Anritsu Company Expands LTE Measurement Capabilities in Spectrum Master™ and BTS Master™ Handheld Analyzers

09/15/2011

Anritsu Company announces it has enhanced the LTE measurement capabilities in its MS272xC Spectrum Master™ and MT822xB BTS Master™ series of handheld analyzers. With the new analysis tools added to the existing measurement capabilities, field engineers and technicians have handheld instruments that can conduct nearly all the measurements necessary to successfully deploy, commission, and maintain LTE networks.

Among the new analysis capabilities are enhanced Over-the-Air (OTA) functions, including a new Transmitter Test measurement capability that allows users to perform key measurements on an eNodeB transmitter in an OTA configuration when a direct connection is not possible. This also helps make the MS272xC and MT822xB the industry’s best field solutions for measuring Remote Radio Heads (RRH).

The OTA option has new coverage mapping functions that allow users to quickly determine the downlink coverage quality in a specific location. S-SS (Secondary Sync Signal Power), RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power), RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality), and SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio) can be plotted using five user-definable thresholds. From these measurements, the new scanner measurement screen shows up to six LTE sectors on the instrument display.

Other new measurement capabilities include:

• Power vs. Resource Block – Power levels within an LTE frame can be color coded for quick and simple analysis. Power settings can be adjusted to a spectrogram measurement, and the screen can display the active percentage of resource blocks in use. This is ideal for locating traffic and capacity issues. Users can also view channel power to compare utilization and power to determine if there are any anomalies in the signal.
• EVM Max Hold and Frequency Error Averaging – Users can measure both EVM rms and EVM Max Hold with the EVM Max Hold feature. The Frequency Error Averaging function automatically averages over all measurements when the count is set to more than one.
• EVM Auto Status – Measurements are simplified with the EVM Auto Status function, which conducts EVM measurements on the PBCH, or PDSCH when data is available. In OTA mode, the analyzers will automatically detect two reference signals in a MIMO configuration, giving the user confidence that the MIMO is operating and connected correctly.

Providing frequency coverage up to 43 GHz in an instrument that weighs less than 8 lbs., the MS272xC Spectrum Master series provides the broadest frequency range available in a handheld spectrum analyzer. It eliminates the need to carry heavy benchtop spectrum analyzers into the field to measure signals above 20 GHz. The MS272xC Spectrum Master is integrated with a spectrum analyzer, and can be ordered with a channel scanner and interference analyzer to conduct all common field measurements, eliminating the need for multiple instruments.

The BTS Master MT822xB family includes the MT8221B and MT8222B high-performance handheld base station analyzers that have been specifically developed to support emerging 4G standards, as well as installed 2G, 3G and WiMAX networks. Each handheld instrument features over 30 analyzers in one durable, lightweight, handheld design that can meet virtually every measurement requirement.