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July 2011
Amplifier Test Software Simplifies Test and Certification of RF Amplifiers
Boonton has launched “Amplifier Test Bench”, a new software package that simplifies test and certification of RF Amplifiers. Amplifier Test Bench supports analysis of pulsed and linear amplifiers; furthermore it measures gain over frequency and gain over input power.
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CCI Solves Crucial Cell Site Interference Issues with Latest Analyzer Solutions
Leading provider of wireless base station enhancement products, Communications Components Inc. (CCI), has now launched its PiMPro family of analyzers in EMEA, which enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to remove the adverse affects of Passive Intermodulation (PIM) – a form of interference - from their networks, and prevent it from damaging quality of service (QoS) and customer experience.
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Customizing COTS Testing Systems
Turning Off-the-Shelf Components into an Application-Specific, Total Data Acquisition Solution By definition, the off-the-shelf modular instruments (VME, PXI, VXI, CompactPCI, PCI, etc.) used to create automated test and measurement systems are designed to be general purpose, programmable, and flexible enough to handle a variety of input ranges and types, speeds, and functions.
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Palmer Wahl Introduces the C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator
The ergonomically designed Wahl C150 On-site Multifunction Calibrator features unique built in “easy connect” terminals, portable and bench top flexibility, and easy to use intuitive embedded software.
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June 2011
Increasing Complexity of Devices Under Test (DUTs) - Boom or Doom for the Test Engineer
Frost & Sullivan's Industry Director Jessy Cavazos and Industry Analyst Prathima Bommakanti, along with guest speaker Matthew Friedman, Senior Product Manager for Automated Test at National Instruments, have completed extensive analysis on the electronic test equipment market.
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New Measurement Solution For Optical Transmitter Compliance Testing Offers the Highest Bandwidth Optical Waveform Analysis and Increased Accuracy
Agilent Technologies introduced a new measurement solution for optical transmitter compliance testing on the Agilent 86100D digital communications analyzer. The solution offers the industry’s highest bandwidth optical waveform analysis and increased accuracy.
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May 2011
Field-to-Lab Testing Equals Better Real-World Performance for Mobile Devices
This case study will describe an application of the Azimuth Systems Field-to-Lab (FTL) Solution by a market-leading handset manufacturer.
Real-world drive testing is very expensive; lab testing is much less expensive and faster -- provided that the real world can be emulated with sufficient fidelity.
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April 2011
Use Oscilloscopes to Monitor Multiple Protocols
By Roland Gamper, LeCroy Corporation
Regardless of the system topology and application domain, the development, maintenance and monitoring of electronic system architectures using mixed protocols requires tools able to straddle several busses, at various speeds and with different line characteristics.
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December 2010
Generating Multiple Digitally Modulated Carriers Using an AWG
By Thomas Dippon, Agilent Technologies
When testing wideband RF components and systems, it is necessary to stimulate the device under test (DUT) with a wideband signal that is as close to the “real” signal as possible.
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Meeting the Challenge of Multi-standard Wireless Communications Testing
By Tim Carey, Aeroflex Test Solutions
Non-cellular technologies are increasingly being integrated into cellular terminals, and this has generated the need for test systems that comprise a number of different test platforms, which can make system integration both complex and costly.
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August 2010
SIGINT Systems Adapt for Rapidly Changing Threats
By Chris Desalvo, Agilent Technologies
Commercially available RF transmitters in the ever-evolving wireless communications technology give SIGINT and COMINT mission managers a most difficult task.
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June 2010
LTE vs. WiMAX – A Test Perspective
By Graham Celine, Azimuth Systems
The marketing battle between WiMAX and LTE is raging in an effort to declare which is the best solution, and vendors and service providers are racing to put stakes in the ground to claim the first or most predominant network delivering wireline speeds.
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Testing of WiMAX MIMO Devices in a Realistic Manner
by Using MIMO Over-the-Air Testing
By Jukka-Pekka Nuutinen, Elektrobit Corporation
To overcome the ever increasing end-user performance requirements of mobile devices, new multi antenna devices are being developed utilizing the recent advances in Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) techniques, such as transmit diversity and spatial multiplexing introduced e.
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WiMAX and the Effects of Multipath
By Ray Chadwick, Berkeley Varitronics Systems, Inc.
WiMAX signals suffer from the effects of multipath and exhibit broadband fading characteristics that are very apparent in the spectrum of the received WiMAX signal (see Figure 1).
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April 2010
Solutions for Nonlinear Characterization of High-Power Amplifiers
By Keith Anderson, Agilent Technologies
click to enlarge
Figure 1. NVNA block diagram.
High-power RF amplifiers are used in telecommunications, biomedical, and military systems.
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February 2010
Challenges in Designing a New Modulation Scheme for LTE
LTE, or Long Term Evolution, is the latest mobile broadband standard and represents the start of the fourth generation of cellular communication systems. The downlink for LTE uses OFDMA modulation, which is a well understood technology from development of existing systems like WiMAX.
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Network Operator Acceptance Testing of LTE Devices
The use of wireless devices, whether handsets or data cards, has increased substantially during the last few years. To accelerate device time-to-market and ensure customer satisfaction, many 2G/3G network operators have considered simulation tests in the lab as part of their acceptance programmes, and have established a device validation ecosystem with UE manufacturers and chipset vendors.
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Single Carrier FDMA in LTE
By Ram Asokan, Ixia
SC-FDMA is a new technology used for uplink in LTE. This article explores this technology, its use in LTE and its extension from OFDM.
Please click here to view the article
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December 2009
Introduction to LTE Base Station RF Conformance Testing
The successful deployment of 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) depends in large part on the compatibility and effective interworking of the system's different elements. Conformance testing ensures that these elements meet a minimum level of performance as defined in the 3GPP specifications.
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MIMO-Analysis for WiMAX, WLAN and LTE
Due to ongoing growth in demand for channel capacity, more and more radio standards such as WiMAX, 3GPP HSPA, 3GPP LTE and WLAN are adopting MIMO technology. Using MIMO it is possible to boost the data rate and achieve better transmission quality through simultaneous usage of multiple transmit and receive antennas.
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The Role of Wideband Transceiver Technology in Enabling LTE
Long term evolution (LTE) is firmly on course to be the dominant wireless communications standard in the next decade. There is overwhelming operator commitment to adopting the LTE standard and capitalising on the unquestionable benefits it will bring to their subscribers, even more so than was demonstrated for its 3G predecessors.
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Wireless Sensor Networks Expand the Reach of Wireless Technology
Every day, smart devices are collecting more and more data from the world around us. Wireless technology continues to grow to meet an increasing demand for data, and it delivers a more efficient, more flexible solution with lower installation costs.
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October 2009
The Hidden Challenge of MIMO Test
Today, engineers can combine modern RF signal analyzers with a basic understanding of digital downconversion to produce a tightly synchronized MIMO measurement solution.
By David A. Hall, National Instruments
click to enlarge
Figure 1.
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August 2009
Bringing the Real World into the Lab for 4G Wireless Testing
Wireless receiver testing can be a frustrating undertaking due to the breadth of the technologies and the depth of technical detail involved. Conformance tests are mandatory, but are not meant to quantify or predict realistic mobile operation.
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Challenges of LTE Basestation and Handset Testing
With the pressure on infrastructure equipment vendors to deliver quickly to market, structured, incremental and flexible test programs are essential for the development integration, verification and optimization of LTE infrastructure.
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June 2009
Radio Channel Emulation Challenges in 3GPP LTE
In recent years there has been a major change in the way people communicate. Now wireless connections are nearly everywhere. A wireless connection is subject to unpredictable phenomena and therefore is far more complex than a wired system.
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May 2009
Dual Channel MIMO Measurements for WiMAX™ Wave 2
Systems using Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) configurations can provide higher data rates with improved spectral efficiency when compared to traditional Single-Input Single-Output (SISO) implementations. Characterizing and troubleshooting these advanced WiMAX systems often requires a dual-channel signal analyzer with channel estimation capability, a “matrix decoder” and an OFDM demodulator.
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April 2009
The Basics of RF and Microwave Switching Test Systems
The tremendous growth of the wireless communication industry has meant an explosion in the level of testing of the components and subassemblies for mobile wireless devices.
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March 2009
Testing LTE and WiMAX OFDM/MIMO-Based Systems
Mobile wireless systems have dramatically evolved over the past two decades. Commercial wireless networks in the early 1980s provided low-capacity, voice-only services, whereas, in today's world, a growing number of mobile wireless networks are evolving to support higher capacity throughput for data-hungry applications.
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January 2009
GPS Environmental Challenges Drive Common Test Practices
Geocaching involves discovering various "caches" whose coordinates can be found on the Web and whose contents are located all over the world. Several weeks ago, I joined hundreds of thousands of other GPS enthusiasts by trying my luck at geocaching for the first time.
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The Development of a Standard Hand Phantom for Wireless Performance Testing: Part 2
An informal survey of advertised handsets on the market revealed that they could generally be separated into two categories by width. Devices between 40 to 56 mm wide included most mono-block or “candybar”, fold or “clamshell”, slider, and rotator devices having a telephone-style keypad
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December 2008
Testing Challenges of SDR's
Today's communications industry has found it essential to be able to rapidly adapt their design methodologies in order to meet their customers' ever increasing demands and expectations for more speed, range and reliability, all at a lower cost.
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November 2008
Developing a Standard Hand Phantom for Wireless Testing
A standardized hand phantom used together with the SAM head phantom for radiated performance testing mirrors real-world use. In the early '90s, the IEEE began working on a standardized model for the human head and upper torso for use in Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) testing of wireless devices.
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October 2008
Test Platform Effectively Characterizes the Interference Sensitivity of an Amplifier
The proliferation of wireless transceivers in portable applications has created a need for increased attention to an electronic circuit's ability to operate in the vicinity of high frequency radio transmitters.
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September 2008
Testing LTE
Emerging standards such as 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) present a number of design and verification challenges for system engineers.
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User-Programmable FPGAs Improve Wireless Test Applications
As the proliferation of wireless standards continues, the idea of using software-defined measurement capability has become a necessity as opposed to a matter of preference.
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August 2008
Testing MMS Functionality in Mobile Phones
Over the years, the mobile-phone usage model has changed quite dramatically. No longer is it used solely for its voice services. Instead, the mobile phone is now being used for a growing number of social and mobile, data-centric applications.
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April 2008
Simplify Spectrum/Signal Analyzer Selection with Five Key Considerations
Spectrum and signal analyzers can be a critical asset in wireless development and manufacturing. Understanding your specific design needs and functionality required can significantly ease the selection process.
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March 2008
The Importance of Radiated Performance Testing of Mobile WiMAX Devices
The Technical Working Group (TWG) of the WiMAX Forum™ recently and resoundingly approved a new test plan, WiMAX Forum™ Radiated Performance Tests (RPT) for Subscriber and Mobile Stations1. This test plan marks a distinct departure from the previous work of the Forum's certification program, which until now had focused primarily on verifying conformance of WiMAX radio designs to the 802.16e standard, and interoperability of various WiMAX network components.
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January 2008
DDS-based Test Instrument Creates Test Signals for the Real World
As multi-gigabit data rates become common, however, signal integrity — the quality of signal needed to properly transmit data to an IC — becomes a paramount concern for designers.
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October 2007
The Shrinking Mobile Network
Successful mobile networking products depend on thorough testing in real-world environments. What works for one handset, application, or service platform may not work for another, so the testing environment should be flexible enough to support all possible scenarios.
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September 2007
Finding Hidden Transmitters
Some transmitters are not intended to be found. In the popular press they are called "bugs" and they can take many forms. Other transmitters are not supposed to be transmitters at all, such as FAX machines, microwave ovens and public address systems. If your job is to find and eliminate, or at least mediate, such transmitters, there are several things that can be done to simplify the job of tracking down the offending transmitter.
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January 2007
Overcoming the Logistical Challenges of Testing Mobile and Cellular Handsets
Creating a robust platform upon which to deliver mobile and cellular services and applications presents a myriad of implementation challenges across the entire value chain.
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RFID Testing Challenges
Please click here to read the article in
pdf format
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