Flexible multistandard platform from Rohde & Schwarz handles wireless measurement tasks of the future.

Munich, 19 February, 2009 — Rohde & Schwarz is extending the frontiers of wireless communications test equipment with its R&S CMW500 wideband radio communication tester. "The R&S CMW500 is the first all-in-one solution on the market for every phase of development and production," says Anton Messmer, Director of the Mobile Radio Testers Subdivision. The tester opens the door to measurements in production by supporting all relevant cellular and non-cellular standards and by achieving alignment times up to ten times faster than with conventional solutions. To enable cutting-edge development of HSPA+ and UMTS LTE, a broad range of test capabilities are already available. All functional layers of a wireless device — RF parameters, protocols and applications — can be tested with a single platform. "We offer an absolutely safe investment for network operators and manufacturers of chipsets and wireless devices," states Messmer.

New wireless communications standards are continuously being developed to ensure higher data rates, lower latency and efficient use of the available frequency spectrum. To position their products successfully in the market, manufacturers of RF/baseband chipsets and wireless devices combine different technologies and standards. But to succeed, the combination of services must exhibit stable performance across all network boundaries. To meet the growing demands on testing in development and production, Rohde & Schwarz is introducing the R&S CMW500 — a flexible, scalable platform. Now, users no longer need several instruments in order to handle the various measuring tasks.

Development engineers need a test instrument that allows in-depth functional analysis of RF and protocol layers and also handles sophisticated measuring tasks extending up to application tests. The multitechnology support of the R&S CMW500 includes, for example, all necessary handover and cell-selection scenarios across various standards.

In production, on the other hand, the focus is on saving time and lowering costs. By applying the R&S Smart Alignment test concept, for example, the R&S CMW500 makes alignment up to ten times faster than with conventional methods. Since the tester offers the option of coming equipped with two channels, it can even test two DUTs at the same time using different standards. Moreover, the R&S CMW500 delivers absolute accuracy, repeatability and linearity.

An advantage that has received little attention up to now is the use of consistent test concepts throughout all phases of product development. From development through to production, the R&S CMW500 delivers consistent, comparable results. Consequently, errors that appear in production can easily be reproduced and eliminated in the development lab. Conversely, test scripts or alignment routines from development can easily be implemented in production.

Featuring a frequency range up to 6 GHz, the R&S CMW500 is ideally suited to tomorrow's technological challenges. Its modular concept, which allows users to add new standards with optional software updates, yields minimum test costs and maximum flexibility. "The future of communications is clearly located in wireless communications," says Messmer. "Rising cost pressures are making short time-to-market a primary success factor. Anyone who invests in the R&S CMW500 is getting a comprehensive test solution that is designed 100 percent for efficiency and sustainability."

The R&S CMW500 is now available from Rohde & Schwarz. It supports the following standards by means of specific feature sets: GSM/(E)GPRS, WCDMA/HSPA, UMTS LTE, TD-SCDMA, CDMA2000® 1xRTT, CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO, Mobile WiMAXTM, WLAN, Bluetooth®, DVB-T and GPS.