The new WCDMA handset simulator shares a common platform with the TM500 LTE and LTE-A simulators, and also supports emulation of real data services. Aeroflex’s TM500 Test Mobile and E500 Capacity Test solutions have an established reputation as the industry’s most widely used reference simulators for testing LTE and LTE-Advanced base stations and network infrastructure.
“The new TM500 WCDMA product builds on the expertise that Aeroflex has developed in WCDMA functional testing, and in LTE and LTE-A capacity testing, to better meet the needs of both small cell vendors and mobile network operators, in addition to those of our traditional infrastructure vendor market,” said Tim Beard, WCDMA Product Manager at Aeroflex.
“The Aeroflex reference simulators have a proven ability to closely track the evolving 3GPP standards roadmaps that wireless network operators are following, enabling rigorous and timely testing of the networks at every stage of their deployment,” he added.
Despite all the activity surrounding LTE and LTE-A, current industry forecasts from both Ericsson and Cisco predict that 3G connections and devices will continue to grow faster than those for 4G until beyond 2017, and that 3G will still be the dominant technology in 2018 in all market regions except North America. This means that there is a continuing high level of investment in growing and improving 3G infrastructure, both to cope with this additional capacity requirement and to offer the higher data rates afforded by multi-carrier technology. The new Aeroflex TM500 WCDMA test solution has been specifically developed to meet these evolving test needs.