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The History of Wireless Communication

A Driving Force in the Rise of Mobile BroadbandTest solutions for LTE and LTE-Advanced

Continuing to lead the industry in the age of 4G LTE

The iPhone was launched in the summer of 2008. Three years later, in 2011, smartphone sales rose sharply and smartphones became more advanced. The 4G LTE age of the 2010s had begun. This mobile broadband system is now used in a wide range of fields from medicine to energy to education, and has been the driving force of many social innovations. Anritsu made use of the close partnerships we built with customers in the 3G age, sharing road maps for the future and assisting our clients in the development of new devices. As a result of this work, we were leaders in this new field of technology, supplying a variety of measuring instruments when they were required.

(Source: 4G Americas)

Ensuring the right speed...

Signaling Tester MD8430A

Anritsu had brought the world test solutions since the 3G age in the form of verification testing for mobile terminals using a base station simulator. Similar testers were desperately needed in the development of LTE terminals, so in 2008 we developed the MD8430A Signaling Tester, which could verify the 100Mbps transfer speed required under the LTE standard. The tester was used by device and chipset vendors around the world to verify whether their LTE terminals could communicate at the right speed, continuing the role in device development that we established in the 3G age. The MD8430A later evolved to become compatible with the faster LTE-Advanced standard in addition to LTE, and can now verify connections with a transfer speed of 450Mbps.

...and the connectivity of apps

Signaling Tester MD8475A

Apps are the most notable feature of smartphones, and the ability to use a wide range of apps was a major factor in the rise of smartphones. Anritsu helped this proliferation of smartphone apps by developing the MD8475A Signaling Tester, a base station simulator for testing apps. The MD8475A could conduct a wide range of tests including Internet connectivity, email services, voice calling, consumption current verification and verification of operations when a software upgrade is performed. This solution, a original idea fostered to delivery by a single engineer, helped to ensure that smartphones connected properly.

Our role in the commercialization of LTE terminals

LTE Conformance Test System ME7873L

Another form of technology that we were renowned for during the 3G age was our conformance test systems. We continued to lead the industry in the 4G age, developing advanced technology for the LTE system. A major turning point in the commercialization of LTE terminals was GCF certification. The GCF (Global Certification Forum) certified the test cases (measurement items) to be tested by conformance test systems, and one condition for certification of LTE terminals was that 80% of all test cases must receive GCF certification. Additionally, the LTE system was operated under different frequency bands in different countries and test cases had to be certified for each of those bands. Anritsu was the first company in the industry to obtain certification for over 80% of its test cases and has continued to occupy the top spot since, with the result that Anritsu has played a key role in the rise of LTE terminals.

GCF Certification

Band	Region(s)	Operator(s)
1	Japan, South Korea, China	NTT DoCoMo, KDDI/Okinawa Cellular, Softbank, LG U+, China Telecom, China Unicom
2	Canada, Central and South America
3	Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, Europe, China, Indonesia	NTT DoCoMo (Tokyo/Nagoya/Osaka band), Softbank (formerly Y! Mobile)
4	USA	AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile US, MetroPCS, Verizon Wireless
5	South Korea, Australia	SK Telecom, LG U+, Vodafone
7	Northern Europe, Hong Kong, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Central and South America	TeliaSonera, CSL, 3 Hong Kong, PCCW, China Mobile, LG U+
8	Japan, South Korea, Europe, Taiwan, Indonesia	Softbank, KT, Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Star Telecom
11	Japan	KDDI/ Okinawa Cellular, Softbank (TBD)
12	USA	T-Mobile US, US Cellular, C-Spire, AT&T Mobility
13	USA	Verizon Wireless
14	USA
18	Japan	KDDI, Okinawa Cellular
19	Japan	NTT DoCoMo
20	Europe
21	Japan	NTT DoCoMo
25	USA	Sprint
26	Japan, USA	KDDI/Okinawa Cellular, Sprint
28	Japan, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Central and South America, Taiwan	Optus, Telstra, KDDI/Okinawa Cellular, Asia Pacific Telecom, Far EasTone, Ambit Microsystems, NTT DoCoMo, Softbank, Willcom Okinawa, Taiwan Mobile
38	Europe, Russia, China	China Mobile
39	China	China Mobile
40	Hong Kong, Australia, China, India, South Africa, Indonesia	China Mobile, Optus, Bolt!
41	Japan, USA, China	Clearwire, Wireless City Planning (AXGP service), UQ Communications (WiMAX2+)
42	Japan	NTT DoCoMo (TBD), KDDI/Okinawa Cellular (TBD), Softbank (TBD)

Technology for operator acceptance testing

Mobile Device Test Platform ME7834

The most crucial issue for telecommunication operators is how to provide a reliable service for their users. This is complicated by the fact that the industry has changed greatly since the days when it was led by telecommunication operators. Chipset vendors and IT companies now have the greatest power over device development and the manufacturing market is led by EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Service). The networks are also more advanced and more complex, combining cellular systems such as 2G, 3G, LTE and LTE-Advanced with non-cellular wireless systems such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
This brought a new demand for operator acceptance testing. Telecommunication operators focused on test methods that not only determined whether their services complied with the 3GPP standard but also verified interconnectivity between their network and the mobile devices being used. Anritsu expanded its signaling technology to meet this need.
Our multi-test instrument allowed telecommunication operators to test conformance with both their own communication protocols and systems such as LTE-Advanced, LTE, W-CDMA, GSM, CDMA2000 and TD-SCDMA, all in one unit. It is being employed by telecommunication operators around the world as a result.

Providing assurance for the ever-expanding technology of the future

Communications, entertainment and information technology is constantly evolving. Anritsu’s measurement solutions evolve with this technology to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs and provide assurance for the many new developments that mobile broadband systems will lead to in the future.