When the breakdown occurs, engineers need tools that can see inside the problem
In February 2021, Keysight Technologies completed its acquisition of Sanjole, a specialist in wireless protocol analysis, quietly extending its reach into one of the most consequential infrastructure challenges of our era: ensuring that the many disparate pieces of 5G technology actually speak to one another. As private networks move from promise to practice, the ability to see inside a failed connection—to decode, trace, and diagnose—becomes as vital as the networks themselves. This union of complementary capabilities reflects a broader truth about technological progress: the visible breakthroughs depend on invisible layers of testing, verification, and trust.
- Private 5G networks are scaling rapidly, and with that scale comes a surge in complex interoperability failures that can strand entire deployments.
- Sanjole's niche expertise—decoding protocol layers and exposing device-to-network incompatibilities before they reach customers—fills a critical gap that no amount of general-purpose tooling can bridge.
- Keysight, already serving chipset makers, operators, and infrastructure builders, now risks fragmenting its customers' workflows without a unified testing solution to anchor them.
- The acquisition stitches together Keysight's design and test infrastructure with Sanjole's protocol analysis capabilities, offering a single end-to-end solution across the 5G ecosystem.
- With no material impact on 2021 guidance and undisclosed financials, the deal signals a precise, confident bet on a growing market rather than a desperate pivot.
Keysight Technologies closed its acquisition of Sanjole in February 2021, bringing together two companies whose strengths fit together like adjacent puzzle pieces. Keysight offered established design and test infrastructure across communications, aerospace, and semiconductor sectors; Sanjole offered something harder to replicate—deep expertise in finding exactly where devices and networks fail to understand each other across 4G, 5G, and emerging wireless standards.
The timing was deliberate. As private 5G networks graduate from pilot programs to full-scale deployments, the technical problems multiply. Engineers need tools that can see inside a dropped connection or a chipset miscommunication—decoding protocol layers, tracing signal paths, and isolating the precise point of failure. Sanjole had built its reputation doing exactly this, including work with the 3GPP standards body and interoperability trials that caught real-world incompatibilities before they reached end users.
For Keysight, the deal closes a gap in its portfolio, particularly for customers working on modems, chipsets, and radio access networks. Satish Dhanasekaran, Keysight's chief operating officer, described it as a natural extension of the company's end-to-end mission. Sanjole's co-founder Joe Fala framed it as a shared commitment to accelerating customer innovation—a signal that Sanjole's technology and engineers would now operate at the scale of a much larger organization.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and Keysight confirmed no material effect on its 2021 guidance—language that signals confidence rather than caution. What the combined entity can now deliver matters more than the price paid: standards-validated interoperability testing, faster debugging, and shorter time-to-market for customers navigating the complexity of next-generation wireless. As 5G proliferates across manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics, the demand for exactly these capabilities will only deepen.
Keysight Technologies has closed its acquisition of Sanjole, a specialist in wireless protocol analysis and interoperability testing, marking a strategic move to deepen its foothold in the rapidly expanding 5G market. The deal, announced in February 2021, brings together two companies with complementary strengths: Keysight's established design and test infrastructure, and Sanjole's expertise in identifying and resolving communication problems between devices and networks across 4G, 5G, and emerging wireless standards.
The timing reflects a shift in how the telecom industry approaches network deployment. As private 5G networks move from pilot projects to scaled deployments, the technical challenges multiply. When a chipset fails to communicate properly with a radio access network, or when a device drops connection under specific conditions, engineers need tools that can see inside the problem—tools that decode protocol layers, trace signal paths, and pinpoint exactly where the breakdown occurs. Sanjole built its reputation doing precisely this work, collaborating with the 3GPP standards body and running interoperability trials that exposed real-world incompatibilities before they reached customers.
Keysight, a $4.2 billion revenue company that serves enterprises, service providers, and governments across communications, aerospace, automotive, and semiconductor sectors, saw in Sanjole a way to offer customers an integrated solution rather than a patchwork of separate tools. The acquisition allows Keysight to serve the full spectrum of the communications ecosystem—from the chipset manufacturers designing the silicon, to the operators building and running networks, to the equipment makers assembling the infrastructure. Each of these players faces the same core problem: ensuring that their piece of the 5G puzzle actually works with everyone else's piece.
Satish Dhanasekaran, Keysight's chief operating officer, framed the acquisition as a natural extension of the company's mission to provide end-to-end solutions. The addition of Sanjole's hardware and software offerings fills a gap in Keysight's portfolio, particularly for customers working on modems, chipsets, and radio access networks. Joe Fala, Sanjole's co-founder and president, echoed the sentiment, emphasizing that both companies share a commitment to accelerating customer innovation—a diplomatic way of saying that Sanjole's engineers and technology will now operate at scale within a much larger organization.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Keysight indicated the acquisition would have no material impact on its full-year 2021 guidance. That restraint in language is typical for such announcements, but it also signals confidence: this is not a transformative, bet-the-company move, but rather a focused acquisition designed to strengthen an existing business line. What matters more than the price is what the combined entity can now deliver: standards-validated interoperability testing, faster debugging cycles, and accelerated time-to-market for customers launching new wireless products and networks.
As 5G deployments accelerate globally and private networks proliferate across industries—from manufacturing to healthcare to logistics—the demand for sophisticated testing and troubleshooting tools will only grow. Keysight's acquisition of Sanjole positions the company to capture a meaningful share of that demand, offering customers a single vendor they can trust to help them navigate the complexity of next-generation wireless technology.
Notable Quotes
As the 5G ecosystem and deployments scale, Keysight remains committed to enabling customers with end-to-end design and test solutions.— Satish Dhanasekaran, Keysight chief operating officer
We see the same passion and energy for driving customer outcomes at Keysight, and we are thrilled to join forces to deliver leading-edge solutions to our customers.— Joe Fala, Sanjole co-founder and president
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does a company like Keysight need to acquire someone like Sanjole? Couldn't they just build this capability themselves?
They could, but it would take years. Sanjole has spent a decade building relationships with the 3GPP standards body and running interoperability trials. That institutional knowledge—knowing where the problems hide in the protocol stack—isn't something you can hire away or reverse-engineer quickly.
So this is really about time to market?
Partly that. But it's also about credibility. When a chipset maker or a network operator has a problem, they need to trust that the person diagnosing it understands the standards deeply. Sanjole earned that trust through real work in the field.
What does Keysight get out of this that they didn't have before?
A complete toolkit. Before, Keysight could help you design and test your piece of the network. Now they can help you test how your piece talks to everyone else's piece. That's the hard part—the interoperability part.
And Sanjole? What do they get?
Scale and resources. Sanjole was good at what they did, but they were small. Now their tools reach Keysight's entire customer base—chipmakers, operators, equipment manufacturers. They go from a specialist firm to part of a $4 billion company.
Does this tell us anything about where 5G is heading?
It tells us that 5G is moving from theory to practice. When you're still in the standards phase, you don't need interoperability testing. But once deployments start scaling, suddenly everyone needs it. Keysight is betting that need is about to explode.