Azimuth Systems Press Release - March 8, 2011

Azimuth Systems Introduces New Over-the-Air (OTA) Test Solution

-  Combines Mobile Isotropic Chamber with ACE MX MIMO Channel Emulator to Provide a Cost-Effective,
   Portable and Powerful New Option for SISO/MIMO Over the Air Test


Azimuth Systems

ACTON, MA – March 8, 2011 - Azimuth Systems Inc., a leading provider of wireless channel emulators and targeted test solutions, today introduced its new fully automated, end-to-end  ACE™ OTA device test solution. Azimuth’s advanced over-the-air (OTA) test methodology combines a mobile isotropic chamber with the company’s award-winning ACE MX MIMO channel emulator to create an environment where devices can be tested in their native form -- in the same mode as they are used in real-world conditions. 
 

MIMO technology, a necessary building block for 4G and evolved wireless technologies such as LTE and LTE-Advanced, integrates multiple antennas to maximize device performance. To understand true performance as experienced by the user, devices need to be tested in the manner in which they are actually used; over the air. This means testing the entire device in an active operational state, with the actual interaction of the antennas, RF front ends and baseband processing elements. Laboratory-based OTA testing solutions such as Azimuth’s create an environment where signals are transmitted physically “over the air” to enable the capture of the effects of device design, including antenna design and placement, in a suite of performance measurements that allows testers to accurately distinguish a good device from a poorly performing device.
 
Azimuth Systems Introduces New Over-the-Air (OTA) Test SolutionAzimuth’s mobile isotropic chamber (MIC) is an outcome of extensive R&D. Unlike traditional OTA solutions, the Azimuth mobile isotropic chamber creates a truly 3D isotropic environment in a small form factor, without forsaking technical accuracy, providing the benefits of both portability and low cost. The addition of the ACE MX MIMO channel emulator enables testers to create real world channel conditions such as delay, Doppler and correlation – which cannot be done without a channel emulator. The ACE MX channel emulator also features the flexibility to add other channel effects such as shadow fading, noise, etc., and the creation of precise, repeatable channel conditions. This combination of the high fidelity ACE MX wireless channel emulation platform with a compact mobile isotropic chamber creates a precise, mobile solution that can be used to more accurately test mobile devices over the air.
 
In contrast to OTA methods that use large anechoic chambers for isolation, the Azimuth ACE OTA test solution’s mobile isotropic chamber is approximately 1.6m x 0.9m x 1m – small enough to fit through most standard doorways, eliminating the logistical challenges associated with an anechoic chamber while providing more test flexibility. The fact that the test environment created by the Azimuth mobile isotropic chamber and ACE MX wireless channel emulator is completely isotropic also greatly simplifies testing as opposed to an anechoic chamber that has to compensate for not being isotropic in its native state by testing mobile devices in different orientations. This provides the ability to run more tests, resulting in higher productivity and ultimately a much higher ROI. In fact, actual test measurements from recent 3GPP HSPA round robin testing showed that the results for Azimuth’s ACE OTA test solution were comparable to the anechoic chamber-based approach technically, but offered a better value proposition in terms of ease-of-use and ROI[1].
 
“The Azimuth ACE OTA test solution provides a cost-effective, practical and powerful solution for enhanced SISO/MIMO OTA testing with a true over-the-air modeling framework featuring enhanced realism – in a relatively small and portable OTA environment,” said Peter Paglia, senior vice president of field operations, Azimuth Systems. “This is a significant breakthrough in over the air testing that we feel will revolutionize the industry by offering the most balanced approach for achieving repeatability, while producing highly accurate and realistic performance results.”
 
Additional features of the Azimuth ACE OTA test solution include:
 
Automation
The ACE OTA test solution is one of the only solutions available to incorporate fully automated, integrated OTA device testing. Featuring one-step, automated setup, configuration and calibration, as well as automated test execution, Azimuth’s complete automation features also allow for automation of BS/BSE, UEs and other equipment such as network analyzers.
 
Unparalleled Ease-of-Use
The “ready to test” Azimuth OTA test solution incorporates “push button” operation that simply requires a user to place a device in its chamber to begin the test with little setup, and also features an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
 
Flexibility
The Azimuth ACE OTA test solution currently includes support for throughput as a FOM, providing more dimensions to compare mobile devices and benchmark performance to create a more holistic view of device performance.
 
Future Proof
The Azimuth ACE OTA test solution has the ability to support additional FOMs that arise in the future and to add more dimensions of reality, such as using drive test data in testing.
 
Azimuth will be showcasing the new ACE OTA test solution as well as the Azimuth Field-to-Lab™ (FTL) solution and its ACE™ MX Universal MIMO channel emulator  in booth #263 during the upcoming CTIA Wireless show taking place from March 22-24, 2011, in Orlando, FL. Contact Azimuth to schedule an in-person meeting or product demonstration.
 
About Azimuth Systems
Azimuth Systems is a leading provider of wireless channel emulators and targeted test solutions for LTE/LTE-Advanced, WiMAX, 2G/3G cellular and Wi-Fi technologies. Azimuth’s products are used by the world’s foremost wireless semiconductor designers, infrastructure and mobile equipment vendors, and service providers to improve wireless product quality and speed time-to-market. Azimuth’s wireless test and channel emulation products and solutions enable research, development, quality assurance and systems engineers to test the performance, conformance, certification and interoperability of broadband wireless devices and networks while greatly reducing the cost and time of manual testing.

 
The company is based near Boston, Massachusetts, USA and may be contacted at +1 (978) 263-6610 or at www.azimuthsystems.com. Follow Azimuth Systems on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/azimuthsystems.


Azimuth® is a registered trademark of Azimuth Systems and ACE™ and Azimuth Field-to-Lab are trademarks of Azimuth Systems.

# # #


Vivek Vadakkuppattu
Azimuth Systems, Inc.
+1 978-268-9253
vivek@azimuthsystems.com


[1]R4-101441, Azimuth Systems, RAN WG4 Ad Hoc #2, Dublin, Ireland, 12 April 2010.




For additional information contact:

George Reed
Azimuth Systems, Inc.           
+1 978-263-6610
george_reed@azimuthsystems.com






Posted  3/8/2011