IN Brief:
- Anritsu has launched 5G RedCap device application evaluation software.
- The tools support IP throughput, handover, power consumption, temperature, and band-combination tests.
- The software targets reduced-capability 5G devices including IoT nodes, wearables, sensors, gateways, and industrial wireless products.
Anritsu has launched 5G RedCap device application evaluation software to support testing of reduced-capability 5G products across throughput, mobility, power, temperature, and supported band combinations.
The software expands Anritsu’s SmartStudio NR and SmartStudio NR IP Performance environments with support for 5G Reduced Capability, or RedCap, device testing. RedCap was defined to sit between full-performance 5G broadband devices and lower-power IoT technologies, giving connected products a route into 5G without the cost, power, and complexity profile of higher-end modems.
Application-oriented tests include IP throughput, handover, power consumption measurement, and temperature measurement. The tools can also retrieve supported band combinations, including MIMO configurations and channel bandwidth, in a single operation. That function reduces the effort involved in test planning when devices have to be evaluated across multiple bands, regions, and operating conditions.
RedCap products are expected to include wireless sensors, industrial IoT nodes, wearables, surveillance devices, gateways, and compact connected equipment. The design problem is broader than basic network attachment. Devices have to transmit, receive, move between cells, conserve power, operate across temperature ranges, and support the spectrum combinations required by target markets.
Power consumption will be a decisive test area for many RedCap designs. A modem that performs acceptably in a throughput test may still fail the product requirement if it draws too much current during registration, handover, idle-state recovery, or repeated data transfers. Battery life, enclosure temperature, and duty-cycle behaviour all have to be tested under conditions that resemble the intended application, not under isolated peak-performance checks.
Wireless development is becoming more segmented as product categories diverge. Nordic Semiconductor’s nRF54L15 Tag gives low-power developers a compact platform for Bluetooth Channel Sounding, edge AI, sensing, and Matter prototyping. RedCap occupies a different network class, but it belongs to the same shift toward earlier testing of real wireless, software, and power behaviour.
Industrial wireless adoption is one of the areas where RedCap could find a practical role. Factory sensors, asset-monitoring devices, portable instruments, cameras, and remote equipment often do not need full 5G broadband performance. They do need predictable connectivity, certification confidence, manageable module cost, and evidence that the device behaves correctly under changing network and environmental conditions.
Band-combination testing is particularly important for global products. A device intended for multiple regions may need to support different spectrum allocations, bandwidths, and MIMO options. Manual verification across those combinations can consume engineering time and increase the risk of missing a configuration before certification or customer trials.
Anritsu’s software adds structure to that process by bringing application behaviour into the test environment. As RedCap moves from operator trials and chipset roadmaps into commercial equipment, validation quality will be central to adoption. The attraction of RedCap lies in the balance between 5G capability, lower complexity, and lower power. That balance has to be demonstrated in working devices, across real operating profiles, before it becomes a dependable product class.
