PCTEST Lab Selects Rohde & Schwarz to Expand Its Testing Capabilities as 4G Device Demand Heats Up

As the mobile wireless industry moves towards an all-IP multimedia environment, PCTEST stands ready with new industry certification and carrier acceptance testing capabilities and expanded test capacity for VoLTE and LBS-enabled devices.

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Rohde & Schwarz

Feb 25, 2014, 08:30 ET

COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- PCTEST Engineering Laboratory, Inc. (PCTEST LAB), an accredited testing laboratory for wireless testing and certification, has purchased a second R&S TS8980FTA-2 conformance test system and several additional R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication testers to cover key next generation technologies. PCTEST's expanded test capabilities support new conformance and carrier acceptance test requirements for IMS, VoLTE, RCS, WiFi Offloading, E911 over IMS, SUPL 2.0, LTE A-GNSS, OTDOA, and eCID.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140225/PH70964 )

R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester. (PRNewsFoto/Rohde & Schwarz) (PRNewsFoto/ROHDE & SCHWARZ)

While there are many conformance and carrier acceptance tests developed for LTE and LTE-Advanced features such as carrier aggregation, much of the focus right now is turning towards IMS enabled applications such as VoLTE, RCS and E-911 over IMS. VoLTE represents a major technology shift that brings along a wave of new testing requirements for devices. Wireless carriers and device manufacturers need to ensure that these new VoLTE-enabled devices deliver a high quality of experience; as good as what customers' have come to expect with current 3G voice/data services delivered in a circuit switched environment.

Another area of conformance and carrier acceptance testing that is quickly changing is location based services (LBS). 3GPP Release 9 has incorporated enhancements to improve indoor positioning, which is critical for many new mobile applications and services. New positioning technologies and techniques, such as observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), LTE positioning protocol (LPP), and the ability to use additional satellite constellations (i.e. GLONASS), all bring about additional protocol and performance testing requirements.

"Today we use Rohde & Schwarz for protocol, data performance, RF and RRM testing covering a number of key legacy and next-generation technology areas such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE and LTE-Advanced," says Randy Ortanez, President of PCTEST Lab. "However, we are now seeing a new wave of conformance test applications being driven by IMS and LBS that will require new test plans that can be developed and implemented quickly. With their excellent product portfolio and support, Rohde & Schwarz is helping us meet these fast changing market needs."

Rohde & Schwarz is exhibiting its wide portfolio of testing solutions at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona at booth B50 as well as booth C40 in hall 6.

Press contacts:

North America: Keith Cobler, Phone: +1 214 663 6394, E-mail
Europe (headquarters): Christian Mokry, Phone: +49 89 4129 13052, E-mail
Asia Pacific: Wen Shi Tong, Phone: +65 6 307-0029, E-mail

Contacts for readers:

Customer Support Europe, Africa, Middle East: Phone: +49 89 4129 12345, E-mail: [email protected]

Customer Support North America: Phone: +1 888 837 8772, E-mail: [email protected]

Customer Support Latin America: Phone: +1 410 910 7988, E-mail: [email protected]

Customer Support Asia: Phone: +65 65130 488, E-mail: [email protected]

About PCTEST Engineering Laboratory (Columbia, Maryland USA)

PCTEST Lab is a leading independent test laboratory offering one-stop conformance, performance, and regulatory testing of wireless devices in accordance with industry and 3GPP/3GPP2 technical requirements, including RF, Protocol, RRM, Release 10 Carrier Aggregation and carrier-specific test plans. PCTEST Lab is an approved VoLTE Lab, LTE/CDMA Safe-For-Network (SFN) Lab, an Open Development Lab, an OTA Antenna Performance Lab, as well as an A-GPS (LTE, ULTS & AGPS) test facility for major U.S. carriers including GCF and PTCRB Accreditation. For more information regarding PCTEST Lab's test services, visit www.pctestlab.com or email [email protected]

Rohde & Schwarz

The Rohde & Schwarz electronics group is a leading supplier of solutions in the fields of test and measurement, broadcasting, secure communications, and radiomonitoring and radiolocation. Founded 80 years ago, this independent global company has an extensive sales network and is present in more than 70 countries. It has around 9300 employees and achieved a net revenue of EUR 1.9 billion (USD 2.5 billion) in fiscal year 2012/2013 (July 2012 through June 2013). The company is headquartered in Munich, Germany.

All press releases are available on the Internet at http://www.rohde-schwarz.us. A press photo for download is also provided there.