Best in Test Finalists 2011: Wireless test

-- Test & Measurement World, 12/22/2010 12:00:00 PM

2011 Best in Test finalists

• AirCheck WiFi Tester, Fluke Networks
• eAirAccess I-RAT Test Solution, Spirent Communications
• EAST500 LTE Capacity Test System, Aeroflex Test Solutions
• Field-to-Lab Solution, Azimuth Systems
• MS2830A Signal Analyzer, Anritsu
• ZT8101 RF Test Set, ZTEC Instruments

 

(The voting for the 2011 Best in Test awards has concluded.)

---

AirCheck WiFi Tester
Fluke Networks

The AirCheck WiFi Tester is a dedicated handheld tool that delivers quick and easy troubleshooting for complex WLANs. Fluke Networks says that the rugged WiFi tester offers simple, intuitive operation, so frontline IT professionals can learn to use it within minutes, even if they have little previous wireless network experience. The company adds that the tester is an affordable option for every enterprise, large or small.

AirCheck WiFi Tester allows users to verify and troubleshoot 802.11 a/b/g/n network availability, connectivity, and security with one handheld tool. Its interface allows users to see wireless network usage and easily determine if the usage is WiFi traffic or non-WiFi interference. With AirCheck, the IT staff can audit the wireless environment to identify and locate APs, whether authorized or rogue (unauthorized). The tester fully documents troubleshooting sessions and creates professional-quality reports.

---

Field-to-Lab Solution
Azimuth Systems

Drive testing of 3G/4G smartphones and mobile devices is time-consuming and costly, and the process lacks repeatability. The results of field measurements may vary substantially from those of laboratory measurements, where RF environments are typically recreated using statistical representations of channel conditions; These statistical representations, however, do not capture the specific RF conditions experienced by mobile devices as they move throughout a wireless network.

The Azimuth Systems Field-to-Lab solution bridges the gap between laboratory and field-measured test results by allowing real-world channel conditions collected from drive testing to be replayed in the customer's network test bed with the company's ACE MX MIMO channel emulator. By using actual channel conditions, customers can validate or benchmark predeployment mobile device performance and recreate network trouble spots and conditions for analysis and resolution. Azimuth says that its Field-to-Lab solution is closer to the "real world" than other options and can save customers substantial time and money.

---

EAST500 LTE Capacity Test System
Aeroflex Test Solutions

The EAST500 is an integrated system for testing LTE network capacity over RF with real data services and applications. The EAST500 addresses the challenge of system testing the LTE infrastructure prior to network rollout. Engineers can perform regression tests to achieve network optimization. This ensures network performance under loaded conditions, delivering a better experience to subscribers. Aeroflex says the EAST500 is the only LTE-capacity test system based on a field-proven air interface.

The system provides early access to new commercial 3GPP roadmap technology. New 3GPP functionality such as Cat 5 UE (user equipment) supporting to up 300 Mbps is inherited by EAST500 from the Aeroflex test mobile. With the addition of the EAST500, Aeroflex says its TM500 family of LTE testers facilitates the engineering transition from one UE to thousands of UEs for network performance and capacity testing.

---

MS2830A Signal Analyzer
Anritsu

Developed for integration and production environments, the MS2830A Signal Analyzer operates over a frequency range of 9 kHz to 3.6/6.0/13.5 GHz. Anritsu says the MS2830A allows manufacturers of 3G and 4G wireless devices and systems to increase production yield and reduce manufacturing costs.

In cellular systems, the expanding system and frequency bands are driving a significant increase in the items that must be tested. Yet, there is a demand to cut costs via shorter tact times, and improve efficiency during the manufacturing and adjustment processes. The MS2830A Signal Analyzer supports the basic operations of a high-speed spectrum analyzer, including sweeping and frequency switch time. The instrument cuts in-band and out-band spurious measurement times, thanks to a vector signal analyzer mode that uses advanced DSP and FFT technologies. Anritsu says the MS2830A's offers 10X faster throughput, while its high RF performance (±0.3 dB absolute level accuracy and 168-dB dynamic range) improves yields.

---

eAirAccess I-RAT Test Solution
Spirent Communications

Spirent's eAirAccess for Inter-Radio Access Technology device testing is an automated system that tests the roaming and mobility capabilities of multimode (LTE/CDMA/UMTS) devices. The company says the system is used by both network operators (for acceptance testing) and mobile device manufacturers (for product development, integration, and acceptance test preparation).

The system uses Spirent's eAirAccess multi-technology network emulator to generate multiple radio access technologies, including eHRPD (required for LTE/EV-DO handovers). A complete emulated Evolved Packet Core ensures that protocol and messaging scenarios are as realistic as possible. The system runs industry-standard test cases but also offers the flexibility to create custom test cases.

To speed up the test process, Spirent designed the system to offer efficient and usable control and result reporting. Finally, because the solution is a key component of Spirent's 8100 Mobile Device Test System, hardware can be re-used for several other key areas of LTE US testing.

---

ZT8101 RF Test Set
ZTEC Instruments

The ZT8101 RF Test Set comes standard with ultrawide 150-MHz modulation bandwidth for testing current and future communication protocols such as JTRS, WCDMA, LTE, and WiMax. The flexible RF test set comprises three PXI instruments: an RF/IF digitizer, a LO synthesizer, and an RF downconverter. It offers a vector signal analysis capability for complex digital-modulation analysis, including error-vector magnitude and adjacent-channel-power measurement.

The test set is also compatible with third-party RF instruments, such as Phase Matrix's PXI-1420 preselector and PXI-1410 microwave downconverter, to extend the frequency range to 26.5 GHz. ZTEC says the ZT8101 offers image-free downconversion for high-performance spectral analysis, spur search, and false-measurement avoidance.

The ZSignal GUI provides advanced integration and support with a simple and familiar interface to ease the transition from a bench spectrum analyzer to a modular instrument.

---