Simulating a Technology in Flux

( 1 Jul 2008 )

By Stephen Las Marias, Editor


Wireless technology is evolving at breakneck speed worldwide. Just as most of us are getting a solid grip on Wi-Fi, along comes WiMAX. While WiMAX has just released products that are already interoperable with each other, numerous discussions on Long Term Evolution (LTE) are taking place in the background. For makers of test and measurement equipment, this poses an immense challenge—but not merely because the technology is changing: in applications such as 3G or 4G cellular WiMAX, Wi-Fi, UWB, and the up-and-coming 3GPP LTE, the steady progression toward new and more complex standards is mirroring the development work being done on these standards.

The big question thus becomes: How do test equipment makers simulate a technology in flux? It's a chicken-egg situation: the technology that you need to test has to be part of the design inside the box; and a lot of the IP that must go into the box is what you are trying to test so that it will work outside the very same box.

Michael Vohrer, President and CEO of Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG (R&S), says that one of the keys here is partnership with, for instance, mobile phone and base station manufacturers or standardization groups. He states that this cooperation enables a test equipment company to produce a test box that—even though not finalized—supports the device and equipment makers at the outset of development. This will enable the industry to move forward despite the numerous changes that will take place down the line. Vohrer notes that companies will take a variety of different steps on the way to the ultimate solution, but that test equipment manufacturers will keep an eye out for a solution that goes the extra mile: Not only will it be developed hand-in-hand with a specific customer—it will also meet the needs of other customers.

Test equipment manufacturers cannot design test equipment by working solely on their own. Today's technologies have simply become too complex. Therefore, it is critical for them to partner with key leading technology developers—from the semiconductor sector, to the handset, base station and access point sector, and all the way up to the service provider sector. This is the only way to create test equipment that is accurate and up to ecosystem standards.

SOFTWARE-DEFINED APPROACH
Developing test equipment in partnership with customers, however, presents numerous challenges for the test equipment makers. For one thing, customers intentionally define specific test requirements that set themselves apart from the competition. Furthermore, it is difficult for test equipment makers to redesign their instruments.

The answer is a flexible test solution that features a common hardware platform but offers software or firmware that can support the changes in the specifications or standards. "The changes in the specifications are very important. Our experience and our close contact with standardization groups and customers show us what the direction will be and what the future specifications for frequency range or date rate might be, for example," Vohrer explains. "And another important aspect today is the software upgradeability of your products. R&S develops test instruments that easily accommodate changes, such as when higher data rates are required in the HSDPA standard, for instance. There's no need to develop a new box—we just perform a software update."

Ultimately, it all boils down to software. Future mobile devices will be smart enough to make physical location irrelevant—whether in one network or multiple networks. They will be able to software-configure themselves to switch to the technology that provides the best performance at any given time. Test equipment is no different—it must have a software-configurable, in-box radio that will enable it to adapt to whatever wireless technology is running on the device or network to be tested.

As Vohrer sees it, a software-defined solution will enable test equipment makers to support customers that make upgrades—in signaling, for instance. And this holds an even greater benefit: customers will stay with a test equipment maker's product much longer than previously the case.

Rohde & Schwarz


CAPTION:
MICHAEL VOHRER