Munich, August 20, 2008 — Rohde & Schwarz has launched the R&S TSMW, a universal mobile radio scanner that features two integrated receivers and includes WiMAX functionality. The two receivers allow considerably faster operation than solutions that use mobile phones with test functionality. At the same time, the scanner delivers accurate results across the entire high measurement bandwidth because individual blocks can be filtered out by using adaptive preselection. This allows network operators to perform drive tests for setting up and optimizing WiMAX networks. The R&S TSMW's platform concept makes it suitable for all technologies with bandwidths up to 20 MHz. It can be expanded for current and future standards via software options.
Now that the standardization and development of its base station and mobile station technology has been completed, WiMAX IEEE 802.16e is ready for network setup. To make setup faster and easier, Rohde & Schwarz is offering network operators the R&S TSMW, a universal mobile radio scanner with WiMAX functionality and a frequency range of 30 MHz to 6 GHz. The instrument is suitable for both mobile and stationary applications and detects signals with a sensitivity that is considerably below the noise level (noise figure of 7 dB at 3.5 GHz). This makes it possible not only to check neighborhood information for a base station but also to locate interference signals from other base stations. Since technicians can see exactly what is happening on the air interface, they can easily detect malfunctions. For this purpose, all preamble-based operating parameters, including received signal strength indication (RSSI) and carrier-to-interference-and-noise ratio (CINR), can be analyzed.
With its high measurement bandwidth of 20 MHz per receiver, the R&S TSMW covers all WiMAX bandwidths as well as those of other standards, which helps ensure future-proof operation. To attain optimal values for dynamic range and measurement accuracy across the entire bandwidth, the scanner features adaptive preselection. This allows users to filter out individual blocks in the case of high intermodulation suppression and analyze them in detail. Even weak signals can be measured in this way.
In addition, the R&S TSMW can simultaneously scan and demodulate on different frequencies – and on as many carriers as desired. Switchover times between the carriers are less than 5 ms. Thanks to the two integrated receivers, several WiMAX signals can be measured in parallel, fully eliminating switchover times. This results in a very high measurement speed.
An integrated GPS allows the measurement results to be linked to the measurement sites and displayed on a map during mobile operation. A Gigabit/Ethernet interface enables users to call up measurement data either locally or remotely on the PC via an IP-based access. When equipped with the R&S TSMW-K1 option, the R&S TSMW also offers high flexibility when evaluating data: The instrument features an I/Q interface that outputs raw signals that users can evaluate with MATLAB software. This is advantageous for measurements on standards that are still being developed: Channel measurements for 3GPP LTE are a good example.
The R&S TSMW universal mobile radio scanner, the R&S TSMW-K28 WiMAX option and R&S ROMES software are now available from Rohde & Schwarz.
