Modern wireless technologies such as LTE (including LTE-Advanced and TD-LTE) rely on Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) and beamforming technology to deliver higher data rates, greater coverage, and lower operational costs. However, RF testing of base station and mobile device receivers is both complex and critical. A leader in the art of RF channel emulation, Spirent offers the most accurate, efficient and complete solutions for testing modern receivers including realistic MIMO emulation, OTA testing and virtual drive testing. Spirent will be discussing its MIMO OTA solutions as a Gold Sponsor of EDI CON 2014 and host of the MIMO OTA expert panel.

Fourth-generation (4G) wireless relies on Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology to deliver on the promises of higher data rates, greater coverage areas, and lower operational costs. However, the performance of MIMO-based mobile devices is especially sensitive to antenna design, motion and a host of other factors that were less significant in single-antenna designs. This places new emphasis on Over-the-Air (OTA) testing of MIMO devices.

Engineers working on MIMO devices may be hearing conflicting information about Over-the-Air (OTA) testing:

  • What kind of chambers will be used?
  • Who’s driving the standards and deciding how we test?
  • How do I ensure that I am properly evaluating our design?

MIMO-OTA tests are usually performed using a chamber-based method, in which wireless channel emulators apply real-world spatial channel models to the signals that are sent to antenna probes mounted in the chamber. This enables the user to precisely characterize how well a mobile device with MIMO receives signals with these real-world spatial properties, which are arriving from a specific direction.

 As a recognized leader in both RF channel emulation and MIMO-OTA testing, Spirent will take a leading role in presenting information on the latest in MIMO technology, OTA testing and channel emulation at this year’s EDI CON event in Beijing

Spirent Communications, a global leader in test & measurement, offers an extensive portfolio of solutions to test data centers, cloud computing and virtualized environments, high speed Ethernet networks and services, 3G/4G/LTE wireless networks and devices, network and application security, and positioning technologies. As a major sponsor of the EDI CON technical program, Spirent will sponsor an hour long panel session on “The Changing Face of Testing: Moving from Conducted to OTA”. This panel will include key industry players and OTA testing for both Multiple-In, Multiple-Out (MIMO) antenna systems and Assisted Global Navigation Satellite Systems (A-GNSS). Spirent will also be presenting a workshop on MIMO in all its forms including TD-LTE and a technical paper on MIMO OTA testing methodologies.