FROM EDN EUROPE: Anritsu claims lead with third-generation mobile test cases

Test manufacturer Anritsu has submitted three test cases for the RRM (Radio Resource Management) aspect of the third-generation mobile radio standardisation effort 3GPP (Third-Generation Partnership Project), and 3GPP has accepted them. Anritsu believes it is the only company to have so far developed these test cases. RRM is concerned with maximising the throughput of the network as a whole by efficiently using the radio spectrum in the air-interface part of the structure; it therefore generates complex test cases. Earlier (and continuing) work concerned the generation of test cases in protocol and RF. Anritsu's European managing director, Paul Hunter, notes that interoperability testing will be key to the rollout of 3G networks. By establishing an early presence in the list of accepted test cases, he aims to "embed" Anritsu's systems in that process. Hunter cites the approval of more than 80 conformance test cases.

The company has introduced Rapid Test Designer software, which focuses on this area of 3G test cases for both wireless-equipment manufacturers and network operators. It employs a graphical interface backed by libraries of proven routines, so you can build tests for specific 3G functions without detailed knowledge of either the whole protocol or the system simulator. Users can quickly build out general test scenarios and "standard" network configurations to describe specific network configurations and then load them with traffic.

Deeper into the network, the company has developed the MP1590A Network Performance Tester to test the electrical/optical interface at as much as 10 Gbps. It tests the forward-error-correctionfunction inherent in high-speed transmission systems by randomly inserting errors. In a single unit, you can both control the insertion of the errors and verify that the FEC function is properly correcting for them.

Anritsu, +44 1582 433200, www.eu.anritsu.com.