Aeroflex LTE-A Test Systems Add Support For Aggregation Of Three Component Carriers

Industry standard TM500 infrastructure test platforms are first to offer 3 CC carrier aggregation

Aeroflex Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflex Holding Corp., announced recently that the TM500 LTE-A Test Mobile and the E500 Capacity Test System now both support the aggregation of three component carriers (3 CC). Carrier aggregation of 3 CC allows mobile network operators to achieve data rates of up to 450 Mbit/s on their LTE-A networks.

3 CC carrier aggregation enables network operators with limited contiguous frequency allocations to maximize 4G data speeds by combining these spectrum bands. The E500 Capacity Test system is the chosen platform in use by leading network operators to prove that new network features such as 3 CC aggregation fully deliver as promised on their network, enabling them to offer the best possible user experience to their subscribers.

Aeroflex’s TM500 infrastructure customers have had the benefit of being able to develop and test LTE-A carrier aggregation for well over two years. Now for the first time they can do this with three component carriers, allowing mobile operators to accelerate the time-to-market of 3 CC services for LTE-A subscribers.

“The TM500 Test Mobile is the first commercial infrastructure test platform to release 3 CC” said Shusina Ngwa, product manager at Aeroflex. “Offering this capability at such an early stage is crucial to enable network performance to be tested and validated, ahead of the availability of end-user terminals and handsets.”

Aeroflex provides the tools for leading network infrastructure vendors and operators to roll out the high bandwidth services promised by successive releases of the 3GPP LTE-A standard.

About Aeroflex 4G and 5G Expertise
Aeroflex’s LTE market-leading product line includes a complete range of end-to-end test systems that cover R&D, performance, service, and manufacturing test applications for LTE-A TDD and FDD network equipment and terminals. Aeroflex is also a founding member of the 5GIC (5G Innovation Centre) technology research program led by the University of Surrey in the UK.

The TM500 Test Mobile family is in use with almost every base station manufacturer across the world, and can be regarded as the de facto standard for eNodeB development and testing. The Aeroflex E500 is the only network capacity test solution that incorporates the proven Aeroflex TM500 LTE air interface.

The Aeroflex 7100 LTE Digital Radio Test Set is a complete one-box test system providing all the tools required for the measurement and characterization of user equipment (UE) chip sets and mobile terminals to 3GPP LTE standards, including optional signal fading simulation.

The PXI 3000 Series, a modular RF test system based on PXI technology, is a proven solution to accelerate throughput in manufacturing and time to market in R&D while catering to current and future RF test needs. It is particularly suited to modern cellular and wireless data communications and critical testing in a high volume manufacturing environment.

Aeroflex has engineers working in centers around the world on its LTE and LTE-Advanced test systems, to support the current and next generation of networks and devices.

Aeroflex has also joined forces with a number of the world’s leading mobile network operators, infrastructure and tools providers, and the UK’s communications regulator Ofcom, to participate in the specialized 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC) planned to be based at the University of Surrey campus in Guildford, UK.

About Aeroflex
Aeroflex Holding Corp. is a leading global provider of high performance microelectronic components, and test and measurement equipment used by companies in the space, avionics, defense, commercial wireless communications, medical and other markets.