Aeroflex has added the ability to undertake live receiver testing and transmitter testing, including HSDPA on its 6413A UMTS base-station test system. The capability is suitable for the ongoing maintenance of UMTS base stations to ensure they perform to specification. It enables testing to be undertaken without any disruption to live traffic caused by taking the base station out of service. According to Aeroflex, the performance of the base-station receiver is important as it essentially defines quality of service in a cell. In addition, a 1 dB improvement in base-station receiver sensitivity can mean that 11% fewer base stations are required in network.(source: WCDMA for UMTS by Harri Holma and Antti Toskala; Wiley 2004).

The 6413A UMTS base-station test system is designed specifically for the installation and commissioning, maintenance, fault-finding, performance verification and optimization of radio base stations. The addition of a live receiver and transmitter testing capability to the 6413A UMTS base-station test system complements its existing Iub-controlled test mode, which facilitates the implementation of repeatable test scenarios in controlled environments based on the methods defined in the ETSI standard 3GPP TS25.141. The user interface is intuitive to use. Based around an embedded PC and using touch-screen controls, all functions can be operated from the front panel. Measurement results can be viewed while tests are running or stored for later analysis. Tests can be run manually or automatically using pre-programmed test sequences.

"The addition of live receiver and transmitter testing to the Aeroflex 6413A will considerably improve its appeal to network operators," said Ross Broadhurst, product marketing manager at Aeroflex Test Solutions. "Network operators will now be able to test base-station performance and optimize their network quality of service without adversely interfering with the live traffic on the network."

The live receiver testing and transmitter testing is available for immediate delivery.