Anritsu Co. announced it has developed a turnkey small cell manufacturing test solution with Cavium Inc. that also supports technologies such as cellular, WLAN 802.11ac, Bluetooth®, ZigBee (802.15.4), and location-based services (LBS). Leveraging the flexible MT8870A Universal Test Set platform, Anritsu is addressing the growing need for small cell test solutions that can lower the cost of test and speed time to market of next-generation wireless chipsets and devices.

Optimized for high-volume manufacturing environments, the MT8870A is a more cost-efficient and comprehensive alternative to full-featured spectrum analyzers and signal generators traditionally used in small cell production applications. Because the MT8870A now supports small cell as well as cellular, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, ZigBee and GPS, chipset and device manufacturers can standardize on a single solution to validate products that integrate numerous technologies.

“The small cell market is experiencing tremendous growth and the expectation is that deployments will continue to rise for the next five years, creating a need for accurate, flexible, and efficient Carrier Acceptance Test (CAT) systems to verify designs. Anritsu recognized this market development and the dynamics it has created for device and chipset manufacturers. By working with fellow industry leader Cavium, we are now able to offer a complete solution that effectively addresses the test complexities and market constraints associated with small cells,” said Peter A. Alexander, Ph.D., vice president and general manager of Anritsu Co.

“Cavium welcomes the opportunity to work with a global test leader such as Anritsu to help create a single-instrument solution that meets the market need for a turnkey manufacturing test set that helps reduce time to market and lower the overall cost of test,” said Raj Singh, general manager, Cavium Wireless Broadband Group.

The MT8870A is an all-in-one platform with a modular design that can accommodate up to four test modules, all of which feature a high-speed CPU and large memory, making it well suited for manufacturing environments. Its flexible design lowers test costs and allows for faster measurements, as well as makes it simpler and more cost-efficient to expand as test needs change. By combining four instruments into one mainframe, the MT8870A occupies a footprint that is 50%-75% smaller than test solutions with similar measurement capability.

With continuous frequency coverage from 10 MHz to 6 GHz and 160 MHz bandwidth, the MT8870A has the performance to address current test needs, as well as next-generation designs. Four RF test ports per TRx module allow the MT8870A to support up to 16 RF connections.

To learn more visit www.anritsu.com.