TD-LTE hand-off milestone for Aeroflex’s TM500 test mobile in mobility field trials

“The TM500 TD-LTE’s ability to support hand-off between multiple basestations allows network infrastructure equipment vendors to fully demonstrate true TD-LTE network mobility for the first time,” said Ross Broadhurst, Aeroflex’s TM500 TD-LTE Business Development Manager. “Demonstrating mobility is fundamentally important to the realisation of basestation vendors’ ongoing development and sales plans. It also further underlines Aeroflex’s leadership position in global LTE test”

TD-LTE is the Time Division Duplex version of LTE and an evolution of existing TD-SCDMA technology. It allows the efficient allocation of downlink resources and opens up the unpaired spectrum for LTE. With TD-LTE network roll-out scheduled to begin in 2010, the timescale for their deployment is extremely demanding, placing significant pressure on the early availability of feature-rich TD-LTE test equipment to support the ongoing lab and field trials.

“The TM500 TD-LTE is proving an invaluable test tool in accelerating the basestation development programmes of the network infrastructure vendors we have been working with on the mobility trials,” said Stephen Hire, Director of Marketing for Aeroflex Asia. “Fast becoming the TD-LTE test mobile of choice, it ensures that basestation vendors have the earliest access to the latest 3GPP functionality, providing the layered operation and extensive analytical data they need to meet their development objectives.”

The TM500 TD-LTE’s extensive Layer 1, Layer 2 and higher layer test features provide complete visibility even into the lowest layers of the radio modem by generating the detailed diagnostic data needed for engineers to verify the required functionality and optimise network operation and performance. With support for MIMO and 20MHz channel bandwidths, UE CAT4 support of 150Mbit/s downlink data rates, multi-UE operation and now handover testing, it enables comprehensive development and test support of basestation and network infrastructure for the next generation of Chinese mobile technology. The TM500 TD-LTE co-exists in the same unit as the TM500 LTE-FDD protecting investment and maximising test flexibility for engineers working on both standards.