This week’s news gives a preview on what test and measurement companies will be focused on at Mobile World Congress.
–Rhode & Schwarz has added new functions to its R&S CMW500 wideband radio communications tester, including support for three-component carrier downlink testing for LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation (CA). Carrier aggregation allows the combination of frequency bands in order to achieve higher data rates.
R&S said that its tester is the first with such support, and can also test two component carriers for the uplink — and that it can manage downlink CA with 2×2 MIMO, including 3GPP fading profiles, on one instrument. The tester is aimed at development tests for chips and devices, protocol conformance and carrier acceptance testing for FDD and TDD LTE. It also has a new automated solution for VoLTE testing that verifies voice quality and analyzes VoLTE impact on battery life at the same time, Rohde & Schwarz said.
Although LTE has garnered much of the testing spotlight, R&S has also updated some of its 3G functionality with new options for testing DC HSUPA with two carriers in the uplink, as laid out in 3GPP’s Release 9. The tester already supports DC HSDPA, so the technologies can be tested in combination.
The company also announced this week that it worked in partnership with Elektrobit to complete the first tests for LTE-capable, high-power user equipment (HPUE) for Band 14 public safety networks such as the one that the First Responder Network Authority, or FirstNet, plans to deploy in the U.S. Rohde & Schwarz and Elektrobit will be giving the first live demonstration of HPUE testing — which also involves the CMW500, which will emulate a Band 14 LTE network while Elektrobit’s HPUE demonstrator will transmit at more than 31 DBM.
“High-power user equipment capability will be important especially during the early phases of FirstNet network rollouts when coverage is limited,” said Jani Lyrintzis, VP of business development and sales for Elektrobit, in a statement. “Adding this capability quickly on top of EB’s specialized device platform nicely demonstrates the platform’s modularity and scalability, while increasing its attractiveness and use case and customer potential.”
–Among the test & measurement exhibitors next week is LitePoint, which has focused on production testing for devices that use 802.11ac, LTE and NFC and is a subsidiary of Teradyne Inc. LitePoint will also be introducing new products for faster lab results as a result of its recent acquisition of ZTEC Instruments. LitePoint also announced this week that Chinese electronics manufacturer TCL Communications has used its technology to achieve “breakthrough production volumes” for TCL’s smartphones, allowing the testing of four devices at the same time and improving manufacturing throughput. TCL is ranked as the fifth largest handset provider in the world, with a top ranking in the Chinese market.
Lv Well, senior VP and TMC general manager at TCL, said that the company shipped more than 8 million 2G/3G and LTE devices in November alone.
TCL Communication (stock code: 02618.HK), together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures and markets an expanding portfolio of mobile and internet products worldwide under two key brands – TCL and ALCATEL ONE TOUCH. The Group’s products are currently sold in China and over 160 other countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, TCL Communication operates its highly efficient manufacturing plant and R&D centers in various provinces of the PRC. It employs over 11,000 people in China, Hong Kong and overseas.
–Also in LTE-A testing news, Aeroflex Ltd. said that its 7100 Digital Radio Test Set for handset and chipset testing provides CA testing at full Cat 6 data rates (300 Mbps downlink and 50 Mbps uplink) for FDD mode, as well as CA for TDD.
The Category 6 capabilities are achieved by a software upgrade and the use of an RF combiner.
—Agilent Technologies Inc. will be working with FIME, which tests advanced secure-chips, for mobile payment test solutions. The two companies said that developing tools “to test and certify secure-chip mobile payment technology will be a key priority for the two organizations” and involve FIME’s expertise in payments and Agilent’s experience in telecom testing.
Also this week, Agilent launched a new software tool to make bench testing more efficient, as well as what it is calling its “most significant … release to date” for its Advanced Design System, ADS 2014. ADS is Agilent’s electronic design automation software for RF, microwave and signal-integrity applications.
—Anite has been selected by an unnamed “major Chinese mobile operator” for its TD-LTE device acceptance testing.
Anite said that the selection “follows several years of close collaboration between the two parties and is a direct result of Anite’s leading coverage of GTI (Global TD-LTE Initiative) validated TD-LTE network simulator interoperability test scripts.”
Anite also noted in a management statement this week that its handset test business is doing about as expected, and its network testing operations have had a strong quarter.
