Rohde & Schwarz offers the first all-in-one solution for the production of WiMAX mobile stations
Munich, 27 September 2007 — The measurement speed of the new R&S CMW270 WiMAX tester from Rohde & Schwarz is up to ten times higher than that of existing test solutions. This ensures maximum throughput in the production of WiMAX chipsets and mobile stations. Measurement accuracy has also been optimized with regard to stability and linearity of the measurements to provide utmost repeatability. The R&S CMW270 combines signal generation and signal analysis in a single box. Three calibrated RF connectors in the RF frontend reduce the complexity of the test setup, which allows users in production and service to save costs, time and space. In addition, the R&S CMW270 is the first WiMAX production tester that is prepared for the integration of base station emulation (signaling mode). The R&S CMW270 generates CW and OFDMA signals in line with WiMAX IEEE 802.16e for frequency and level calibration of WiMAX chipsets and mobile stations. The non-signaling mode makes it possible to calibrate the transmitters and receivers of WiMAX mobile stations and to measure the receive characteristics. The WiMAX tester furthermore features comprehensive measurement functions for the verification of WiMAX transmitters such as RF power, EVM, ACP, spectrum mask, I/Q constellation and spectrum flatness. In the signaling mode, which will be available in the future, users can check how the DUT behaves in the real network. This increases the test depth and decreases the error rate – which is especially important for final testing in production. An additional golden device, e.g. a WiMAX base station, is therefore no longer required. Since Rohde & Schwarz cooperated with chipset manufacturers at an early stage, the R&S CMW270 is already adapted to market-leading WiMAX chipsets – and this reduces the adaptation effort in mobile station production to a minimum. Further benefits are the low purchase price, the flexible upgradeability, and the selftest functionality, which lower the operating costs. Automated test routines using the R&S NRP power sensors facilitate on-site error diagnostics. The WiMAX tester from Rohde & Schwarz is ready for future expansions of the WiMAX standard. It covers the frequency range from 100 MHz to 6 GHz. The R&S CMW270 thus supports all RF profiles defined by the WiMAX Forum. The R&S CMW270 tester for the non-signaling mode is now available from Rohde & Schwarz.