Anritsu Co. announces the industry’s first call-based LTE Advanced Carrier Aggregation testing capability that can be integrated into its MD8430A LTE Signaling Tester. The software-only upgrade leverages the four available RFs in the MD8430A, and provides 300 MB/s downlink throughput using two 2x2 MIMO Component Carriers (CCs). When configured with this option, the MD8430A can test advanced wireless devices at twice the rate available on today’s most advanced LTE networks.

The LTE Carrier Aggregation option for the MD8430A is available now for testing LTE Category 6 wireless devices. This new option joins a host of other advanced software options, including FDD-LTE and TD-LTE (individual or combined), enhanced Multicast Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS), Robust Header Compression (RoHC), and ZUC ciphering.

“Anritsu is pleased to support the wireless device industry with even higher-speed LTE test capability,” said Wade Hulon, General Manager and Vice President of Anritsu Company.  “Carrier Aggregation is one of the key technologies in LTE Advanced that will allow future wireless networks to eventually support data rates exceeding 1 GB/s. Testing devices that support Carrier Aggregation in the lab is critical to ensure that consumers enjoy the same data rates as the technology is deployed. We are honored to take this first step in the deployment of LTE Advanced.”

The MD8430A LTE Signaling Tester is capable of simulating up to six LTE eNode Bs with up to four RFs. A variety of MIMO modes are available, including simulation of four SISO, two 2x2 MIMO, or one 4x2 MIMO downlink. 

The MD8430A is also the central component of Anritsu’s ME7834L LTE Mobile Device Test and the ME7873L LTE RF/RRM Conformance (RFCT) Test Systems. The ME7834L provides both Protocol Conformance Test (PCT) and Carrier Acceptance Test (CAT) protocol capability, and the ME7873L supports both RF Conformance and RF Supplementary (CAT) tests. Anritsu supports the industry’s largest number of validated PCT and RFCT test cases available.

See more from us in our Buyers Guide directory listing.