Keysight automates physical test-lab connectivity with Velocity 4900

Keysight Technologies has introduced two software-controlled Layer 1 switching systems for automating physical connections between instruments and devices in large test laboratories.

The Velocity 4902 is a 2U system with 72 QSFP28 ports. Breakout configurations provide as many as 288 individual connections, supporting rates from 100Mbit/s to 100Gbit/s.

The larger Velocity 4906 occupies 6U and provides 288 SFP28 ports operating between 100Mbit/s and 25Gbit/s. Both products are designed as transparent, protocol-agnostic and non-blocking physical-layer matrices.

Keysight says the switches provide deterministic low latency and low jitter while supporting single-mode and multimode fibre, direct-attach copper and active optical cables. Connection speed and media type can be set for each port. Port tapping and one-to-many replication allow traffic to be observed or distributed across several test resources.

The switches integrate with Keysight's Velocity software, which handles testbed configuration, equipment reservations and automated topology changes. This allows laboratories to reconfigure physical connections as part of a continuous integration or automated validation workflow, rather than relying on manual patching.

The company is positioning the range for AI cluster validation, network equipment development and emerging 6G test environments. The Velocity 4900 systems are available to order, with deliveries scheduled to begin in January 2027.