LitePoint said it has launched the first over-the-air test system for Bluetooth low energy devices, also known as Bluetooth Smart. The company’s new Bluetooth Advanced test system supports OTA characterization and verification of device operations.
Bluetooth low energy is increasingly widely adopted for “internet of things” applications. According to data from IndustryARC Analysis, the Bluetooth LE-enabled devices are expected to reach 8.4 billion units by 2020, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 29%.
“Winning the IoT race will come down to two things – getting there first, with the highest quality,” said Adam Smith, director of product marketing at LitePoint, in a statement, adding that LitePoint’s offering is the only one on the market for Bluetooth LE OTA testing and ensures the performance of all components, including the antenna.
In other test news this week:
– Ixia and Viavi Solutions are partnering on a demonstration of a new, interoperable 400 gigabit Ethernet test system with forward error correction at next week’s ECOC show in Düsseldorf, Germany. The first public interoperability demonstration of a test system that runs bi-directional 400 GbE line rate traffic with FEC as defined in the IEEE 802.3bs draft standard “is intended to prove that the technology is ready for adoption,” according to the two companies. Ixia and Viavi said that they will be showing that independently developed solutions from the two companies interoperate with each other and support emerging 400GbE standards, so that they can be adopted by network equipment manufacturers and that carriers can implement 400 GbE.
Viavi will also be spotlighting a number of other advanced optical network solutions and demos for 100G and 400G. The company said that its Gigabit Monitor database of current and planned wireline and wireless gigabit network deployments shows a “dramatic acceleration in gigabit internet to end users.” Viavi reported as of last month that it was tracking at least 350 live gigabit deployments globally, with another 164 announced or under construction; that includes technologies ranging from GPON and DOCSIS 3.1 to LTE-A and 802.11ac. The company’s State of the Network research released earlier this year also showed enterprises are already expecting to move to 100 GbE as their bandwidth demands increase.
– Rohde & Schwarz said it has support for “5G” testing based on Verizon Wireless’ specifications for its 5G trials at 28 GHz and 39 GHz. The manufacturer’s signal generator and analysis equipment already supported that frequency range, but R&S recently confirmed its ability to generate and analyze signals for Verizon Wireless’ specific multicarrier time division duplex orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal with a subcarrier spacing of 75 kilohertz and bandwidth up to 100 megahertz per component carrier, with up to eight carriers.
– Spirent Communications is getting into remote monitoring of interference for Global Navigation Satellite System signals with the launch of its new GSS200D Interference Detection and Analysis solution. The equipment was developed through Spirent’s partnership with Nottingham Scientific Limited and consists of hardware for the field along with a secure data server for automated capturing and analysis of GNSS interference data.
Spirent said it already has a global network of the devices and has been using them to detect “thousands of … GPS L1 interference events;” the data server and analysis tools also support trend analysis over time and the ability to regenerate real-world events, according to the company.
– National Technical Systems is expanding its services in Colorado with a newly acquired test facility. It is about eight miles from NTS’ existing electromagnetic compatibility lab in Longmont, Colorado; between the two locations, NTS said it will have testing for both environmental/dynamics testing and EMC/electromagnetic interference testing. The new NTS Longmont West facility is said to focus on testing categories including humidity, shock, vibration, acceleration, package testing and other environmental factors. NTS plans to hold an open house for the new facility on Sept. 30.
– Adlink launched a new line of entry-level PCI eXtensions for instrumentation and PXI express instruments, with features that include system bandwidth up to eight gigabits per second and processors that it said provide a 50% increase in computing power and up to eight-times the bandwidth of available market offerings
– Palo Alto, California-based RADX announced nine companies will be marketing its products across the country. The relatively young testing startup (founded in 2011) offers the LibertyGT real-time radio frequency and microwave testing and signal analysis solutions, which have been recognized by Frost & Sullivan. Those nine companies will provide sales coverage in 44 states, and RADX will cover the remaining areas with direct sales.
– Spectrum Instrumentation introduced eight new digitizer instruments in its LXI-based DigitizerNetbox that have a claimed 24 to 48 fully synchronized channels for capturing and analyzing large numbers of signals. Applications for the DN6.49x instruments include analysis of sensors, antennas and other electronic devices.
– Cetecom’s Open Lab Alliance Lab in Milpitas, California, is using Anritsu’s Signal Analyzer MS2692A for dedicated short-range communications testing for connected and autonomous vehicles, particularly vehicle-to-vehicle communications.
Anritsu also this week began offering a 40G/100G measurement card option for its Network Master Flex MT1100A, designed so that the tester can support generation and measurement of 100 gigabit Ethernet signals for ensuring transport, data center connections and core networks.
