Fluke Networks is aiming to shake up the test and measurement space with a new, very small in-building wireless test solution designed to make spectrum analyzers more widely available and cheaper for the testing of distributed antenna systems and small cells.
Fluke launched the AirMagnet Spectrum ES this week, which it called “the industry’s first spectrum analysis tool specifically designed to streamline in-field testing and troubleshooting of cellular offload deployments, including DAS and small cells.”
According to Dilip Advani, senior product marketing manager with Fluke Networks, mobile operators are putting more and more focus on improving in-building coverage. He said that about 80% of mobile data usage originates and ends within buildings. However, macro sites are expensive and can take a long time to site and install — hence the trend toward DAS and small cell solutions.
“It’s all about improving the coverage and capacity for the network by getting closer to the user,” Advani said.
But with those in-building projects come the need for better indoor testing. Advani said that often, people make the mistake of thinking that dedicated cellular spectrum doesn’t have interference issues and that they can skip that testing — only to find out that there are issues later on and have to re-work the site, which is expensive.
The list price for the new product is below $6,000; part of Fluke’s strategy is to make spectrum analyzers more widely available, to help speed up projects by allowing simultaneous work instead of waiting for a traditional, much more expensive spectrum analyzer to be shipped from project site to project site. Advani said that the product weighs about a pound and analyzes cellular frequencies but does not include passive intermodulation testing. It includes an alarm feature that gives a user help in detecting sources of interference, as well as including classification signatures to identify the type of interference, such as a jammer.
“We’ve tried simplifying it a lot,” Advani said. “We recognize that as more and more users get into the community and are going some of these measurements, they are not experts; they might not do this on a daily basis.”
For more on field testing and the trend of more portable, simpler test equipment, you can read RCR’s most recent special report.
In other test and measurement news this week, Anite introduced LTE-Advanced scenario mode in its Development Toolset, which is a graphical interface that allows engineers who don’t have specific programming skills to develop and edit test scripts.
Both the new products from Anite and Fluke are part of a wider testing trend to make test and measurement solutions simpler and able to be used by a wider range of people across the network and device ecosystems. Anite’s Development Toolset can be used across the device development cycle, with a particular eye on accelerating testing in the early stages of research and development.
