Spirent Communications launched a new test system for the connected car this week. The Automotive Record and Playback test system lets developers of automotive systems record real-world signals and plays them back in a lab environment, and Spirent said that the approach “complements the conventional field testing using fleets of vehicles” as well as minimizing development and validation time involved in vehicle-to-vehicle communications, such as those used in communicating the location, speed and direction in which vehicles are traveling for collision avoidance.
The test system supports radio frequency recording for Global Navigation Satellite Systems, which includes GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou and QZSS; as well as vehicle CAN bus data and up to four video streams, audio and sensor data. The recorded data is time-stamped and can be replayed repeatedly.
• Rohde & Schwarz announced a new post-processing platform for drive test data. R&S described the new NetQual NQDI II solution as a “business intelligence platform for benchmarking and optimization data” and said it is designed for ease of use and to “[turn] rich drive test data into smart insights.”
Rohde also said that Deutsche Telekom is using the test company’s CMW500 wideband radio communication tester to verify LTE and LTE-Advanced user equipment, with a focus on protocol software and end-to-end testing, as the carrier rolls out LTE-A features in its network.
Meanwhile, Rohde had two test wins in the area of DVB-T2 testing in the Asia Pacific region, with its equipment chosen for digital TV compliance testing by the Vietnam Telecommunications Authority, and for DVB-T2 receiver compliance testing by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand.
• Keysight Technologies made a number of announcements this week, including new software options for its flagship UXA X-series signal analyzer for analog demodulation measurement and noise-figure measurement; upgrades to its Signal Studio software for LTE/LTE-A TDD and FDD to support Release 12 features; and a new ball grid array interposer for testing dynamic random access memory aimed at testing designs with very tight space restrictions.
Keysight also introduced what it said is the industry’s first compliance test application for systems that use MGBASE-T Ethernet networking.
• AT4 Wireless (which is in the process of being acquired by Dekra) will be using the Propsim F32 Channel Emulator from Anite (which is in the process of being acquired by Keysight) in its first anechoic chamber for MIMO over-the-air testing, located in Spain. The two companies have been working together since the early 2000s; the lab will focus on device compliance testing for CTIA certification.
• IEEE announced that Cisco and Huawei are the first recipients of certifications under IEEE’s 1588 Telecommunications Certification Program, confirming the conformance of IEEE 1588-2008 implementations in the standards requirements for synchronization in packet-based mobile backhaul networks.
IEEE’s official test lab partner for the certification program is Iometrix, which is also involved in pilot-phase testing for precise phase/time synchronization in wireless 4G deployment.
• JDSU signed an agreement with Streamline Technologies to serve as a channel for its network service enablement solutions to enterprise end-users, data centers and contractors in California and Hawaii.
• Ixia named David Sajoto as its head of enterprise sales for Asia Pacific. He will be based in Singapore and focus on business development and customer relationships in the region. Sajoto has more than 20 years of enterprise sales experience in the networking industry, and served most recently as VP of sales for Gigamon in Japan and the Asia Pacific region.
• Astellia’s Nova RAN Optimizer was recently recognized with a “Best in Test and Measurement” LTE Award.
• Pasternack has new instrumentation-grade, directional waveguide couplers for up to 110 gigahertz, for use in signal sampling, test benches and wireless systems. There are 28 new models that range from 18-110 GHz in seven frequency bands; Pasternack’s Mark Blackwood, product manager for passive components, said that it is expanding its waveguide portfolio as the industry moves toward components at higher and higher frequencies.
• Texas Instruments launched a new current-sense amplifier for use in test and measurement systems that it said has a level of accuracy and low drift that it will reduce or possibly eliminate calibration efforts for test and monitoring systems. TI said the amplifier is the first to integrate a highly precise shunt resistor with low drift that can “deliver highly accurate measurements over a wide temperature range” while reducing costs up to 76%.
