NEW YORK-Telecom Analysis Systems Inc., founded by Bell Labs’ alumni in 1984, introduced two new wireless communications testing products Sept. 10 that the company says are industry firsts.
The TAS 4500 FLEX4 is the company’s fourth-generation radio frequency channel emulator. It can even be used to test systems like Personal Handyphone in Japan that reduce signal fading by employing four, not the typical two, antennas at their base stations. Beta versions of this testing device already are in use in Japan by Sony Corp. and Matsushita Electric Corp.
“When we put a system out and announce it, it’s ready to go,” said W. David Tarver, president and co-founder of the Eatontown, N.J.-based company.
FLEX4 also permits users to choose signal fading models and fading sequence lengths in order to gain a wider array of realistic signal propagation scenarios. This feature also is a first, according to the company.
The new generation RF channel emulator also is unique in its capacity to test wide bandwidth, low-mobility applications, such as wireless local area networks and cordless telephones, according to the company. Additionally, it has the capability to test wireless cable systems, in which signal propagation delays typically are longer than in other forms of wireless communications.
Besides signal fading, background noise and other types of interference comprise the second key factor that can disrupt proper transmission and reception of wireless communications.
Accordingly, Telecom Analysis Systems also introduced last week the TAS 4600, which it said is the first integrated noise, interference and attenuation emulator for wireless equipment testing. It also is said to be the only instrument to provide two test channels with noise and interference emulation capabilities.
TAS 4600 meets or exceeds testing criteria established by both international and national standards setting bodies. It exceeds the new Code Division Multiple Access equipment test specifications, including IS-97A and IS-98A.
Earlier generations of testing equipment available in the early 1980s weren’t specifically designed for wireless telecommunications, Tarver said, explaining why TAS came into existence in 1984. The advantage to the old style of testing equipment is that it was flexible enough to be used in various applications. The disadvantage is that it required users to obtain and link many different types of equipment in order to test their particular systems and equipment.
Both the TAS 4600 noise and interference emulator and the TAS 4500 FLEX4 are modular, so they can be used in tandem with each other and upgraded easily to meet changing standards, he said.
“We are aimed at the service providers’-and to some extent the manufacturers’-testing labs,” Tarver said. The goal of the company’s products is to provide laboratory testing that approximates actual outside conditions that it obviates the need for more expensive field testing.
Telecom Analysis Systems, which manufactures the products it designs at its New Jersey headquarters, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bowthorpe plc, an electronics industry conglomerate based in Sussex, England. TAS merged with Bowthorpe last year.
