--- title: "Field trials: Test and qualification | Nexus Observatory" description: "Field trials, inside Test and qualification: field calibration and intercomparison, drive testing and minimisation of drive tests…" url: https://observatory.global/qualification/field-trials/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-11-07 --- Field trials: candidate instruments beside a reference on a test field for a season. The loop, step by step: 1. A reference and three candidates share a field. 2. The chain from source to console stands ready. 3. A real storm crosses the trial field. 4. All four instruments record the same storm. 5. Each reading is stamped with time and place. 6. Streams reach the trial log. 7. The relay forwards sealed packets untouched. 8. The edge verifies every signature first. 9. Each candidate’s error is scored against the reference. 10. Only a confirmed result leaves the edge. 11. The trial report ranks the candidates. 12. The alert arrives with its evidence attached. 13. The best candidate moves to qualification. 14. Sensors check that the response worked. 15. Record, proof and action are archived together. 16. Everything settles back to idle. 01 / 16 A reference and three candidates share a field [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) / [Test and qualification](https://observatory.global/qualification/) / **Field trials** # On a real site, against a written plan. Field trials, inside Test and qualification: field calibration and intercomparison, drive testing and minimisation of drive tests, performance measurement and KPIs. Every item is traced to its specification, from WMO Regional Instrument Centres to WMO instrument intercomparisons, and runs on the open Observatory Protocol. [Plan with us](https://observatory.global/contact/) Architecture [The protocol](https://observatory.global/protocol/specification/) **Technologies**: 3 **At the frontier**: 0 **Protocol functions**: 3 of 12 **Industries served**: 4 At a glance ## Field calibration and intercomparison Travelling standards, field checks and intercomparisons between instruments. In field trials, part of Test and qualification, the calibration, metadata and quality control layer holds field calibration and intercomparison, drawn against WMO Regional Instrument Centres and WMO instrument intercomparisons. We build it into every site for field trials against that standard, and keep its version and its test results on the site’s record. The problem ### On a real site, against a written plan Datasheets promise performance in conditions nobody's site will see. Buyers, auditors and regulators need results they can check, from tests they can repeat. Without independent, repeatable tests, every comparison between suppliers is a comparison between marketing documents; qualification replaces claims with measured results, published either way. Key facts **Specification**: WMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons **Specification**: 3GPP TS 28.552 (5G performance measurements) · 3GPP TS 28.554 (5G end-to-end KPIs) **Specification**: 3GPP TS 37.320 (MDT) **Standards**: WMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons · 3GPP TS 37.320 · 3GPP TS 28.552 Components - Deployable field shelter with environmental control - Automatic weather station (AWS) to WMO siting practice - Particulate monitoring station and sensor node - Compact X-band weather radar / ISAC sensing node on a lattice tower top - Street small-cell pole with an air-quality node - "AI tower in a box" - Hardware security module, 1U, in an edge rack - Data hall row pair with cold-aisle containment Interfaces **Radio**: Ethernet · Satellite (LEO/GEO) In the story below 1. The system, part by part 2. Assembly 3. Installation 4. Deployment 5. Connections 6. Operation 7. Failure and recovery 8. Scale and federation 9. What you get Scenes · 13 Next steps [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/qualification/contact/deployment/) [Open the Field Deployment Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) [See Test and qualification](https://observatory.global/qualification/) [Talk to sales](https://observatory.global/contact/sales-enquiry/) 1. Test and qualification · Field trials On a real site, against a written plan Datasheets promise performance in conditions nobody's site will see. Buyers, auditors and regulators need results they can check, from tests they can repeat. Without independent, repeatable tests, every comparison between suppliers is a comparison between marketing documents; qualification replaces claims with measured results, published either way. 2. What it does Field calibration and intercomparison Travelling standards, field checks and intercomparisons between instruments. In field trials, part of Test and qualification, the calibration, metadata and quality control layer holds field calibration and intercomparison, drawn against WMO Regional Instrument Centres and WMO instrument intercomparisons. We build it into every site for field trials against that standard, and keep its version and its test results on the site’s record. SpecificationWMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons 3. RAN planning, optimisation and assurance Performance measurement and KPIs Standard counters and end-to-end KPIs for accessibility, retainability, throughput and latency. In field trials, part of Test and qualification, the RAN planning, optimisation and assurance layer holds performance measurement and KPIs, drawn against 3GPP TS 28.552 and 3GPP TS 28.554. Specification3GPP TS 28.552 (5G performance measurements) · 3GPP TS 28.554 (5G end-to-end KPIs) 4. Time and place When and where, on every record Every record made for field trials carries its time, from a clock disciplined by satellite time or a PTP grandmaster, with the position and siting record of the station that made it. When time or position degrades, the record for field trials says so, and every user downstream sees the same warning. 5. RAN planning, optimisation and assurance Drive testing and minimisation of drive tests Field measurement and device-reported measurements that validate real coverage. In field trials, part of Test and qualification, the RAN planning, optimisation and assurance layer holds drive testing and minimisation of drive tests, drawn against 3GPP TS 37.320. We build it into every site for field trials against that standard, and keep its version and its test results on the site’s record. Specification3GPP TS 37.320 (MDT) 6. Trust Proved before it is trusted A node joins a network for field trials only after its hardware root of trust answers an attestation challenge. Its keys stay in secure hardware, its software arrives signed and every record it makes for field trials carries a signature, so anyone downstream can check where a value came from. 7. Evidence Traced to its specifications We trace each part of field trials to its specification: WMO Regional Instrument Centres, WMO instrument intercomparisons and 3GPP TS 37.320. We keep the versions, configurations and test results of field trials as signed records, so a buyer or an auditor can check what was delivered against what was specified. StandardsWMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons · 3GPP TS 37.320 · 3GPP TS 28.552 8. Operations Every node watched, every incident closed The operations console shows every node of a network for field trials with its state, its plan and its evidence. An alert arrives with its data and a runbook, acknowledging it opens a work order, and an incident for field trials closes only when the operator records the cause and verifies the fix. 9. Failure and recovery When a node fails, the fleet knows first When a node for field trials goes silent or a sensor drifts, the node buffers its data and fails over to a second link where the site has one. The alert carries the evidence a responder needs, and the record for field trials loses nothing and counts nothing twice. 10. Updates Updates in rings, with rollback Software and configuration reach a fleet for field trials in rings: one canary site first, then a few, then all, each ring gated on health and data completeness. A failed gate stops the wave, and each node for field trials returns to its last good release without a site visit. 11. How it scales One base unit, repeated A network for field trials starts with one base node and the instruments it reads. A station adds power and radio, a site adds a relay and a fleet repeats the proven site, so capacity for field trials grows by adding units, never by replacing what works. 12. What you get Qualification and the works-with programme The conformance tool and test plans are open. Device and software qualification, the works-with programme and field trial management are contracted. Works-with testing gives makers a recognised way to show their products join any grid built on the specification, with results published either way. [Talk to sales](https://observatory.global/contact/sales-enquiry/) [Partner with us](https://observatory.global/contact/partner/) 13. Next step Field trials, planned with you Tell us the sites, the systems field trials must work with and the outcome you need, with a map or a list of addresses if you have one. An engineer replies with a survey proposal, a design and a scope for field trials, and the plan grows from one site to the network you need. [Plan a deployment](https://observatory.global/qualification/contact/deployment/) [Open the Field Deployment Studio](https://observatory.global/studio/) [See Test and qualification](https://observatory.global/qualification/) More presentations ## See it from every side. Each opens as a full-screen presentation: deeper pages on the same subject, explainers, stories, guided tours of the places, network scenes and the observatories that came before. [All presentations](https://observatory.global/presentations/) ### In depth [Use case **Utility grid-edge private LTE and wildfire weather**](https://observatory.global/use-cases/utility-grid-edge/) [Use case **Northern civil observatory**](https://observatory.global/use-cases/northern-civil/) [Use case **Research-infrastructure gap node**](https://observatory.global/use-cases/ri-gap-node/) [ISIC section · ISIC U **Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies**](https://observatory.global/industries/u-activities-of-extraterritorial-organizations-and-bodies/) ### Explainers [Explainer · Scientific **Scientific, explained**](https://observatory.global/industries/research/explainer/) [Explainer · Industrial **Industrial** Blast vibration at the pit, fire weather at the grid edge, methane at the fenceline and tailings movement from GNSS.](https://observatory.global/industries/infrastructure/explainer/) [Platform **Test and qualification** Claims are easy; evidence is rare](https://observatory.global/qualification/) [Platform **Connectivity** Public networks were not built for this site](https://observatory.global/connectivity/) ### Stories [Story · Orbit **Orbits as infrastructure** Low orbits are fast and crowded, high orbits slow and spacious. Every choice of altitude is a trade between delay, footprint and how long the satellite…](https://observatory.global/stories/orbit/) [Story · Overview **What changes by 2030** Six shifts will reshape how the Earth is observed before the decade ends: networks that sense, models that forecast, foundation models that read imagery,…](https://observatory.global/stories/horizon-2030/) [Story · Timing and PNT **Time as infrastructure** A 5G cell must hold its phase within 3 µs of its neighbours, ±1.5 µs of a common reference; a synchrophasor’s one per cent vector error leaves room for only…](https://observatory.global/stories/timing-pnt/) ### Places and networks [Guided tour · Guided 3D tour **Orbit view** Ground tracks of a sun-synchronous imager and three shells of a broadband constellation, computed from their orbits over a rotating Earth.](https://observatory.global/environments/orbit-view/) [Guided tour · Guided 3D tour **Ground station** An 11 m class antenna and its companions on a fenced pad, with edge compute that turns each pass into catalogued products before the next one.](https://observatory.global/environments/ground-station/) [Network scene · NTN · Satellite **Satellite direct to device in a mountain valley** Where the valley cell cannot reach, phones on the pass road connect straight to a low-orbit satellite, which relays through its feeder link to a gateway.](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/ntn-d2d/) [Network scene · Private 5G · Mining **Private 5G in an open-pit mine** A private network for haul trucks, drills and slope radar: a mast on the rim, a cell in the pit, the core at the plant, and coverage computed over the benches themselves.](https://observatory.global/environments/networks/private5g-mine/) ### Heritage observatories [Heritage observatory · about 450 km · 2002 **GRACE** Two satellites chasing each other 220 kilometres apart, measuring their separation to a fraction of the width of a hair, so as to weigh the ice sheets, aquifers and oceans from…](https://observatory.global/observatories/grace-gravity/) [Heritage observatory · Low Earth orbit (launched from Cape Canaveral) · 1960 **TIROS-1** On 1 April 1960 a 120-kilogram drum with two television cameras was launched from Cape Canaveral and sent back the first pictures of clouds from space.](https://observatory.global/observatories/tiros-1/) ### Interactive tools [Interactive tool · Configure a station **Station Builder** Configure a station part by part in 3D, check the rules as you go and request a quote for the assembly.](https://observatory.global/studio/builder/) **01** What it is ## Calibration, metadata and quality control. Instruments placed in the air, water, ground and spectrum, from weather stations to seismometers, radars and cameras, with the calibration, metadata and quality control that make their readings evidence. The radio access network from site to spectrum: macro, small cells, DAS and repeaters, massive MIMO, NR bands and TDD synchronisation, NR features such as RedCap, positioning and sidelink, private and shared networks, Wi-Fi coexistence, 6G and ISAC, and the planning and assurance that keep it working. Each technology below carries what it is, what we do with it, and the standard it is drawn against. In situ sensors and instruments ### Field calibration and intercomparison Travelling standards, field checks and intercomparisons between instruments. We deploy, operate and maintain. WMO Regional Instrument Centres · WMO instrument intercomparisons 5G and 6G radio access networks ### Drive testing and minimisation of drive tests Field measurement and device-reported measurements that validate real coverage. We deploy and operate. 3GPP TS 37.320 (MDT) 5G and 6G radio access networks ### Performance measurement and KPIs Standard counters and end-to-end KPIs for accessibility, retainability, throughput and latency. We operate and maintain. 3GPP TS 28.552 (5G performance measurements) · 3GPP TS 28.554 (5G end-to-end KPIs) **02** Architecture ## Where it sits, and what it speaks. Field trials draws on the spectrum below; the highlighted layers carry this area, and the protocol functions it speaks are marked. Meteorology (WMO No. 8 classes) 10 Air quality and atmospheric composition 7 Hydrology and water 7 Ocean and coastal 7 Seismic, geodetic, geomagnetic and radiation 8 RF, acoustics, cameras and radar 9 Calibration, metadata and quality control 7 Frontier and research 6 Macro, small cells, DAS and repeaters 9 Massive MIMO and beamforming 7 NR bands, duplexing and synchronisation 9 NR features: RedCap, positioning, sidelink and verticals 9 Private networks and RAN sharing 7 Wi-Fi coexistence and convergence 8 6G and integrated sensing and communication 7 RAN planning, optimisation and assurance 6 01**Join** Identity, attestation quote, signed policy. 02**Admit** Admitted for a stated scope, nothing wider. 03**Describe** What, where, how and by whom, with calibration. 04**Time** One clock across the grid, with its error bound. 05**Observe** Every value with quality and provenance. 06**Qualify** Tested against the specification, state on record. 07**Federate** Signed exchange across grids and trust domains. 08**Orchestrate** Software and configuration by signed plan. 09**Correct** A correction marks what depends on it and publishes a new version. 10**Exchange** Products reach people and applications through versioned interfaces. 11**Prove** Signed proof receipts that an independent verifier can check. 12**Exit and decommission** An open exit path, and a record that closes. **03** On the grid ## Every site joins one observing grid. The open networks on the grid today, over real relief and the geodesic cells we count them into. A site built here enrols into the same grid. ## The observing grid 1. Open instruments on the observing grid. **04** In the field ## Where this runs, sector by sector. Deployment scenarios from the sector research that rely on field trials. [Cities Hybrid air-quality network Reference analysers plus calibrated low-cost nodes; low-cost sensors alone do not meet regulatory requirements.](https://observatory.global/sectors/cities/) [Agriculture Smallholder and parametric-insurance station networks Station density and tamper evidence for index insurance.](https://observatory.global/sectors/agriculture/) [Energy Bankable solar and wind measurement campaigns Accepted standards, traceable calibration and transparent data handling.](https://observatory.global/sectors/energy/) **05** Open and enterprise ## Open by default. Enterprise by contract. The open counterpart lives on the main site for anyone to read and run. The enterprise service is designed, deployed and operated with you, under contract. Open, on the main site - Conformance tool - Test plans Enterprise, on this site - Device and software qualification - Works-with programme - Field trial management **06** The rest of the line ## Test and qualification, area by area. [Test and qualification Lab testing Environmental, RF, power and EMC, on the bench.](https://observatory.global/qualification/lab-testing/) [Test and qualification Conformance Run the protocol suite, publish the result.](https://observatory.global/qualification/conformance/) [Test and qualification Interoperability events Many suppliers, one test plan.](https://observatory.global/qualification/interoperability-events/) [Test and qualification Evidence Every result, signed and kept.](https://observatory.global/qualification/evidence/) ## Bring us the site. Survey, design, deployment and operation for field trials. The form names who receives your details. [Talk to us](https://observatory.global/contact/) [Ask for a quote](https://observatory.global/contact/sales-enquiry/) [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/) **Test and qualification** . Tested against the specification. State on record. 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