National Instruments, the provider of solutions that enable engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges, announced today the opening of the new Wireless Innovation Lab at its Austin headquarters.

In the lab, NI supports ongoing collaborations with top academic and industry research groups participating in its RF/Communications Lead User program. Researchers at Intel, Lund University, Nokia Networks, NYU Wireless, Samsung, The University of Texas at Austin and TU Dresden are driving significant advances in the development of next-generation wireless systems and furthering research in 5G. Current demos and projects on display in the lab include mmWave cellular systems, the 5G Massive MIMO Testbed and the LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite.

“At the Wireless Networking and Communications Group (WNCG), we have had several research projects with the RF/Communications Lead User team that range from MIMO interference alignment to interference cancellation,” said Robert Heath, professor, PhD, PE, IEEE Fellow at The University of Texas at Austin. “We’ve seen accelerated prototyping on all of these projects and we’re eager to build on the latest research.”

The Wireless Innovation Lab showcases NI’s commitment and investment to help researchers define next-generation wireless communication systems using the power and capability of the NI software defined radio platform with LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite. This platform-based approach helps reduce the time from theory to results by testing designs in a real-world environment.

To learn more about the new Wireless Innovation Lab, please visit www.ni.com/5g

About the RF/Communications Lead User Program

NI established several lead user programs to facilitate research in areas including controls, mechatronics and robotics with a common goal of rapidly moving from theory to prototype. Established in 2010, the RF/Communications Lead User program currently includes more than 10 research institutions working on multiple 5G communications projects.

About National Instruments

Since 1976, NI has made it possible for engineers and scientists to solve the world’s greatest engineering challenges with powerful, flexible technology solutions that accelerate productivity and drive rapid innovation. Customers from a wide variety of industries—from healthcare to automotive and from consumer electronics to particle physics—use NI’s integrated hardware and software platform to improve the world we live in.