Irvine, CA, USA, 5th September 2008: 7 layers upgraded its Irvine test and service center with HSUPA test capabilities from Rohde & Schwarz. 7 layers operates independent laboratories for wireless technologies, accredited in accordance to ISO 17025. By adding these new services to their already extensive test capabilities for the mobile industry, it will become the first independent laboratory in North America that can run the required HSUPA test cases locally.

HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol belonging to the HSPA family. This advanced technology facilitates more creative applications demanding high data throughput – for example – uploading multimedia data to the Internet and person-to-person gaming.

“2008 has seen a large increase in the number of HSUPA available devices and we expect this trend to continue, especially since more and more networks are now able to support the HSUPA technology”, says David Bissonette, Vice President Business Development of 7 layers Inc. “Extending our laboratory capabilities with HSUPA services is a logical development regarding the way the market is taking to this new technology.”

“In order to make 7 layers Inc. capable to offer these new services we will upgrade their existing Rohde & Schwarz test equipment, the R&S CRTU-W’s, R&S TS8950W, and R&S CRTU-RRM system”, says Michael Gieselman, US Western Region Sales Manager from Rohde & Schwarz. “We expect all test systems to be fully functional in Irvine by End of August.”

The 7 layers group has already gained experience with HSUPA testing and certification via their laboratory in Germany. By offering HSUPA services now also in the USA, clients can benefit from these experiences and enjoy the convenience of local service at the same time.

About R&S CRTU-W
The R&S CRTU-W is a highly versatile signaling protocol tester for WCDMA and dual-mode mobile phones. The RF modules of the R&S CRTU-W can be used up to a frequency of 2.7 GHz. The R&S CRTU-W offers test functionality for non-signaling layer 1 chip development as well as for interoperability and certification tests. The R&S CRTU-W supports HSDPA and HSUPA since December 2006.

About R&S TS8950W
The WCDMA Test System R&S TS8950W expands the Rohde & Schwarz portfolio of RF conformance test systems and provides an all-in-one solution suitable for development tests as well as for the certification of terminal equipment. The new test system for manufacturers and independent test laboratories performs all transmitter, receiver and performance tests according to the 3GPP test specification TS 34.121 fully automatically.