After years of planning and pilot projects, the national public safety wireless broadband network known as FirstNet is poised to soon become a reality. RCR Wireless takes stock of FirstNet's status, short- and long-term goals, as well as technical issues including spectrum sharing and...
As pre-standards "5G" network equipment and devices emerge to support the increasing number of trials around the world, operators and vendors see a need to ensure that a cohesive 5G ecosystem ultimately emerges. At the Global 5G Test Summit as part of Mobile World Congress,...
Drones are changing the workflow for many providers of wireless infrastructure, but not all drones are helpful. Unmanned aerial vehicles can be used to photograph sensitive information, disrupt air traffic, smuggle weapons into prisons, and support terrorist activities.
Recognizing that drones are not welcome in...
Consolidation continues to shape the test and measurement industry. Over the past three years, a number of major telecom test and measurement companies have acquired, sold, spun off or otherwise fundamentally changed their business operations.
Since the last iteration of this list, for example, Keysight...
Huawei selected a test solution from Rohde & Schwarz based on the R&S SMW200A vector signal generator and the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer to perform narrowband "internet of things" base station tests in line with the Release 13 Cat-NB1 technology standard.
Huawei is...
Video is the dominant service that consumes the majority of bandwidth in today's mobile networks. Performance of video, from a Quality of Experience perspective, is a fundamental concern for Network Operators. The key challenge is how the user's perceived video quality can be measured...
DEL MAR, Calif. – As "5G" moves into development, testing and standardization phases, the outline of the next generation of wireless technology is becoming more clear – and so are the challenges that come along with meeting new and complex network demands.
With each jump...
DEL MAR, Calif. – The next generation of wireless technology has moved past the "vision" stage and into the development and standardization phase, with emerging early products and trials coming up in 2017 and 2018, according to Matt Branda, director of technical marketing at...
Rohde and Schwarz says it has developed the first tester for measuring over-the-air transmit power in millimeter wave frequencies, with support for development of both cellular "5G" and the frequencies planned for use in 802.11ad and 802.11ay.
The NRPM OTA power measurement test solution has...
Interference hunting from the skies
P3 Communications is using unmanned aerial vehicles to locate interference in wireless networks, relying on high-definition video and photos of cell sites for visual inspection to augment other spectrum analysis and professional tools to find radio frequency interference sources that are gumming up wireless...
Test companies are spotlighting their automotive test offerings ahead of next week's Automotive Test Expo in Novi, Michigan.
Tektronix launched new software for two of its oscilloscopes to support the Controllers Area Network with Flexible Data Rate protocol. CAN FD is being adopted by automakers to...
How does a densified network change the way carriers test their networks? We discussed this topic with Jeremy Cline, North America Product Manager, and Rob Wattenburg, North America SwissQual Business Director.
The below is only a summary. Download a transcript of the complete interview and the full report “Massively densified...
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...
Densified networks are necessary to support increasing traffic loads with the current spectrum allowances. The webinar will assess multiple densification strategies: indoor vs. outdoor; public spaces vs. enterprise; small cells vs. DAS; contribution of carrier Wi-Fi of LTE unlicensed and LWA; neutral-host and infrastructure-sharing...
At CTIA’s Super Mobility show, test companies tapped into top-of-mind issues including "5G," the "internet of things" and indoor coverage that have been central to industry discussions at the show this week.
Rohde & Schwarz announced testing support for the low-power, wide-area network technology LoRa, aimed specifically at transmitter and...
Test companies are focusing on the next generation of wireless and wired network technologies at upcoming events this month, highlighting new testing capabilities that support research and development in both "5G" and 400G networks.
Rohde & Schwarz is highlighting new 5G testing products at CTIA's...
Rohde and Schwarz recently achieved what it claims is the first Global Certification Forum validation of 64 quadrature amplitude modulation in the uplink, for LTE-Advanced Pro.
Carrier aggregation in the uplink takes the maximum uplink rate for an LTE user from 50 megabits per second...
Danaher has completed the spin-off of its test and measurement group and other businesses into a separate company called Fortive. Fortive's first day of solo trading on the New York Stock Exchange was Tuesday, under the symbol FTV.
Danaher sold its communications business to NetScout last...
Canadian test and measurement company Averna has acquired Charlotte, N.C.-based integrator Nexjen Systems for an undisclosed sum. Nexjen is an 11-year-old division of Jenkins Electric Company, started to serve test customers in the southeastern U.S.
Nexjen is a National Instruments Alliance partner and specializes in...
Rohde & Schwarz says it has achieved the first validation of RF conformance for LTE-Advanced Pro with 64 quadrature amplitude modulation and carrier aggregation in the uplink, claimed to enable maximum uplink data speeds of 150 megabits per second. The validation came out of...
Results are coming in for the first quarter of the year, and network testing and monitoring companies seem to be facing a relatively weak quarter overall.
NetScout reported that its fiscal fourth quarter resulted in revenues of $285.9 million, about 68% of which was product revenue...
Each outdoor deployment is a learning lab for operators and vendors, and this report digs into the specifics of site acquisition, network design, equipment selection, installation and testing. Metro deployments that are in both the planning phase and the installation phase are discussed, as...
As 5G standards progress, beamforming, mmWave technology are key
While groups like 3GPP and the ITU push for standardization of 5G mobile network technology by 2020, new use cases and mobile services taking shape today are helping inform the specifications that will ultimately define 5G.
Despite the lack...
Small cells are meant to boost mobile network coverage and capacity, but they can actually hurt network performance if they cause interference. Test equipment makers say that small cells make network testing more important than ever. The testing process is changing in at least...
