Agilent Demo at the LTE World Summit 2010

Here is the Agilent Demo. I have blogged about Agilent's demo from last year here.

Anritsu Demo at the LTE World Summit 2010

I have blogged about the Anritsu MD8430A here and about their RTD product here. Recently they have become first test equipment vendor in the world to achieve GCF-approved test case validations for both LTE (Long Term Evolution) RF and protocol conformance testing.

Here is their Demo from LTE World Summit 2010.

LTE, Conformance Testing and GCF

According to Light Reading article, LSTI results indicate that most mobile operators are still in the very early stages of testing next-gen mobile broadband Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) technology.

Meanwhile, the System Simulator manufacturers are going strong in their LTE Conformance testing.

Anritsu Corporation announced recently that it is the first test equipment vendor in the world to achieve GCF-approved test case validations for both LTE (Long Term Evolution) RF and protocol conformance testing.

Mobile terminal manufacturers must gain GCF approval to prove that their LTE terminals satisfy the 3GPP standards, meaning that there is increasing demand for an approved conformance test environment.

At the GCF CAG#22 meeting earlier last month, Anritsu successfully gained GCF approval for an industry-leading 12 RF test cases for its ME7873L RF Conformance Test System together with additional test cases for its ME7832L Protocol Conformance Test System.

Anite and Huawei demonstrated the first TD-LTE UE protocol conformance test cases. Anite and Huawei are working together to accelerate the process of TD-LTE technology for China Mobile’s World Expo.

The new TD-LTE tests build out Anite’s comprehensive portfolio for all leading 3GPP protocol technologies, from GSM through EDGE and WCDMA to the latest HSPA+ and LTE futures. Anite blends software-only host and target test solutions for 2G, 3G and LTE technologies that allow developers to adopt a total end-to-end solution for all wireless testing needs.

Starting next month, 7 layers will offer LTE testing services in three areas: regulatory compliance, certification, and operator-specific test cases.

Aeroflex Test Solutions and 7 layers have signed an agreement to provide LTE (Long Term Evolution) testing services in support of the commercialization of LTE mobile phone networks in Japan. Aeroflex will install its 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set in 7 layersA' laboratory in Yokohama, Japan, greatly expanding 7 layersA' LTE regulatory compliance testing services.

With advanced LTE test equipment and services conveniently located, Japanese UE (user equipment) manufacturers and network operators can speed up testing in advance of LTE rollout.

Some tests and logs from the UE Conformance Testing of Protocols are available on the 3G4G website here.

Create your own LTE tests in 15 minutes with Anritsu’s RTD

Today we take an exclusive look in this blog inside Anritsu’s Rapid Test Designer (a.k.a. RTD) tool. RTD is a very powerful tool that can be used to design LTE tests for R&D purpose. RTD works in conjunction with Anritsu’s MD8430A. MD8430A has not very long back won the CTIA Emerging technology award.

For WCDMA/HSPA testing, Anritsu offered Protocol Test System (PTS) for R&D purpose. For LTE the basic tool is the RTD. The advantage of RTD as opposed to earlier generation PTS is that RTD is GUI based development environment that can speed up development and very little knowledge of test script development environment like TTCN-2 and TTCN-3 is required.

The RTD is a software tool that sits on top of a control PC. It controls the Signalling Tester (hardware) MD8430A. The diagram above shows the setup and connections of different components. The hardware (MD8430A) simulates Layer 1 (PHY), MAC, RLC and PDCP. The software (RTD) is used to simulate RRC and NAS.

When the tool starts up you are offered typical options as in case of any software. Once you have clicked on new test and provided it with a name, you are up and creating your own scenario.

The simple procedures already have a name defined but you can start giving meaningful names to complex procedures. Each name signifies the action it will be performing. For example Cell Configuration will be used initially to configure the parameters of the cell.

Clicking on the Cell Configuration will provide you with the possible options that can be used to configure the cells like the SFN Offsets, etc. All the channels that are necessary for a cell can be configured here.

Here is my attempt to randomly create something :)

And try sending some message like RRC Connection release. Didn’t quite work because it’s not in the right sequence but just shows the ease with which things can be done.

This is run time result of one of the test cases.

It may take few hours to get the hang of RTD, but once you understand how it works, you can start creating your own tests and scenarios at full speed. There are also example procedures available to get you started ;)

"The MD8430A is being used by LTE chipset manufacturers to ensure the quality of their products, speed time to market, and reduce design and production test costs." - Wade Hulon, Vice President and General Manager of Anritsu Company, Americas Sales Region.

You can learn more about MD8430A and RTD by following the links below:

• http://www.us.anritsu.com/downloads/files/MD8430A_EL1101.pdf
• http://www.eu.anritsu.com/files/MD8430A_LTE_E2101.pdf

Note: All the information mentioned in this post is my personal view and does not represent Anritsu's official views. Also if you manage to take few more minutes to create your own test then please do not blame me ;)

R&S bidding for LTE leadership

Free online LTE Tutorial is available at IEEE Communications Society Website, courtesy of Rohde & Schwarz. You can view the tutorial here.

Not long back, I saw R&S demo of CMW-500 with the LG UE at the LTE World Summit. R&S has also verified ETSI 3GPP LTE TTCN-3 test cases with Qasara and has shown successful interoperability testing between Qasara’s Virtual UE and Rohde & Schwarz's 3GPP LTE Virtual Tester.

There is also a LTE TDD Technology Overview available to download from their website here.

LTE World Summit - Day 2 Pics

Here are few Pics that I took today.


The R&S CMW 500 is seen to be doing MIMO testing with LG UE. The throughput was reaching upto 60Mbps.

Thats the LG LTE UE being used by R&S.

Thats the Anritsu MD8430 LTE Network Simulator and MD8435 UE Simulator. They were showing throughputs of 100Mbps DL and around 45Mbps in UL. The RTD tool (I am going to cover that in a seperate blog in few weeks time) can be seen on top right.

Anritsu engineer working ;)

Tektronix simulators. Apparently they have a solution for everything from drive testing to Femtocell test equipment. Hopefully more later

I also went to Ericsson Demo/Roadshow for LTE, HSPA and IMS Technologies. Unfortunately they didnt allow anyone to take any photographs.

Agilent in a three-pronged attack over LTE

Agilent have decided to launch an all-out attack with the view of proving themselves leaders of LTE technology.

Firstly, they released an LTE book just yesterday. The book will now be competing with four other very popular books on LTE already in the market. I managed to get an early preview of the book and I wasn't very impressed. There are nevertheless some sections which are very well written, containing unique information.

Secondly, Agilent are running some MIMO workshops and have released some very good presentations on MIMO on the web. You can download the material from the workshop here.

Finally, Agilent Technologies are to present three technical sessions at 2009 Informa LTE World Summit. Here is an extract from the press release:

Agilent Technologies has announced it will present three technical sessions and exhibit its LTE test application solutions at the fifth Informa LTE World Summit, Berlin, Germany, May 18-20. Agilent will exhibit its design-automation tools and flexible instrumentation for early LTE R&D design in components, base-station equipment and mobile devices.

The technical sessions are:
* MIMO Mia! -- What the Standards Didn't Tell You about MIMO;
* Honey, Who Shrunk My Mega Bits -- Practical Tips on Measuring Application Throughput in the Real World; and
* Doing Less with Moore - Challenges and Opportunities for Future Standards.

Agilent will exhibit its design-automation tools and flexible instrumentation for early LTE R&D design in components, base-station equipment and mobile devices.

The landscape is changing rapidly in mobile communications, combined with the challenges in global economies, yet LTE clearly is gaining momentum, said Benoit Neel, vice president and general manager of Agilent's Europe, Middle East and Africa field operations. Agilent remains fully committed to providing test solutions for the entire LTE development lifecycle -- from early RF and protocol development to conformance test and comprehensive, real-time network optimization and diagnostics.

Session highlights of Doing Less with Moore - Challenges and Opportunities for Future Standards, an LTE Summit workshop track on standardization presented by Moray Rumney, include:
* Examining trends in standardization
* Growing fragmentation and complexity, diminishing returns
* The growing gap between conformance testing and real life operation
* Opportunities for standards in an uncertain world
* Integration of macrocell and small cell technology
* Can femtocells do it all or do we need Wi-Fi

I am going to be there and am hoping to give youll detailed information on the event.

Anritsu's LTE Tester MD8430A is a winner

Anritsu Company announces its MD8430A Signalling Tester was the only test instrument to win a prestigious CTIA Emerging Technology (E-Tech) Award, announced during the International CTIA WIRELESSS® 2009 show in Las Vegas. The MD8430A, the industry’s first LTE base station simulator, earned a second prize in the 4G - Service Creation & Development category of the E-Tech Awards, which recognize the finest wireless products and services.

“We are thrilled and honored to have won a CTIA E-Tech award because it signifies the best and brightest technologies in the wireless market. We would like to thank everyone who participated in the voting and supported the MD8430A,” said Wade Hulon, Vice President and General Manager of Anritsu Company, Americas Sales Region. “The MD8430A is being used by LTE chipset manufacturers to ensure the quality of their products, speed time to market, and reduce design and production test costs.”

Approximately 300 entries were received for this year’s E-Tech Awards. They were reviewed by a panel of 30 recognized members of the media, industry analysts and executives who selected finalists based on innovation, functionality, technological importance, implementation and overall “wow” factor. More than 40,000 wireless professionals voted on the finalists to determine the winners in 18 categories.

The MD8430A is a highly accurate cost-effective solution for manufacturers of LTE chipsets and mobile devices to evaluate their products and improve time to market. Developed in conjunction with leading chipset manufacturers, the MD8430A augments Anritsu’s broad 3GPP test suite, providing developers of wireless devices and systems with a single-source test solution company.

The MD8430A is designed with 4 RF units that enable 2x2 MIMO system handover tests in a simulated network environment. The base station simulator can conduct end-to-end testing at downlink speeds up to 150 Mbps and uplink speeds up to 50 Mbps. All critical 3GPP air-interface LTE protocol tests, including baseband coding/decoding processing tests; protocol sequence tests, such as position registration, origination, termination, handover, terminal and network disconnect tests; and application tests, are supported. Powerful L1/L2 cache analysis functions are provided as well.

It's Aeroflex turn now to launch it's LTE product

As the competition is spicing up for the LTE race, companies have now started to launch their LTE products.

Continuing with the trends and keep the competition alive it’s now Aeroflex which launched the TM500 TD-LTE test mobile.

This latest LTE test mobile is designed to support Time Division Duplex for 3G LTE (TD-LTE) and will definitely compliment Aeroflex's TM500 LTE-FDD for 3G LTE Frequency Division Duplex quite well.
Ever since China mobile announced its plans for TD-LTE there was immense pressure on the equipment vendors to meet the demands. TM500 TD-LTE test mobile is designed to enable infrastructure equipment vendor’s match that demanding timescales for TD-LTE trials in China.
The TM500 TD-LTE's extensive Layer 1, Layer 2 and higher layer test features make it an indispensable testing peer that provides complete visibility even into the lowest layers of the radio modem by generating the detailed diagnostic data needed for engineers to verify the required functionality and optimize network operation and performance.
Following are further characteristics of TM500 TD-LTE:

• Support MIMO,
• Handover testing is simple and supported well,
• The test mobile can support 20MHz channel bandwidths and downlink data rates of upto 150Mbit/

All the above characteristics if the test mobile will enable comprehensive development and test support of base station and network infrastructure for the next generation of Chinese mobile technology.

The TM500 TD-LTE can co-exist in the same unit as the TM500 LTE-FDD protecting investment and maximizing test flexibility for engineers working on both standards.
Aeroflex will provide full in-country support for the TM500 TD-LTE so that technical questions and integration issues can be dealt with in Chinese and Aeroflex engineers can get on-site quickly, if needed, without having to fly in from Europe or the USA.

The TM500 TD-LTE will be available for customer shipment in late 2008.
It will be available both as a standalone unit and as an upgrade to existing TM500 LTE-FDD systems.