GCF approval obtained for 26 3GPP test cases
Spirent Communications announced Global Certification Forum (GCF) approval for a total of 26 test cases for the Spirent U-ATS UMTS Automatic Test System. This approval makes Spirent’s U-ATS system a leader in the number of GCF-approved test cases for RF conformance testing of 3G WCDMA terminals to the industry standard 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) TS 34.121. It also demonstrates Spirent’s dedication to helping achieve the much-anticipated certification process for 3G terminals and speed the commercial deployment of 3G-enabled applications and services.
GCF certification is expected to boost industry confidence in the performance and reliability of new 3G mobile devices. Spirent’s U-ATS System was commercially launched in October of 2002. In 2003 Spirent gained GCF certification of nine 3GPP test cases. In the past year, this number has grown to a total of 26, resulting in a 280 per cent increase in approved test cases.
“Responding to industry requests, Spirent has implemented an aggressive plan to have a large number of test cases independently validated and to gain GCF approval in a relatively short timeframe,” states Richard Catmur, European wireless business development director for Spirent Communications’ Wireless group. “U-ATS has evolved as an impressive platform on which to carry out lab testing of 3G terminal performance, both to the letter of the standards and against the widest range of real-world performance challenges.”
Spirent’s U-ATS is a comprehensive, fully-automated test system that runs industry-standard 3GPP test cases for formal RF conformance testing. It includes Spirent’s market-leading physical layer performance analysis tools to ensure that UEs are tested under representative real-world conditions. The system is driven from Spirent’s TestDrive UMTS test executive software for seamless test configuration and execution without any requirement for scripting or programming.
U-ATS forms a complete range of solutions suitable for all phases of W-CDMA terminal design, development and deployment, demonstrating Spirent’s commitment to sustain and enhance its leading role in accelerating the global roll-out of next-generation wireless services.
Spirent will expand the U-ATS system’s test coverage later this year to include Radio Resource Management (RRM) tests from 3GPP TS 34.121 on the same platform. Spirent has also recently announced new FLEX System configurations for the system. These flexible, scalable system configurations address a wide range of applications and budgets. FLEX Systems enable customisation of industry-standard test cases and the creation of user-defined tests for focused testing during development, integration and design verification of 3G W-CDMA terminals.
Spirent’s wireless test solutions aid in all phases of mobile device development and deployment for the world’s leading chipset, mobile and infrastructure manufacturers and mobile network operators. Spirent’s extensive CDMA experience has led to it being considered by the industry the ‘one-stop-shop’ for CDMA handset performance and certification testing. Among its accomplishments, Spirent has introduced the first and only integrated solution available to test location-capable CDMA phones, a critical element of assisting manufacturers in meeting the U.S. FCC E911 requirements. Spirent has now leveraged its success in mobile performance and certification testing to bring comprehensive performance analysis to the WCDMA market.