN including Wi‑Fi 7 and future Wi‑Fi 8.