Agilent Technologies, ETS-Lindgren host CTIA Wireless MIMO OTA educational panel discussion

Agilent Technologies Inc. announced its participation, with ETS-Lindgren, in an educational panel discussion – “MIMO OTA Measurements: The Next Generation Platform for Wireless Testing” – at the International CTIA Wireless event in New Orleans.

The session will be held May 10 from noon to 2 p.m. (CDT) in Room 342 of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. CTIA Wireless is the largest U.S. event covering the global wireless communications marketplace.

The panel will include experts from Agilent and ETS-Lindgren as well as co-organizers Elektrobit and Spirent Communications. The discussion will follow a similar format used last year at the event and will conclude with a Q&A session – all of which will be webcast live.

Extensive efforts are under way to standardize on a next-generation platform for performance testing of wireless devices, taking into account LTE, A-GPS, uncertainty budgets and the use of head/hand phantoms. This panel discussion will promote a deeper understanding of system performance and present the core elements – such as the chamber, software and instrumentation – that facilitate systematic and repeatable measurements of MIMO devices.

“MIMO OTA remains one of the most difficult measurement challenges facing the wireless industry,” said Moray Rumney, lead technologist, Agilent. “Plus, it is highly important. Without high-performance multiband MIMO antennas, much of the potential of cellular technology will not be realized. Agilent’s approach in the development of MIMO OTA test standards is to build on our legacy of innovation and excellence in metrology to ensure that any recommendations are technically and commercially viable.”

“The evaluation of over-the-air MIMO performance may be one of the biggest challenges ever to face the wireless test-and-measurement industry,” said Michael Foegelle, director for technology development with ETS-Lindgren. “Not only has the complexity of multiple antenna technologies advanced orders of magnitude beyond the traditional SISO behaviors evaluated by TRP and TIS tests, but for the first time in the history of OTA testing, we’re attempting to answer a question that hasn’t yet been asked.”

He went on to explain: “There are not enough MIMO LTE networks deployed for carriers to have a good statistical picture of the types of problems they’re likely to encounter with mobile devices, so they can’t easily come to the test industry and say, ‘Tell us how to measure this in the lab.’ Instead, we’re trying to find methodologies that can measure a wide range of MIMO performance-related metrics and then make good educated guesses at which ones will be most likely to be problematic on a deployed network.”

Attendees of the MIMO Expert Forum at CTIA will learn about the latest research and development addressing these considerable challenges