National Instruments (NI) took the wraps off what it describes as the world’s first software defined radio (SDR) for millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.

The new transceiver system includes a full transceiver that can transmit and/or receive wide-bandwidth signals at 2 GHz real-time bandwidth, covering spectrum in the E-Band – 71-76 GHz. NI notes that engineers and scientists have used SDRs ubiquitously in the spectrum below 6 GHz for years, but now companies in mmWave have a full-featured SDR platform to drive their initiatives.

Nokia, which is a key participant in NI’s RF/Communications Lead User program, has been working with early versions of the mmWave transceiver system in its 5G research initiatives for over a year.

“NI’s mmWave transceiver system has been a key research platform for our mmWave research,” said Tod Sizer, head of mobile radio research for Nokia Bell Labs, in a press release. “The platform delivers the right combination of hardware and software necessary to expedite our research and has given us confidence that mmWave will indeed be a critical technology for 5G. At this year’s Brooklyn 5G Summit, we are demonstrating a high data rate mmWave system using phased array @ 60 GHz using NI’s platform, thus making 5G a commercial reality.”

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