Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm verify 5G NR power-saving feature SSSG

This verification marks a critical step toward commercializing energy-efficient mobile hardware by standardizing how devices monitor control channels. For the streaming ecosystem, improved power efficiency directly translates to longer playback times on mobile devices, reducing a primary friction point for high-bandwidth video consumption. By identifying specification gaps during testing, these firms are accelerating the certification timeline for the next generation of 5G modems. Watch for 3GPP RAN5 to formally adopt these test case refinements, which will signal the readiness of SSSG for mass-market handset integration.

Rohde & Schwarz has been building out its 5G conformance test portfolio ahead of broader Release 17 commercialization. In early 2025, the company announced that its CMX500 one-box signaling tester had been accepted by the Global Certification Forum for 5G NR conformance testing, expanding the platform's role in certifying modem chipsets for global carriers. Qualcomm, meanwhile, has been pushing its X105 modem as a reference design for OEMs targeting Release 17 compliance, and the SSSG verification positions the chipset as one of the first to demonstrate the power-saving feature under formal test conditions. The collaboration between Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm reflects a broader pattern where test equipment vendors and silicon makers jointly submit test cases to 3GPP RAN5 to accelerate specification maturity.

The 3GPP Release 17 specification, which was functionally frozen in June 2022, introduced several power-saving mechanisms aimed at reducing device energy consumption during idle and connected states. Qualcomm detailed its Release 17 modem roadmap at MWC Barcelona 2025, highlighting SSSG and connected-mode DRX enhancements as key differentiators for the X105 platform. The 3GPP RAN5 working group is responsible for defining conformance test specifications, and formal adoption of SSSG test cases would enable GCF and PTCRB to certify devices for carrier acceptance. For streaming services, these power-saving features matter because mobile video remains the largest single driver of cellular data traffic, and battery life is a persistent constraint on session length.

On the technical side, SSSG operates by allowing a device to switch between different search space set groups on the PDCCH, reducing the number of blind decoding attempts required during each monitoring occasion. A study published by the IEEE in late 2024 measured up to 30% reduction in control channel monitoring power consumption when SSSG was active versus baseline Release 15 behavior. Rohde & Schwarz's TS-PCT protocol conformance test platform, which hosted the verification, supports both FR1 and FR2 frequency ranges and has been used for prior Release 16 features including bandwidth part adaptation. The submission to RAN5 is expected to undergo review during the group's quarterly meetings, with potential inclusion in the TS 38.523 conformance specification by early 2027.