Aeroflex extends Capability of Digital Radio Test Set to WCDMA and GSM/GPRS

20 June 2011— Aeroflex Limited announced the launch of two new options for the Aeroflex 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set. The options support testing of 3G WCDMA/HSPA and GSM/GPRS, and data call hand-over between LTE and HSPA.

As WCDMA network operators migrate towards LTE, the devices used by their subscribers will need to operate with legacy 2G and 3G networks as well as new LTE networks. Devices must hand over seamlessly between networks when appropriate.

Options 103 and 105 for the 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set facilitate testing of these multi-mode devices across all the standards they are required to support, and test data hand-over between LTE and HSPA.

The 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set with Option 103 provides comprehensive test capabilities for GSM/GPRS. Option 105 extends the instrument’s capability to include WCDMA and HSPA. The deployed terminal devices will need to support all of these legacy standards. The 7100 provides manufacturers of both cellular terminals and chipsets with a simple unified test environment to fully test all the radio access technologies (RAT) supported by the device under test.

Since LTE is a data standard, a three-phase rollout is taking place to ensure that voice calls are handled appropriately:

• In phase one, LTE networks are supporting only data-centric devices such as USB modems; 3G handsets will still be used for voice calls.

• In phase two, handset devices that rely on fallback technologies (WCDMA or GSM) for voice support are being introduced.

• In phase three, handset devices will be added that use the LTE network for both data and Voice over IP (VoIP). The voice solution will employ the VoLTE (Voice over LTE) standard.

Aeroflex test systems support operators and device manufacturers during each phase of the rollout. The new 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set options will be required in Phase II and beyond to fully characterize the performance of handsets across all the RATs. This includes so-called “circuit-switched fallback”—where a handset used for data applications such as Web browsing can fall back to a circuit-switched 3G connection if an incoming voice call is received. It is also important to be able to test whether the device selects the correct cell and technology when it is first powered up.

The 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set Option 105 offers built-in GSM and WCDMA RF test cases; it can fully characterize mobile terminal devices to 3GPP Release 6 specifications. The 7100 feature set will track the 3GPP WCDMA standard as it evolves, with the latest releases applied to handset designs.