Keysight Technologies and Qualcomm Propel RF Digital Twins for Next-Gen Wireless Innovation

On March 3, 2026, Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: KEYS) announced a significant collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. aimed at advancing Radio Frequency (RF) digital twins for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. This partnership is pivotal for the development of 5G-Advanced and the emerging 6G networks, enhancing the precision of performance predictions before the deployment of wireless technologies.

As wireless networks become more complex, the performance of massive MIMO systems is increasingly influenced by the specific RF conditions at deployment sites. Traditional simulation methods may not accurately reflect real-world performance, leading to potential discrepancies post-deployment. This collaboration between Keysight and Qualcomm aims to tackle this issue by providing high-precision RF digital twins that can predict and optimize MIMO performance, thereby reducing rollout risks and accelerating innovation.

The drive to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the radio access network (RAN) is another critical aspect of the collaboration. For AI applications to be effective, they necessitate high-quality channel data and consistent benchmarks. The RF digital twins developed through this partnership will create a reliable framework to support these requirements, ultimately enhancing the confidence in real-world outcomes.

Keysight and Qualcomm plan to showcase their collaboration at the upcoming Mobile World Congress 2026. Attendees can visit Keysight’s booth (Hall 5 #5F41) to witness a demonstration of a photorealistic RF digital twin. This twin will represent Qualcomm Technologies’ massive MIMO prototype network located on its San Diego campus, developed using Keysight’s Channel Studio RaySim and Qualcomm’s proprietary MIMO algorithms.

The demonstration will highlight how radio propagation modeling can effectively capture site-specific effects. This will be validated by comparing the results obtained from Qualcomm’s end-to-end massive MIMO prototype network against lab-based testbeds using Keysight’s channel emulation technology.

The collaboration emphasizes observed correlations across critical performance indicators (KPIs) such as Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), rank, and data throughput. These metrics will be evaluated in various scenarios and compared against over-the-air (OTA) measurements. The validated workflow will also facilitate the generation of high-quality channel datasets, which are essential for training and validating AI and machine learning techniques, including Channel State Information (CSI) compression and AI-assisted precoding optimization.

Kiran Mukkavilli, Senior Director at Qualcomm Technologies, expressed the importance of realistic RF digital twins, stating, “By anchoring high-fidelity digital twins to Qualcomm Technologies’ end-to-end massive MIMO research platform, this collaboration demonstrates how high-fidelity modeling, combined with system-level testing and over-the-air validation, can improve confidence that massive MIMO algorithms will perform as expected in real deployments.”

Mosaab Abughalib, General Manager and Head of Wireless Solutions at Keysight, added, “High-precision RF digital twins help engineers connect algorithm design to measurable hardware performance. By combining raytraced digital twins with advanced channel emulation, Keysight enables customers to predict massive MIMO behavior before deployment, reducing risk and accelerating innovation toward AI-native 6G networks.”

The collaboration between Keysight Technologies and Qualcomm Technologies represents a significant leap forward in the development of wireless networks. By focusing on high-precision RF digital twins, this partnership aims to enhance the reliability and performance of massive MIMO systems, ultimately paving the way for faster and more efficient deployments in the 5G and 6G landscape. With a live demonstration at Mobile World Congress, industry stakeholders can look forward to witnessing firsthand the innovative solutions that this collaboration is set to deliver.