Spirent Communications Releases New Options for Mobile WiMAX and LTE Testing

(Product News, 1 Apr 2008)

Spirent Communications plc has announced new packaged configurations, targeted at WiMAX and LTE developers, that support bi-directional Multiple-In, Multiple-Out (MIMO) and beamforming testing on the Spirent SR5500 Wireless Channel Emulator, which is used for testing wireless receivers.

MIMO and beamforming are crucial aspects of next-generation wireless technologies. Both techniques use multiple antenna configurations to increase data rates, decrease operational costs, increase range or steer signals toward areas of high user density.

Spirent's flexible SR5500 platform lets mobile network operators, equipment manufacturers and device manufacturers reduce the complexity associated with WiMAX and LTE testing while improving the accuracy of test results. With these new Spirent SR5500 configurations, users can quickly and accurately validate the performance of even the most complex MIMO and beamforming implementations. The new configurations also feature Spirent's Dynamic Environment Emulation (DEE) to perform a lab-based equivalent of mobility drive testing, including the scenarios recommended by the WiMAX Forum. Unlike drive-testing on live networks, Spirent's DEE offers repeatability and the flexibility to design and execute custom scenarios.

"By utilizing our configurable, modular building blocks and DEE features, our customers can quickly construct complex MIMO test beds with a single user interface to accurately characterize the performance gains of beamforming," says Rob VanBrunt, Vice President of Marketing at Spirent.

The Spirent SR5500 is said to provide the industry's cleanest test channel and most accurate fading. Unlike purpose-built channel emulators, the Spirent SR5500 supports multiple emerging next-generation technologies. In addition to support for the new 700MHz and 2.7GHz bands, the SR5500 also offers fully independent RF channels for widely spaced Frequency-Division Duplexing (FDD) WiMAX applications. The advanced fading engine ensures accurate testing of sophisticated technologies such as HSPA, EV-DO, E-UTRA (LTE) and WiMAX.

Click here for more information on Spirent's SR5500 Wireless Channel Emulator

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