Agilent Technologies Inc. is now offering Signal Studio for 3GPP long-term evolution (LTE) products. Designed to work with its N5182A MXG and E4438C ESG vector signal generators, Signal Studio software helps wireless R&D and manufacturing engineers create Agilent-validated and performance-optimized signals to design and test evolving 3GPP LTE products for the next generation of mobile communications. The 3GPP LTE standard is intended to provide a framework for the evolution of 3G toward a high-data-rate, low-latency and packet-optimized radio-access technology, thereby enabling significant new opportunities in mobile TV and video.

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According to Agilent, Signal Studio is powerful, PC-based software for creating standards-based LTE signals. An easy-to-use user interface simplifies signal creation via familiar tree-style navigation of the signal structure. Signal Studio provides spectrally correct signals tailored for testing and evaluating components such as power amplifiers used in LTE mobile handsets and base transceiver stations. Because the signals are spectrally correct, they emulate real-world signals (e.g., having the proper bandwidth, peak-to-average ratio and spectral shape, etc.). The software also supports importing a user file with data that has been pre-coded to simulate transport layer coding, enabling early receiver design and test.

The new software features the ability to adjust LTE parameters to fine-tune signal characteristics for specific applications. Some of the key parameters that can be adjusted include bandwidth (1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 or 20 MHz), modulation type (QPSK, 16QAM or 64QAM), number of channels, type of channels (e.g., data or control), channel power level, payload data, and resource block allocation, among others. With this flexibility, the engineer can test and optimize component performance over a wide range of operating conditions, including situations with few users or many users transferring data at different rates, said Agilent. Signals can even be configured to simulate worst-case scenarios, revealing component deficiencies before they are deployed. A graphical user interface simplifies signal configuration while the .NET API enables integration into a test executive.

An early release of Agilent's N7624B Signal Studio for 3GPP LTE is now available. N7624B-SW1 with connectivity to E4438C ESG is priced at $4,000. And N7624B-SW3 with connectivity to N5182A MXG costs $3,000.