Aeroflex announced that its TM500 Test Mobile has added support for the 3GPP WCDMA Release 10 standard, the latest evolution of the HSPA+ standards, which adds support for MC-HSDPA (Multi Carrier High-Speed Download Packet Access). This enables a single mobile device to use up to four 5MHz carriers and MIMO concurrently, across one or two frequency bands, taking the maximum data rate to 168 Mbps.
The TM500 Rel-10 MC-HSDPA L1L2 Test Mobile enables 3G infrastructure equipment manufacturers to perform rigorous testing of their MC-HSDPA base stations, speeding up the development of infrastructure equipment and its deployment in networks.
The new TM500 model provides full implementation of HSDPA Categories 1 - 32, including MC-HSDPA, MIMO, and 64QAM. Support for seamless reconfiguration from one to up to four carriers HSDPA and vice versa is provided via HS-SCCH orders. The flexibility of the TM500 means that Aeroflex is able to support any two frequency bands and any carrier combinations defined in 3GPP Rel-10 or Rel-11. Legacy features from Release 99 to Release 9 are also supported, including HSUPA categories 1-7 and Continuous Packet Connectivity. Layer 1 and Layer 2 test modes are supported now, with Layer 3 support in June and Multi-UE support for up to 64 UEs later in the yea
"The WCDMA standard continues to evolve and we are seeing significant interest in the MC-HSDPA feature. The Aeroflex TM500 family closely tracks the standards roadmap that wireless network operators are following, enabling rigorous testing of base stations before real handsets become available," said Tim Beard, WCDMA product manager at Aeroflex Test Solutions. "The TM500 is the first test mobile to support Release 10 and the higher data rates made available by increasing the number of carriers a mobile device can support."