P3 Communications, a worldwide technical engineering, testing and consulting services company for the telecommunications industry, has selected the R&S PR100 portable receiver from Rohde & Schwarz as their instrument of choice for identifying and eliminating RF interference in 3G and 4G/LTE mobile networks. With units deployed across key mobile markets in the U.S., P3 Communications’ mobile network maintenance and engineering team is able to quickly and effectively identify RF interference negatively impacting customer quality of experience (QoE).
Designed to support high data rates up to 300 Mbit/s in the downlink and 75 Mbit/s in the uplink, commercial LTE service is now widely available throughout the United States. When it comes to RF interference, LTE introduces some unique and very different challenges compared to 3G technologies. The introduction of new frequency bands, new higher order modulation types that require a “cleaner” RF environment, wider channel bandwidths that need to be checked for potential interferers, and the wide-spread use of remote radio heads or DAS systems that are more difficult to access to search for interference at the base station, may all contribute to making RF interference hunting more difficult within LTE networks.
“As with many new technology roll-outs, mobile operators’ initial concerns are around getting the basic technology working first. But as the technologies begin to mature, operators quickly turn their attention towards performance and optimizing the customer experience”, says Michael Schwab, director, Network Measurement & Testing of P3 Communications. “Our maintenance and engineering teams at P3 Communications are extremely knowledgeable and well-equipped to help our mobile operator customers meet their KPI metrics around performance and quality. We are pleased to be working with Rohde & Schwarz to simplify RF interference hunting in LTE/4G networks.”