LTE design underway

Tektronix and LitePoint are jointly undertaking LTE (long-term evolution) product development.

LitePoint’s RSALTE software is designed to run on Tektronix RSA3000A/B and RSA6100A spectrum analysers and offers 3.9G compliance support for designers of UMTS-LTE systems.

The software enables users to analyse the latest LTE signals with both mid-range and high-performance RTSAs.

The RSALTE-based solution with real-time technologies like DPX and frequency mask trigger also captures intermittent or random events that other solutions may miss.

This helps engineering teams detect, diagnose and resolve design errors more quickly. In addition, R&D and production teams can share common test algorithms and data formats, reducing production ramp-up time in manufacturing.

In the battle to provide broadband wireless connectivity that supports voice, data and multimedia, WiMAX and LTE are the prime contenders. The WiMAX standard is further along than LTE, but infrastructure delays have hampered strong market entry.

LTE, slated for market entry in 2009, is favoured by most mobile operators. The LTE standard is still evolving but the latest version — RP-39, version 8.20, 3/20/2008 — is advanced enough to enable system development to progress. The LitePoint/Tektronix solution is a step forward in bolstering the early LTE development.