Agilent Technologies Inc. announced a fully coded bit error ratio (BER) solution for the time division duplex (TDD) version of 3GPP’s long-term evolution (LTE) standard using 2x2 and 4x4 multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) technology. This solution complements Agilent’s same capability for the frequency division duplexing (FDD) version of LTE and is expected to accelerate the development of mobile devices and base stations for the China market.

The solution is built around Agilent’s 3GPP LTE Wireless Library (W1910/E8895) and its MXA Signal Analyzer to help wireless-systems designers and verification engineers speed development of evolving TDD-LTE designs. TDD-LTE is playing an important role in markets where unpaired spectrum is a requirement, particularly in the China mobile communications market. The library, which is based on Release 8 of the 3GPP standard for the next generation of mobile communication products, provides preconfigured simulation setups that support both downlink- and uplink-coded BER, along with transmitter measurements such as spectral emission mask, error vector magnitude (EVM), complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) and detailed demodulation analysis down to the sub-carrier and symbol levels. The latest update to this library complies with TS36.211 v8.3.0 (2008-05) and incorporates downlink transmit and receive MIMO models for both frequency division duplex (FDD) and TDD in 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO configurations.

When paired with Agilent’s MXA signal analyzers (N9020A) and MXG signal generators (N5182A), the LTE library provides laboratory-grade testing of TDD-LTE HW using any combination of radio frequency (RF), intermediate frequency (IF) or baseband I/Q signals. The solution allows fully coded BER measurements of a device under test, including simulation of channel impairments for multipath fading.

“Agilent has always demonstrated leadership in being first to bring essential solutions to market when customers need them the most,” said Frank Ditore, product marketing manager for with Agilent’s EEsof EDA division. “This latest solution is focused on the Chinese mobile communications market, where TDD-LTE will be a candidate for the evolution towards the IMT-Advanced/4G standard.”

Agilent’s 3GPP LTE library is supported by Agilent Ptolemy for RF circuit verification using Agilent’s Advanced Design System RF/microwave circuit and system design and simulation software as well as Agilent’s SystemVue software for PHY signal processing and baseband design. The library is also used for integrated circuit verification using Agilent’s GoldenGate RFIC simulation software.