The introduction of fully digital wireless networks means that marginal readings by portable test equipment are no longer acceptable.
“It’s all ones and zeros now, so you have to be precisely tuned,” said Jan Whitacre, spokeswoman for Hewlett-Packard Co.
That reality lit a fire under the nation’s test equipment manufacturers, which have come up with new devices that not only furnish exact calculations, but provide readings for the nation’s prominent new technology as well, Code Division Multiple Access.
CDMA testing also involves a new measurement concept, code domain analysis, HP said. Conventional analyzers display signals by frequency and can’t display individual code channels. With CDMA, multiple users share the same transmission frequency, so CDMA signals appear as random, noise-like waveforms.
Motorola Inc. has been making test equipment for more than a decade, but it started from scratch to build the CyberTest System. A single analyzer can test CDMA infrastructure equipment, as well as analog subscriber and infrastructure equipment, operating at 800 MHz and 1900 MHz.
Previously, test equipment in the field provided low-tier and mid-tier performance, said Bill Rau, cellular product manager for the Motorola Communication Test Equipment business unit.
“These high tier monitors today offer the same accuracy as laboratory equipment,” Rau said.
CyberTest is a two-part unit comprised of a briefcase-size analyzer and a laptop personal computer. Knobs and switches are gone, replaced by a Windows-based graphical interface.
“Today’s microprocessors have more horsepower, so you need fewer of them. Integrated circuits have more functionality now. Technicians carry laptop computers anyway to interface with cell site equipment. They can share that same PC with our user interface, and because it’s Windows based, it uses the functions they are used to,” Rau said.
CyberTest’s software is programmable. Motorola’s goal is to sell CyberTest to both CDMA manufacturers and system operators. The CyberTest analyzer weighs about 23 pounds and laptops average 6.5 pounds-that’s nearly 30 pounds of portable weight. Add to that CyberTest’s “modules,” which are 2.6-pound cartridges that slide into the analyzer to launch either a CDMA or an analog test. The cartridge is about the size of a thick 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper.
Hewlett-Packard has created a CDMA adapter that can operate with the HP 8921A analog Cell Site Test Set. The computer is built into the test system and can be driven by memory cards. The set weighs about 35 pounds without the adapter.
“Most laptops are not as durable as our test equipment,” Whitacre said. “These boxes can sit out in the snow.”
On June 1, HP will introduce test equipment for Interim Standard-136 or Time Division Multiple Access technology. TDMA IS-136 is being deployed by AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
Not surprisingly, the CDMA test sets cost more than the analog test sets. Motorola’s analog subscriber model is priced at $18,500, analog infrastructure is $20,250 and CDMA infrastructure $35,250.
HP’s analog 8921A is $19,900 plus an additional $18,000 for the CDMA adapter for a total cost of about $37,900.
Motorola’s Rau said these new sets are just the beginning of coming changes.
“Formats are changing and things are spinning so fast. Motorola designed a box that can grow and change quickly, because changes can obsolete your equipment.” Rau said.
