LTE field testing: New challenges with noise-limited LTE macro and small cell networks By Kelly Hill
SEPTEMBER 2013
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FEATURE REPORT
LTE networks are seeing explosive
involved in the deployment of eight LTE
growth around the world. As carriers in
networks globally, and three in the United
the United States and abroad seek to deal
States. He describes three typical phases of
with monumental data demands on their
field testing for LTE network deployment.
networks, those networks are also becom-
The first phase of testing comes in once
ing increasingly heterogeneous – no longer
contractors have built the cellular site.
limited to macro sites, but also integrating
Those tests typically cover basic cell func-
Wi-Fi for offload and small cell coverage
tionality and often run over a wireless phone
for targeted capacity.
with an application installed – something as
So how do vendors and operators ensure
simple as a speed test for uplink and down-
that the new networks function in ways
link speeds, and searching for passive inter-
that meet customer expectations for speed
modulation, or PIM, which is interference
and experience?
caused by passive elements either in the Source: GSA
The short answer: Testing, testing and more testing. Testing in both traditional and new ways; pre-launch and post-deployment; in ways that address the quirks of LTE and the legacy networks with which it must co-exist; and taking the opportu-
Alan Hadden, President, GSA
physical network equipment or connectors, or external PIM beyond the cell site. Andy Standen, product manager for Anritsu,
said
that
operators
dif-fer
across countries and within countries as to the type of testing and thorough-ness of
nity to explore and analyze a mountain
that testing. Some operators do testing
of new data from the network that offers
themselves,
some
rely
on
subcon-
more insight on operations, troubleshoot-
although LTE is usually marketed for its
tractors, and some pass all testing onto
ing and the customer experience.
speed, the benefits to the bottom line are
third parties while the operator focuses
what carriers are after.
on providing service.
According to the most recent update from the Global Mobile Suppliers Asso-
“The emphasis on LTE, despite the nice
For a new build, once a tower has been
ciation, there are now 204 commercial
idea that every user is going to get a great
constructed, Standen said, testing first in-
LTE networks in 77 countries, with the
big pipe, is about saving money,” said Brock
volves checking cables, antenna systems
most recent launches coming in late Au-
Butler, marketing manager for test com-
and remote radio heads.
gust from O2 and Vodafone in the United
pany Spirent Communications. “It’s about
“They don’t have a lot of the technical
Kingdom. The GSA expects to see 260
serving customers more efficiently, so that
background to test everything, but when
commercial networks in 93 countries by
operators can serve them cheaper.”
they leave, they want to make sure they built it properly so they don’t have to go
the end of this year, and more than 1,000 LTE devices are already on the market
The testing process: when, where, how
back,” Rader said.
Testing of the network takes place in three
The second phase involves further testing
Alan Hadden, president of the GSA, has
phases: in the lab prior to deployment; in
of LTE or call functionality for individual
called LTE “the fastest developing mobile
the field during trials and the deployment
sites, which are not optimized at this stage,
system technology ever.”
process; and field testing for troubleshoot-
Rader said. This usually involves an engi-
ing and maintenance purposes.
neer driving to the site location and check-
from 111 manufacturers.
But the speed with which the technology is being adopted itself creates new chal-
Nathan Rader, national technical manager
ing to see that antennas are tilted correctly
lenges for testing and deployment. And
for Nokia Solutions and Networks, has been
and covering the right area, that sectors
Cover photo: Source: iStockphoto.
FEATURE REPORT
are not crossed, and that general coverage
operator has selected a market for an LTE
They do want to know what kind of data
is as expected.
trial, the initial network that can only be
throughputs they’re getting in different
The third stage typically involves a clus-
accessed by particular SIM cards for test-
parts of cell deployments, what is the
ter of about 20 sites built next to one anoth-
ing purposes. He said that Spirent often
voice quality, what if I offer services like
er, where the RF team drives around the
helps select sites, as well as helping opera-
VoLTE?” Butler said.
cluster for optimization purposes, making
tors figure out exactly what use cases they
sure that the entire cluster performs well
need to test.
Network contractors, infrastructure vendors, device vendors and the carriers them-
“There’s basic interoperability that hap-
selves often are all involved in the testing.
Butler of Spirent – which focuses on pre-
pens, like setting up a call – but they’re
“All of these things are happening in con-
deployment testing – added that when an
also testing around user experience.
junction, everybody collaborating. It’s not
Source: GSA
and examining handoffs and performance.
LTE deployments are gaining steam around the world.
FEATURE REPORT
happening in isolation,� said Syed Zaidi, senior director for solution architecture for Goodman Networks, which is one of the companies that handles site acquisition, construction, integration and maintenance for major wireless network rollouts. LTE is being constructed as an overlay, rather than a converged radio access network in most cases, according to Jean Jones, director of marketing for professional services at Alcatel-Lucent, which has been involved with more than 40 LTE deployments around the world. The overlay strategy, with a separate, end-to-end LTE network rather than 2G, 3G and LTE equipment in a converged base station, is a faster installation, and also provides better reliability and the ability to more easily turn down legacy networks in the future in order to re-use spectrum, Jones said. Major features and factors in LTE field testing LTE offers faster network speeds and better efficiency through a number of features and its all-IP nature means a “flatter� network architecture. But one common, recurring theme was voiced by network experts: LTE is adding complexity to networks in multiple ways, and this is the biggest challenge in testing. The core architecture is changing to all-IP; LTE currently provides data-only service
Source: Anritsu
while voice is still routed over 3G networks;
Network testing involves a number of steps, and is generally a collaborative effort between carriers, vendors and testing companies.
there are changes in the RAN architecture. While features such as self-organizing networks are designed to make the network more automated, designing and integrating SON so that it works properly is a complex
FEATURE REPORT
process. And all the while, the devices that
Of course, subscribers aren’t the ones who
run on the network are getting more intel-
make those decisions; the details of connec-
ligent and complicated, and demand more
tivity and handovers have to be hammered
“I think the industry absolutely will get
communication with the network to service
out in design and testing of both the net-
to everything they’ve laid out,” said Cosen-
ever-changing applications and services.
work and the devices that will run on it.
tino. “But the question is, how much com-
“Characterization is becoming extremely
Meanwhile, industry standards body
complex, and you’re faced with thousands
3GPP
rolls
on
with
LTE-Advanced
of individual operational gain settings,”
releases that promise ever more features
to improve speed, flexibility and efficiency, such as carrier aggregation.
plexity do you face in getting there?” Here are some of the factors playing into the complexity of LTE testing:
said Phyllis Cosentino, senior product marketing manager for National Instruments. “When you’re deploying these networks, it’s different. It’s more complex,” said Fran Tang, senior manager of product life management for Tektronix Communications. “There are a lot of features built into the LTE network that can cause you to trip up. It doesn’t optimize the same way, it doesn’t fail-over the same way.” Tang added that when she first pondered the interactions between 3G and “4G” in regards to voice services, she thought, “’How bad could it be?’ Until I saw the actual call flows of the voice call, how many network entities it touches. Wow, that is complex.” Syed Zaidi, senior director for solution architecture for Goodman Networks, laid out this scenario: an operator has its 2G network deployed in 800 MHz, 3G for voice and data in 1.9 GHz, plus data-only LTE in 700 MHz: a multi-band, multi-technology network such as that of Verizon Wireless. “Then you have layers of the macro netSource: Corning
work: picocell, microcell, femtocell,” Zaidi added. “So just imagine how complex this network is. If you’re a subscriber, where should you log on? Should you log onto LTE? Onto 800, 700? Onto 2G, 3G; a microcell, femtocell or picocell? It’s a very complicated question to answer.”
LTE deployments will include a number of new technologies that could re-write our understanding of a cellular network.
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FEATURE REPORT
Interoperability: One of the challenges noted by multiple experts across the ecosystem is the reality that while all vendors are guided by the 3GPP standard for LTE, there
then they start playing really well, so that
uses higher order modulation, so it’s more
future deployments become much faster.”
susceptible to interference,” said Zaidi of
Noise: LTE networks are particularly sensitive to noise, or interference.
Goodman Networks. Financial aspects play in as well.
are slight but meaningful differences in the
“A level of noise that might not have
“MIMO is a big challenge for service pro-
implementation of the standard that have
been trouble in 2G or 3G becomes very
viders and test equipment vendors,” said
big effects on interoperability in multi-ven-
serious for LTE,” said Paul Denisowski
Olga Yashkova-Shapiro, program manager
dor networks – which are most networks.
of test company Rohde & Schwarz. “This
for Frost & Sullivan’s test and measure-
“When we’re making sure a market is
requires more interference hunting, more
ment practice. “In theory, one needs two
going to be operationally ready for LTE,
drive testing, and typically looking for
receivers in the test equipment to be able
turning up a new market, the biggest chal-
much lower levels than the things they’re
to decode the MIMO properly. However, if
lenge is making sure all the components
used to seeing.”
two receivers are added to test equipment,
are integrated,” said Jason Miller, product
Rader said that although LTE networks
its price goes up exponentially. With all the
marketing manager for service assurance
are particularly sensitive to noise, one
emphasis to cut costs by SPs, such an ap-
at Empirix.
thing working in carriers’ favor in the Unit-
proach simply would not work.”
That concern for interoperability involves
ed States is that in the case of 700 MHz
network elements from the RAN to the net-
deployments from carriers such as AT&T
work core, both wired and wireless connec-
Mobility and Verizon Wireless, the bands
tions, in order to ensure that a network can
have very little interference.
Andy Standen of Anritsu added more detail on that difficulty. “From a test equipment standpoint, that’s a real challenge for us, because
properly function and that elements can
“The nice thing about LTE is, in most
those transmitters in LTE are on the ex-
communicate with one another regardless
cases, it’s being deployed in bands that are
act same frequency, they use the same
of vendor.
not very populated yet,” Rader said. He
technology to increase the throughput,”
Anil Jha, head of wireless professional
said that factor as well as LTE still being
Standen said. That looks like interfer-
services for the Americas for Alcatel-Lu-
in early stages is making noise less chal-
ence to basic test equipment. He said that
cent, said that in recognition of the reality
lenging at this point.
adding another receiver on a spectrum
of multi-vendor networks, they do signifi-
MIMO: Multiple-input, multiple-output
analyzer would increase the cost beyond
cant testing up front in order to work as
antennas. For now, most use of MIMO
what most customers would be willing to
many kinks out as possible before equip-
(which requires MIMO antennas on both
pay, so Anritsu developed a method to de-
ment hits the field. Jha said that after
the tower and in the user equipment) is
code MIMO quality, which can be expand-
working on multiple deployments, that
“2x2,” with two antennas on each.
ed to 4x4 MIMO as the technology devel-
process becomes easier.
MIMO is eventually expected to move to
ops – however, he added that demand for
“Everybody follows 3GPP standards, but
4x4 (four antennas on the tower and in the
the ability to test 4x4 or even 8x8 MIMO
the standards are what they are – at best,
device) and in theory can be evolved to 8x8,
hasn’t yet surfaced.
a guideline,” Jha said. “To test the strength
although there are major hurdles in device
Use of remote radio heads: In traditional
and the challenge that you can plug and
design that would have to be addressed for
cellular systems, equipment was housed
play anything, you have to make sure that
that to happen, with the limited available
at the bottom of a tower, with antennas
they’re really plug-and-play.
real estate. But even this initial jump to
perched high above on the tower.
“Testing is hard and complex; the task is a
2x2 is complicating the testing.
challenge,” Jha added. “You have to check out
“Cell edge performance is an issue that’s
the kinks, and by the second or third version,
heightened in LTE with MIMO, because it
However, operators have increasingly been
choosing
remote
radio
head
installations because they are quicker to
FEATURE REPORT
However, Scott Semone of Verizon Wireless’ MTS - RF maintenance and engineer-
Source: Commscope
an all-IP, Ethernet environment.
ing group told RCR Wireless News at the
Time to market: Alcatel-Lucent’s Jones
DAS in Action event in New Orleans this
said that they are seeing some very con-
past spring that “even at very low power,
crete, bottom-line benefits for customers
remote radio heads can generate enough
who adopt LTE quickly.
noise to cripple an LTE network.”
Remote radio heads are becoming increasingly common in LTE deployments.
copper or T1 lines to fiber; and from ATM to
However, new and more complicated
While operators like Verizon Wireless re-
testing must be done in order to make sure
quire the use of pre-tested equipment that
that not only do the LTE networks function
meets strict PIM requirements, Semone
as expected, but that the devices on those
told conference goers that good craftsman-
networks provide a positive experience and
ship in installation has a huge influence.
don’t harm network operations. In short:
He warned against, for example, hand-
more complicated testing on more compli-
tightening connectors rather than using
cated networks and more complicated de-
torque wrenches, because both over-tight-
vices, while trying to compress the timeline
ened and loose equipment generates PIM;
for testing.
and noted that testing all components for
“We really did, as we started deploying
PIM and return loss separately and also as
with operators, feel the pressure ourselves
a system is a key process.
to get the network out as soon as possible,”
Andy Standen of Anritsu noted that despite pre-testing for equipment, “You can
said Heather Broughton, senior manager of marketing content for TekComms.
achieve very good specs in the product in
“I think time to market is really driving a
production. But once you install the system,
lot of our sales,” said National Instruments’
deploy – a key factor with LTE, where time
if you install it badly or not as well as you
Cosentino. “I’d say that time to market and
to market is crucial for reaping the benefits
could install it, the specs on each of the com-
simplification are really what’s driving the
of network investment.
ponents can basically go out the window.”
growing business in this area.”
There are mixed views on RRHs. RRHs
New connections: One seemingly minor
Devices: As the GSA noted, more than
offer operators faster and more conve-
physical change in the network elements is
1,000 LTE devices now exist from more
nient deployment, there is typically a
that while traditional cell sites have had a
than a hundred manufacturers.
shorter feeder cable from the radio to the
coaxial link between the radio and anten-
“The fact is that LTE, in several ways, has
antenna in order to minimize power loss
nas. Part of the RRH installation issue often
enabled a significant, new class of devices,
compared to traditional systems where
means that new cell sites have fiber extend-
and those devices are influencing the user ex-
the radio equipment is on the ground,
ing between the radio and the antenna.
perience as much or more than the network
usually in a weatherproof shed. RRH are
“For cell technicians, this is a totally new
itself,” said Amit Malhotra, VP of marketing
exposed to the elements, which makes re-
component for them,” said Eduardo Inzun-
and product manager for Azimuth Systems.
liability a bigger issue. Brian Buesking,
za, JDSU’s global business development
One area where field testing is advancing, he
technical solution sales support engineer
leader for RF test solutions. “They have to
said, is in the ability to compare two different
with Ericsson, said that fewer components
know how to deal with fiber, and what you
devices to each other to benchmark perfor-
and shorter cables in a simpler path can
need to test.” In regards to site backhaul,
mance as it would be experienced by an end
actually reduce PIM issues.
that technology is changing as well, from
user, and determine any issues.
FEATURE REPORT
“The testing with the LTE handset makes
test all aspects of the devices and make
more apparent,” Standen said. “That’s es-
a lot of difference,” said TekComms’ Tang.
sure under various network conditions that
pecially true with PIM testing.”
“It can break your network if things are not
the devices perform to certain performance
managed correctly.”
benchmarks,” Malhotra said.
While PIM was an issue in 2G and 3G networks, operators often were able to tune
Malhotra noted that in the early days of
Immediate and heavy use: Actix, a network
spectrum usage so that the interference
cellular service, retail stores would only
optimization company based in the United
from PIM simply didn’t show up in the par-
sell one or two devices that looked largely
Kingdom, has found that as much as 35%
ticular section of the band being used. With
alike, with small screens and voice-only
of 3G data traffic in European networks is
LTE, according to Ericsson’s Buesking, the
service and connected to a single, cellular
generated by LTE-ready handsets and that
use of wider RF channels eliminates some
network – no Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or GPS.
four of the top 10 devices on mature Euro-
of that flexibility.
“The idea was that it’s the network that’s
pean networks – the Apple iPhone 5, Sam-
“This kind of testing has always been
prompting differentiation, that’s driving
sung Galaxy SII and SIII, and Apple’s iPad
done in one fashion or another, but it
the user experience,” he said. “If you fast-
3 –are LTE-capable. As Actix put it, there
has come more to the front burner, so to
forward to today, that’s obviously changed
is “no safety net” for operators who roll out
speak, as something to look at recently,”
substantially, and there’s a great deal of
LTE, with a substantial percentage of their
Buesking added.
competition at the device level, not just at
customers running on LTE as soon as the
the service level.”
networks are turned on.
Malhotra said that device OEMs are responding to that pressure with intense field
Kai Sahala, head of mobile broadband marketing for NSN, echoed those observations.
External PIM in particular can be a tricky beast to mitigate, because it’s usually generated off-site. Standen said although there is disagreement on what
testing of devices during the development
“LTE is very quickly taken into use,”
percent of PIM is within the system or ex-
and quality assurance phases of the device
Sahala said. “When we are deploying LTE
ternal, he believes it is as high as 50% of
lifecycle, to make sure that their smart-
networks, especially in countries like Ko-
PIM sources external.
phones or other products work as well or
rea and Japan, they are immediately tak-
He gave two examples of hard-to-find
better than previous models and are equal
en into heavy use. They need to work from
PIM: A cell site in a Scandinavian country
to or better than the competition. Carriers
day one.”
was having PIM issues, but the infrastructure itself was clean of interference. Anrit-
are heavily invested in customers’ device satisfaction and the rapid introduction of new devices in order to win subscribers in a saturated market, Malhotra said.
The problem of PIM
su found that the site antenna was pointed
One type of noise that has become a com-
directly at a rusted metal snow rail, used to
mon stumbling block in LTE is PIM, or pas-
keep heavy snow from falling off buildings
And when it comes to testing and tuning
sive intermodulation. PIM is interference
and injuring people. So the antenna was
handsets so that they can handle specific
caused by passive elements and can be ei-
adjusted in order to shift the signal to not
services well, Malhotra compared the com-
ther internal – caused by parts of the physi-
directly strike the snow rail.
plexity to a Rubik’s Cube.
cal network installation itself – or external,
“An OEM might do a lot of work to make
coming from sources beyond the cell site.
Another: A U.S. site was seeing heavy PIM interference and had been stripped and re-
sure the video experience works very well
Locating and mitigating PIM is particu-
built by a carrier three times, an expensive
– so one side is one color. Then you turn
larly important in LTE networks because
undertaking. Despite the rebuilds, PIM was
the cube around and you’ve messed up the
of their susceptibility to noise that can
still taking down the site. Standen said that
other side – it’s affecting voice performance
degrade the signal, and therefore the net-
Anritsu tested the site itself, found it clean,
or it’s affecting battery life.
work’s performance.
and tested out to 500 feet without finding any
“It’s extremely complicated to try and
“As capacity increases, problems become
PIM sources. They opened the range even
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FEATURE REPORT
installation, with branches needing to each be isolated and tested. “At some point, I want to stop talking about PIM,” Verizon Wireless’ Semone has said. But he added that particularly with in-building systems at large venues with owners unfamiliar with wireless, rookie mistakes are still being made in the installation process. Testing the heterogeneous network As laid out in the vision for LTE-Advanced, cellular networks are expected to become more varied – that the macro network is going to be enhanced by layers of technology, including Wi-Fi and small cells, which give carriers the flexibility to more efficiently provide targeted coverage and capacity and offload some of the traffic from their macro sites. So in addition to testing the macro network, testing of the relationships among macro, Wi-Fi and small cell, as well as indoor and outdoor coverage (which can vary considerably in strength depending on which spectrum a carrier uses for LTE deSource: Anritsu
ployment), complicates field testing further.
PIM testing is an important element of network deployments, allowing carriers to discover problem areas before a commercial launch.
Small cells have garnered a lot of attention this year, but there are many issues still to be figured out, including backhaul and the handling of hand-offs between the macro network and small cells. Renuka Bhalero is a principal systems architect at Radisys, which produces net-
further, and found a bidirectional antenna 1,500 feet from the site that was picking up the signal and reflecting it back.
wireless reception in mind.
work software that supports small cell
“You’d be amazed at what light fixtures
deployments by operators. She said that
and badly insulated roofing and all kinds
in particular dealing with interference is-
PIM is a particular challenge for in-
of things can do to PIM,” Standen said.
sues between small cells and the macro
building distributed antenna systems,
“It can be a long and involved process”
network has been one of the big challenges
since buildings were not constructed with
to test DAS due to its usual star-like
for small cell deployments.
FEATURE REPORT
“With the macro network, it was all stat-
Mary Justl, head of global RF services,
“Wi-Fi is fundamentally a different tech-
ic configurations,” she said. “You already
planning and readiness for Alcatel-Lucent,
nology in a number of important aspects,”
knew the range, transmission was not so
said that some operators’ perspective on
Lukaszewski said.
much of a challenge. … But with small cells,
dedicated versus shared spectrum for
this changes. Now, in the same frequency,
small cells has evolved.
It covers a smaller area of hundreds of yards, compared to macro sites with
you have a small cell sharing the band and
“They’re changing a bit, depending on the
ranges measured in kilometers or miles;
transmitting, and trying to also see that
customer,” Justl said. “Some of the opera-
is designed to be deployed at higher den-
the customers have big data throughput.
tors prefer only dedicated [spectrum]. Oth-
sity than macro sites, and closer to the end
The interference is a major challenge when
er said ‘we’re going to share,’ but they’re
user; and on-device clients make the deci-
you start rolling out.”
starting to change their minds a little bit.
sions about which network access point to
That makes a difference in terms of how
connect with.
Although interference between the macro and small cell networks in HetNets is supposed to be mitigated by the LTE-Advanced feature
you’re interfering and how you’re not.”
In cellular networks, Lukaszewski said,
NSN’s Rader said that he has seen trials
hand-offs and decisions about which net-
interference
for small cells, but not widespread deploy-
work resources to make use of are “highly
coordination, that feature has not yet been
ment, which he expects to be further along
choreographed” and devices receive in-
adopted since the industry is still working on
in a year or two due to interference issues
struction from the network itself. “Things
adoption of previous LTE releases. One work-
with small cells.
like roaming are far more deterministic
called
enhanced
inter-cell
in cellular, and a little less predictable in
around commonly seen, according to Radisys
Meanwhile, Wi-Fi’s role in operator
and others, is that operators are deploying
networks also offers testing challenges,
small cells on their own spectrum in order to
according to Chuck Lukaszewski, senior
Last but not least, device capabilities
sidestep the interference challenges with the
director of outdoor solutions engineering
play in. Lukaszewski noted that laptops get
macro network.
for Wi-Fi provider Aruba Networks.
the best Wi-Fi performance because they
Source: 4G Americas
Wi-Fi,” he said.
Heterogeneous networks are considered the networks of tomorrow.
FEATURE REPORT
Rader also noted that the move toward
sets,” so that the instruments are doing
Despite advances in the Wi-Fi standard, the more heterogeneous networks means more
all the assessment, making automated
fact that most smartphones and tablets have complex testing, as handoffs between all of
tests, and giving techs a simple pass/fail
only a single Wi-Fi antenna limits their per- the legacy technologies must also be tested
and areas that need to be improved.
are able to handle multiple streams of data.
formance greatly. “Those have a direct ef- along with exchanges between macro netfect on network performance,” Lukaszewski work technologies (2G, 3G and LTE) and said – and the impact on performance can both Wi-Fi and small cells. be interpreted by customers as a flaw of the device, or of the network.
Shapiro noted several trends that are making field testing easier. “Test equipment is becoming more por-
“The radio environment that you’re test-
table, lighter and easier to use in spite
ing really hasn’t changed,” Rader said.
of all the complex features and analytics
Walk testing, in which engineers with “You’ve complicated it by putting more netbackpacks of equipment walk around large works, and more layers.”
built into it,” she said. In addition, Shapiro pointed to several vendor-specific products as examples.
venues testing the coverage and speed, are the typical route for testing Wi-Fi instal- Simplicity and complexity
JDSU’s CellAdvisor, for example, can
Even as testing grows more complex, test
do both RF and fiber testing in one de-
Wi-Fi is not often subjected to the same companies recognize the need to simplify
vice to cope with evolving site technolo-
lations.
quality of service testing that the macro their equipment.
gies. Azimuth Systems recently took an
Carriers are often loathe to send engi-
automation and analytics toolset that
often concerned with having sufficient area neers out to do testing unless they must,
worked well in the lab and modified it
covered with a strong signal, rather than the and would prefer to send cellular techni-
for field use in order to promote better
same level of detailed quality of service test- cians as a cost savings. In order for techs
end-to-end testing. And test solutions
to do the testing, Stanton said, the equip-
are increasingly running on standard
“We’ve tried to capture from key operators ment must have an intuitive user interface
products, such as a Samsung Galaxy
network is likely to endure. Operators are
ing that the macro network endures.
what they see as a requirement for testing and not require an engineer’s expertise to Wi-Fi in the field,” Standen said. “It’s very properly run tests.
tablet or an iPad. Paul Denisowski, applications engi-
“It is simplifying the testing in the
neer for Rohde & Schwarz, pointed out
Frost & Sullivan’s Shapiro confirmed that field, even though the testing behind the
that another aspect of testing that is
“the industry is not quite sure what type of scenes has become more complicated,”
being simplified amid is comparisons
field testing is needed to test Wi-Fi” and said Stanton said.
among networks. Rather than trying to
difficult to get precise answers on that.”
Eduardo Inzunza of JDSU noted that
compare apples-and-oranges statistics
Fi test equipment market accounted for a with voice still running on legacy net-
across UMTS and CDMA2000 networks,
works, operators have to maintain two to
the fact that major operators are all mi-
that field test applications for the global Wimere $18.4 million in 2012.
“This segment contributed the smallest portion three networks at once. to total market revenue, because demand for
“That makes all the testing a big more
grating toward LTE means that meaningful comparisons can be made.
Wi-Fi field test solutions was minimal before complicated for the cell technicians,” he
Denisowski thinks that convergence is
2011, as the Wi-Fi device could be used to check said. “They have to maintain everything
going to lead to useful test and measure-
its own coverage. With the recent Wi-Fi offload they had before, but also deal with the new
ment of network and service quality that
trend penetrating the industry, the demand test techniques and technologies.”
will allow operators to use those metrics
for Wi-Fi field test solutions is expected to increase,” Shapiro explained.
Inzunza said that JDSU’s approach has been “to put more ‘smarts’ into our test
as differentiators when they’re all using the same network technology.
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