Keysight, Singapore's SUTD ink MoU for open RAN, 6G technology

Keysight Technologies and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on Open RAN (O-RAN), 6G Technology, research, development, and education. SUTD hosts Singapore's national Future Communications Research & Development Programme (FCP), which is designed to strengthen the country's 5G ecosystem and accelerate innovation. 

Through this collaboration, Keysight and SUTD will conduct research in the areas of O-RAN security, O-RAN sustainability, O-RAN standards, 6G technologies, and metaverse-ready networks. In addition, both parties will work together to advance the adoption of Open RAN technologies focusing on O-RAN Alliance at SUTD to provide testing, validation, and certification of O-RAN systems and components.

"We look forward to innovating for a better world in partnership with Keysight Technologies in areas like O-RAN, Beyond 5G and 6G, as well as metaverse-ready networks," said Professor Phoon Kok Kwang, Provost, SUTD. "A trailblazer in higher education like SUTD and a market frontrunner like Keysight Technologies will certainly help to position both organizations at the forefront of the digital revolution to bring value to our stakeholders and society at large."

The MoU builds on the successful development of a cyber-assessment framework designed for security and resilience testing of Open RAN systems and components by Keysight and SUTD. The framework employs a highly parameterized, threat-centric attack injection methodology designed by SUTD and implemented through Keysight's Open RAN Architect (KORA) Security Test Suite, which emulates live subscribers, devices, applications, and services against a set of security attacks and audit modules.

"The extended interfaces, cloudification, breakthrough technology enablers such artificial intelligence / machine learning, and the need for multi-vendor-solution integration of Open RAN and 6G require a holistic security and sustainability-by-design approach to enable commercial deployments at scale," said Peng Cao, Vice President and General Manager for Keysight's Wireless Test Group. "Keysight is committed to accelerating Open RAN technology adoption and 6G R&D by partnering and co-innovating with SUTD to facilitate commercial-scale deployments of 5G and meet 6G requirements."