27 Jun 2012

Ixia introduces new solution for LTE small cell validation

Ixia is releasing a new test solution designed to validate LTE small cell systems.

The IxCatapult test solution is said to ensure high-performance, resiliency and quality of LTE femto, pico and microcells.

Small cells are low-power wireless access points that operate in licensed spectrum to connect standard mobile devices to a mobile operator’s network.

Femtocells and Picocells offer many potential benefits to both consumers and operators, including increased performance, better coverage and traffic offload from congested macro cells.

Small cell deployments have great market promise but bring a number of important challenges that must be overcome before products and services can become fully viable.

Major challenges include scalability, security, mobility, ease of deployment and interoperability. These areas must be fully validated to prevent product and service delays, which can ultimately impact small cell market growth.

Ixia’s new small cell validation solution, using its IxCatapult product line, provides a comprehensive solution for evaluating all aspects of small quality and performance, including:

• Functional, negative and performance testing of femto, pico and micro home eNodeBs

• Wraparound testing of small cells by emulating user equipment (UE) and the wireless core network

• Testing of all protocol layers from the physical layer (PHY) to the upper layer signalling (NAS)

• Comprehensive media emulation

• LTE Advanced ready

Key Facts:

• IxCatapult supports functional, negative and performance testing of all small cell variants: femto, pico and micro home eNodeBs.

• IxCatapult tests all protocol layers, including the physical layer (PHY) and the upper layer signalling (NAS).

• According to Infonetics, the small cell market is expected to reach $230M in revenue by year-end 2012, and to grow at a 73% 5-year CAGR to hit $2.1B in revenue by 2016.

"Small cell technology allows operators to improve the user experience by increasing performance and coverage, while also offloading data from congested macro cells,” said Joe Zeto, sr. manager of market development at Ixia. “Ixia’s new small cell test system helps equipment vendors bring high quality and high performance small cell products to market faster.”

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