As emerging connectivity technologies inch closer to real use, testing solutions are keeping pace. This includes the most recent advancements for the connected car and advanced internet of things (IoT) applications.
Test and measurement companies at the recent CES 2026 tradeshow showcased some of the most recent advancements in testing capabilities for connectivity including non-terrestrial networks (NTN), also known as satellite communication, and ultra-wideband (UWB) technology.
These vendors are prioritizing tools that meet the industry’s needs for robust wireless performance and compliance testing in these markets.
NR-NTN link validation
Keysight Technologies, along with Samsung Electronics, demonstrated at CES 2026 capabilities for new radio-NTN link validation. This allows engineers to evaluate satellite-to-cell connectivity that is gaining traction in always-connected vehicles, remote IoT endpoints, cellular handsets and even future broadband to the home.
Keysight’s NTN Network Emulator recreates multi-orbit for low earth orbit (LEO) conditions while running live user applications over the NTN link. Using Samsung’s chipset, the platform is a test environment to:
- Reduce risk
- Accelerate trials
- Shorten time-to-market
As these NR-NTN solutions are expected to scale in 2026, Keysight and Samsung demonstrated live at CES a commercial-grade modem silicon and cross-vendor interoperability targeted for direct-to-cell SATCOM. Keysight said it represents the public validation of n252 in an NTN system — expected to be a new band LEO constellation.
Keysight said with the addition of the n252 validation and demonstrations of the n255 and n256 bands, all major NR-NTN FR1 bands have been validated end-to-end. The company said this will allow modem vendors, satellite operators and device makers to evaluate cross-band performance and mobility universally for preparation of commercial NTN services.
“With n252, n255, and n256 now validated across NTN, the ecosystem is clearly accelerating toward bringing direct-to-cell satellite connectivity to mass-market devices,” said Peng Cao, VP and GM of Keysight’s Wireless Test Group. “Keysight’s NTN emulation environment enables chipset and device makers a controlled way to prove multi-satellite mobility, interoperability, and user-level performance, helping the industry move from concept to commercialization.”
Verifying UWB
Ultra-wideband technology is emerging as a solution for fine-ranging applications like indoor positioning, asset tracking and secure access. UWB suffers from unstable performance from non-line-of-sight conditions, multipath interference from environments and limits to the power levels imposed by the FCC and ITU that wireless devices can transmit for ranging applications.
This results in the effective range of UBW restricted to a few meters, which limits its use in real-world deployments. A new standard, IEEE 802.15.4ab, introduces multi-millisecond (MMS) UWB operation that will improve the power levels for UWB ranging, extends the reliable distance and more.
At CES 2026, test and measurement vendor Rohde & Schwarz collaborated with millimeter-wave (mmWave) radar sensor maker Calterah on a UWB system-on-chip (SoC) solution for digital car keys.
It is called the world’s first UWB chip fully compliant with the IEEE 802.15.4ab standard.
The functional demonstration and parallel verification of Calterah’s Dubhe UWB SoC used the CMP200 and CMP180 radio communications testers from Rohde & Schwarz. The CMP200 was used to verify the chip’s UWB functionality at the physical level and confirm its IEEE 802.15.4a/z/ab compliance. The CMP180 was used to capture and verify the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals.
The testing of the UWB SoC shows the development and adoption of the technology that is inching closer to real-world use due to the emergence of the IEEE 802.15.4ab standard and BLE-MMS ecosystem, the companies said. Additionally, the testing of the device by Rohde & Schwarz increases the confidence in performance and reliability of the UWB SoC, paving the way for market adoption, Calterah said.
NTN testing
Additionally, Rhode & Schwarz is exploring the role that NTNs will play in autonomous driving, infotainment, ADAS and the always-on connected car with testing at the chipset, TCU, antenna and overall vehicle level.
The company has introduced a CMX500 radio communication tester as a complete solution to ensure correct operation of all implementations of NTN.
The company is also using its testing platform for other NTN applications like the emerging cellular SATCOM push and more.
