Shares of VIAVI Solutions rose Wednesday after the company introduced what it described as the industry's first channel emulator designed for next-generation 6G and Wi-Fi 7/8 testing.

Shares of VIAVI were recently up about 9% at $41.83 following the announcement.

The Chandler, Ariz., company said its new Vertex 6.0 platform can recreate real-world wireless conditions in a laboratory, allowing engineers to test cellular, Wi-Fi, military and aerospace radio-frequency technologies.

Vertex 6.0 has 400 megahertz of instantaneous bandwidth and supports carrier frequencies of up to 23.6 gigahertz. The platform supports newly defined 6G waveform requirements and exceeds the bandwidth requirements of Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 8, VIAVI said.

The product expands VIAVI's wireless testing portfolio and follows its acquisition of Spirent Communications' high-speed Ethernet, network security and channel-emulation testing business.

Vertex 6.0 is available through field-replaceable radio-frequency modules that can be integrated into existing 6U Vertex chassis. It builds on the previous generation's 5G capabilities and adds emulation for more complex cellular, Wi-Fi, military and aerospace applications.

The platform can be combined with VIAVI's FR3 MIMO converter and ray-tracing technology with integrated sensing and communications to simulate radio-frequency propagation. VIAVI said the resulting system can function as a digital twin for testing applications including FR3, Wi-Fi 7, AI-RAN and integrated sensing and communications networks.

"As wireless technologies become more complex, late-stage issues can present significant risks," said Ian Langley, VIAVI's senior vice president for its Wireless, Security and Applications business unit. Engineers need testing environments that replicate real-world conditions and allow performance to be validated early in development, he said.

The emulator also supports a range of transmission environments, including land-to-land, land-to-air and air-to-air communications, as well as non-terrestrial networks using low-, medium- and geostationary-orbit satellites. Other supported applications include mesh, drone and integrated-sensing networks.