RF testing market should expand in 2010
The convergence of technologies has increased opportunities and challenges for vendors of RF test equipment.
Sivakumar Narayanaswamy, Industry Analyst, Measurement & Instrumentation Practice, Frost & Sullivan, www.frost.com -- Test & Measurement World, 2/1/2010 2:00:00 AM
On the RF technology testing front, a fresh approach to testing is necessary due to the rapid development and growth of new communication technologies such as LTE. Moreover, the convergence of technologies, while enabling the integration of more applications, has also increased opportunities as well as challenges for vendors of
RF test equipment. In 2010, the need to develop and test handsets to meet the extreme performance requirements of LTE networks will accelerate due to increased deployments of these networks.
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RF test solutions have to handle increased data rates, higher spectral efficiency, and low latency as well as provide scalable channel widths. MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology is expected to generate opportunities for the test vendors in this market. Another noticeable trend in RF testing equipment is the integration of more test capabilities into a single, one-box system that simplifies test processes.
In 2009, many test and measurement companies announced cost reduction and restructuring actions in response to the global economic conditions. In addition, semiconductor manufacturers showed a reluctance to invest in capital equipment, with focus shifting to test solutions that are able to keep costs low, such as multisite testing, which has been in existence for some time. With the highly integrated SOC (system on chip) market facing competition from SIP (system in package), there has been a growth of products that are built with multiple technologies, adding more complexity to the testing process. This has resulted in end users demanding improved RF testing capabilities without any additional cost implications.
The test process has increasingly become more complex. The test and measurement industry is forced to address the concerns of chip manufacturers and decrease the cost of ownership of test systems. Another noticeable trend in 2010 will be the higher adoption rate of software instrumentation, which significantly improves the efficiency of test and measurement systems. These trends will lead to the development of faster and more flexible automated test systems while reducing the cost of test overall.
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Among the different end-user segments, there has been an increase in the application of RF-based devices in automobiles recently—such as SDR (software defined radio), which enables the delivery of some of the most popular consumer features including AM/FM radio, digital radio, MP3 playback, and navigation by using common configurable and scalable hardware via software. This augurs well for the RF test equipment market, as ATE (automated test equipment) is likely to be in demand. Higher throughput in RF measurements, with parallel RF source and measurement capabilities that can address this requirement, is likely to drive the demand in this market in 2010.
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