GPS is being commonly added to smart phones for location based information and services. However, GPS in these phones is not always that accurate and can have slow response times. Assisted GPS (A-GPS) will solve these problems with help from the cell towers to complement the internal GPS information being gathered by the phone. It is a hot topic at CTIA and companies are releasing test solutions to meet the needs of deploying them.


Agilent Technologies Inc. introduced GS-9000 A-GPS Design Verification Test systems designed around the 8960 wireless communications test set's new A-GPS assistance data messaging test capabilities. The capabilities support A-GPS validation, Total Isotropic Sensitivity testing and A-GPS pre-conformance testing for mobile devices. With this introduction, Agilent's 8960 test set offers the industry's best price/performance one-box tester for use in A-GPS base station emulation applications across the entire R&D lifecycle.


Spirent Communications, a mobile device, application, and wireless network testing company, has partnered with ETS-Lindgen, a provider of RF chambers and antenna measurement solutions, to integrate Spirent's UMTS Location Test System (ULTS) with ETS-Lindgren's EMQuest Antenna Measurement Software. This will enable the ability to test product in compliance with the upcoming 3.0 release of the CTIA's Test Plan for Mobile Station Over the Air Performance, which will become mandatory on all CTIA authorized test labs.