As better network visibility becomes available via monitoring platforms, geolocation information and other big data, operators are able to minimize expensive in-person drive testing or cover situations in which drive-testing would not be feasible. Two recent announcements illustrate that trend:
-Mobile operator Swisscom is using Astellia’s Nova RAN Optimizer for UMTS and LTE optimization. Astellia’s solution supports identifying coverage gaps, geolocation of usage hot spots, troubleshooting and general network optimization without drive testing.
-An unnamed “major” Chinese mobile operator chose Anite’s Virtual Drive Testing Toolset for checking the performance of mobile devices on high-speed trains, the test company said. The solution takes radio frequency propagation and network signaling data from field drive tests and recreates real-world scenarios in the lab.
Earlier this month, Anite (now part of Keysight Technologies) expanded the capabilities of its Virtual Drive Testing Toolset to include network simulation; it’s set to demonstrate the solution at Mobile World Congress next month.
In other test news this week:
-Keysight had other wins in the Chinese market. Its UXM wireless test set is integrated into General Test Systems‘ RayZone-7000 Over The Air test solution, which won a recent bid to support testing at China Mobile’s Terminal Test Center in Hangzhou, China.
Meanwhile, Keysight’s low-frequency noise measurement system will be in use at the China Electronic Product Reliability and Environmental Testing Research Institute as it studies semiconductor reliability. CEPREI, according to Keysight is “the first scientific research organization to engage in product quality and reliability research in China.”
Keysight also released the latest version of its Genesys software for RF simulation and synthesis for RF designers, as well as a new PXI test solution and audio test library for radios used in public safety, military and aviation. The PXI system supports analog and digital radio standards as well as LTE.
–ETSI created a new Industry Specification Group to work on specifications for “5G” protocols, from addressing and security to mobility and “Internet of Things”-specific needs and ultra-low latency applications in next generation networks. The first meeting was held recently in London, hosted by BSI, the U.K.’s national standards organization.
“The telecommunications industry has reached a point where forward leaps in the technology of the local access networks will not deliver their full potential unless, in parallel, the underlying protocol stacks used in core and access networks evolve,” ETSI said in a statement on the formation of the new group. “The development of future 5G systems presents a unique opportunity to address this issue, as a sub-optimal protocol architecture can negate the huge performance and capacity improvements planned for the radio access network.”
–Nokia and KT held a field trial they claim was the first using enhanced machine type communications, which is also known as LTE-M, is part of LTE Release 13 aimed at supporting “Internet of Things” applications more fully within LTE.