Anite accelerates MIMO OTA device testing

Fleet, Hampshire, UK – 8^th of September, 2015 – Anite, a global leader in wireless equipment testing technology, today announced that it has played a pivotal role in accelerating the initial release of the CTIA¹ standardised MIMO² Over-the-Air³ (OTA) performance test plan published last month.

Anite has contributed channel emulation expertise to the CTIA MIMO OTA subgroup since it was set up in 2011. Anite’s Propsim Channel Emulator supports all CTIA channel model requirements (both MIMO and Transmit Diversity testing) allowing users to comprehensively and quickly verify that mobile devices meet expected industry requirements. Anite is the only vendor that offers an integrated solution – approved by all major systems integrators – enabling LTE and LTE-Advanced testing of up to 32 channels in a single unit, simplifying set-up and reducing cost.

Anite’s Propsim F32 Channel Emulator is the only single unit Channel Emulator that supports the minimum requirement of eight dual polarized antennas for MIMO OTA testing in an anechoic chamber. It can be expanded to support 16 dual polarized antennas (required for testing larger devices), making it a future-proof solution for upcoming technologies and device formats.

Propsim Channel Emulators accurately and reliably replicate the RF field conditions of a live network in an anechoic or reverberation chamber. Anite is the only test vendor to offer a channel model verification tool compatible with the CTIA channel model requirements. The tool enables system integrators, test houses, mobile operators and device manufacturers to quickly verify that the setup is compliant with CTIA channel model requirements.

Paul Beaver, Products Director at Anite’s Device & Infrastructure Testing business, comments: “Anite has a long history of successful collaboration with key industry organisations to develop new technology. This latest milestone demonstrates the value of our globally recognised MIMO OTA testing and channel emulation expertise.”

¹ CTIA-The Wireless Association^® is an international non-profit membership organisation that has represented the wireless communications industry since 1984.

² MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology uses antenna configurations where both the base station and the device are equipped with multiple transmit/receive antennas.

³ Over-the-Air testing is conducted in the laboratory and involves testing a wireless device without any connected cables, thereby incorporating the device antenna performance.