February 11, 2013. Rohde & Schwarz has introduced a fading simulation module for its R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester. The new module complements the recent announcement of LTE-Advanced carrier-aggregation support for the CMW500 tester.
With the fading simulation module, smartphone or chipset manufacturers to carry out standard-compliant MIMO performance tests during LTE testing, for example. Only a single instrument is required for these tests, which minimizes space requirements and setup effort. In addition, the module supports the GSM and WCDMA standards.
When using conventional solutions to perform tests with realistically simulated propagation conditions, the company reports, an additional instrument is needed for fading simulation. This additional instrument requires extra cabling and separate configuration in addition to level and delay correction. In contrast, the new R&S CMW-B510F module is integrated into the R&S CMW500 and configured directly from the menu of the tester. This space-saving solution simulates the dynamic propagation conditions as defined in the test cases of the 3GPP standard for LTE, WCDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, GSM, and EGPRS.
As previously announced, Rohde & Schwarz has equipped its R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester with new software options for LTE-Advanced downlink carrier aggregation. Carrier aggregation allows network operators to create flexible combinations of frequency bands of different bandwidths and make even better use of the spectrum.
Rohde & Schwarz will demonstrate both the 3GPP fading module and LTE-Advanced carrier-aggregation support at the Mobile World Congress.