Cobham Wireless Expands Capacity of TM500 WCDMA Network Test System

Cobham Wireless has announced the latest version of the industry-standard TM500 WCDMA network test system, with expanded capability to emulate four cells and hundreds of mobile terminals from a single benchtop unit. Combining six TM500 units into a rack-mount cabinet enables the network operator or infrastructure vendor to validate real data applications usage on a WCDMA network of 24 cells – supporting thousands of terminals – in a controlled laboratory environment.

“This latest release of the WCDMA network test system software more than doubles the number of cells and mobile user terminals each TM500 unit can support, reducing the footprint and the cost per cell for WCDMA network validation,” said Tim Beard, WCDMA product manager at Cobham Wireless. “It includes support both for TM500 Real Data Applications functionality and for path loss mobility modelling, providing the industry’s most realistic protocol stack simulator with the highest available WCDMA aggregate data rate, which is being increased to 168 Mbps.”

Supporting 3GPP Release 99 CS/PS, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+ and Release 8 DC-HSDPA operation, the TM500 WCDMA network test system shares the same hardware platform as the TM500 LTE-A test system, allowing the same unit to be used for both 3G and 4G network validation.