US-based Catapult Communications, a supplier of advanced digital telecom test systems, has released its LTE user equipment simulation test system.
The company claims that the new system is capable of simulating large number of user equipment (UE) performing voice, video and data calls over the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI).
The LTE UE simulation system is based on Catapult’s new t600 microTCA chassis combined as a peripheral with Catapult’s DCT2000 m500 platform. Connection to the eNode B under test is accomplished using the CPRI standard. With its scalable architecture, the t600 chassis supports from one to three sectors with up to 400 connected UEs per sector. For each sector, single and multiple antenna architectures up to 4×4 MIMO are supported.
Richard Karp, CEO of Catapult, said: We recognized that there were several test systems available capable of simulating a few dozen UEs for functional testing, but none for the sophisticated high-capacity load tests necessary to validate the capacity of new LTE network nodes. Catapult, with assistance from PA Consulting, has worked over the past year and a half to design and develop this high-capacity test system, a first of its kind in the telecom test industry.
