Thursday, 08 November 2012 10:25
Admin
In 4G/LTE Radio Access Network (RAN) testing, there is a single problem all operators and network equipment manufacturers face when integrating the system together. This problem can cause weeks and months to go by without ever getting closer to a solution. It can cause inter-department fighting, lots of finger pointing, and massive delays in delivery schedule.
In fact, this problem is so big, it can be called the Number 1 problem in RAN testing. And that problem is this: If your Remote Radio Head (RRH) and Baseband Unit (BBU) are not operating within normal parameters, WHERE IS THE PROBLEM? Is it in the RRH? The BBU? The software? The hardware? The DSP algorithms?
Sometimes, the problem location is obvious. An example is a simple fibre cable connection break at one of the terminals, which can be found easily with a cable or BER tester.
However, when the problems become more complex, determining the location of the issue also becomes more complex. Take for example the case where the RRH receives commands from the BBU, but the RRH does not behave as expected. Then, our #1 problem rears its ugly head: “Where is the problem?” Is the BBU receiving the commands properly, but the RRH is misinterpreting them? Or maybe the BBU is sending the wrong commands, but thinks it’s sending the correct commands?
This is a classic situation that will send design teams into a massive finger pointing exercise, with the hardware integration team sitting in the middle. When this scenario is entered, it is difficult to get anyone to investigate the problem in earnest, as all parties believe the problem lies with the other teams’ hardware/software.
To resolve this dilemma, the hardware integration and testing teams need one single thing: EVIDENCE. If they can provide evidence of what’s going on within the communications link, whether it be CPRI or OBSAI, the design teams can no longer point fingers at each other. They can only look at the evidence, analyze it, and conclude where the problem originates.
In serial links such as CPRI and OBSAI, the evidence provided is normally in the form of a trace file. A trace file provides irrefutable proof of what’s going on in the link between the RRH and BBU. The link can show protocol level commands, messaging layer commands (such as Ethernet commands) or even IQ data for verification of RF algorithms.
Not every problem can be solved by obtaining evidence on the link, but a large majority of them will be solved quickly and easily with our favorite solution: evidence.
Investigator for CPRI and OBSAI provide the capabilities of monitoring these links, capturing the data that moves across these links, and then extraction the data embedded for protocol layer, messaging layer, and IQ data payload analysis. For more information, please visit our Mobile Access Network product page here.
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Friday, 26 October 2012 08:54
Admin
Absolute Analysis testing solutions for 4G/LTE Radio Access Networks were are featured in the November edition of the EE Catalog 4G/LTE edition. It highlights some of the testing challenges faced by network equipment manufacturers and operators as they develop and rollout new 4G networks.
You can read the article by clicking here.
The article will be published in the print version of the EE Catalog, to be distributed at 4G World in Chicago and LTE North American in Dallas.
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 14:01
Roger Paje
When debugging high speed serial links, it's important to be accurate about both your test procedures as well as test equipment capabilities. This application note covers 3 big myths that many design engineers believe as true.
We discuss these 3 myths and the reality that engineers must operate under to ensure proper deployment of their networks.
To download this white paper, simply click here. No opt-in or registration required.
In this paper, you'll learn:
- Why not all test equipment are equivalent
- The truth behind a "standard" protocol, and how you can have interoperability problems even while complying with the specification
- The requirements of test equipment needed for complete and accurate testing of networks.
Here's the download link again: click here. No opt-in or registration required.
Thursday, 10 May 2012 13:48
Roger Paje
The Solution Creates a Single PCB Touch point for protocol analyzers, logic analyzers and oscilloscopes for Serial RapidIO and PCI Express Designs
Newbury Park, CA, April 17, 2012 -Absolute Analysis today announced the release the Embedded Systems Probe (ESP) designed to connect to a mid-bus probe connector to monitor serial signals across backplanes using Serial RapidIO and PCI Express. This ground breaking technology effectively uses one "touch-point" on the device under test to distribute the signal to multiple pieces of test equipment simultaneously. This means that for the first time, engineers can simultaneously look at signal integrity issues on a scope, timing information on a logic analyzer, and protocol decodes on the Investigator protocol analyzer.
Designed for use with multi-lane serial designs, the ESP is designed with innovative circuitry to minimize disturbance. It utilizes a matched impedance touch, so signal integrity is preserved, and the device under test can be validated under operating conditions as close to normal as possible. Even with amplitudes as low as 100mV, the ESP can effective read the signal under test.
"Our new Embedded Systems Probe takes validation high speed serial links to a new level." says Dennis Murphy, CEO of Absolute Analysis. "Engineers are now able to use our protocol analysis tools to trigger on an error, and simultaneously see the error on the protocol trace, an oscilloscope, and a logic analyzer."
Hardware engineers can also define parameters on each lane of a multi-lane design. Any individual lane can be defined individually for port number, lane definition, and direction. The lanes are monitored real-time for voltage amplitude. The software included allows the user to define which pins on the mid-bus probe correspond to which lanes on the logical layer.
The ESP contains different modes of operation, depending upon the type of testing required by the user. There is a receive-only mode in which signals are only received from the device. A second mode is an interpose mode, where the ESP sits in the middle of a traffic stream and retransmits the incoming data back out onto the line. Finally, there is also a generate mode which facilitates using Investigator for Serial RapidIO as an end device which can generate Serial RapidIO traffic to the devices under test.
Availability
The Embedded Systems Probe is available today with oscilloscope interface output ports. The logic analyzer interface is schedule to be available in Q3, 2012. Click here for more information about the product.
About Absolute Analysis
Absolute Analysis develops test equipment that performs complete high speed serial bus verification and validation across standard protocols, custom or proprietary protocols, and mixed protocol environments. Protocol support includes Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, CPRI, OBSAI, Fibre Channel, Ethernet up to 10 Gbps, and many others. Their product lines allow engineers to perform a variety of protocol level tests, including protocol analysis, traffic generation, BER testing, error injection, and impairment testing. All verification is accomplished via a single piece of hardware, and a single user interface, saving customers both time and money.
Thursday, 10 May 2012 13:45
Roger Paje
Multi-Lane Support Has Been Released, Along with an Innovative Array of Connection Options
Newbury Park, CA, April 17, 2012 –Absolute Analysis today announced new enhancements to its Investigator for Serial RapidIO (sRIO) solution. The solution now supports multi-lane designs (2x and 4x) with speeds of 1.25, 2.50, and 3.125 Gbps. Faster speeds scheduled for release later this year. These features add to the already existing 1x lane support up to a maximum 6.125 Gbps.
Investigator for Serial RapidIO solves the problem of the lengthy time to debug interoperability problems within a sRIO environment. It contains an advanced feature set that allows engineers to find problems quickly. The user can pre-capture filtering of idle events, clock compensation and Status/NOP Control Symbols to optimize use of the 2GB of event buffer. There is a comprehensive trigger and filtering function available for all sRIO events using a simple drag and drop operation. The user can see and decode high level exchanges between devices or do low level analysis of scrambling and idle sequences. All of this can be done while monitoring multiple links simultaneously, with full time correlation.
Investigator eliminates the need for multiple pieces of test equipment to validate the links. The functions of a traffic generator, protocol analyzer, and BER tester for multiple ports are all fully integrated in to a single box. This not only saves on costs, but also increases space available on the workbench testing area.
One of the unique features that distinguish the Investigator product line is its ability to define and trigger on vendor custom packets and control symbols. This is achieved through its proprietary “protocol database” architecture, which essentially allows users to customize the protocol decodes and define any customizations on the protocol developed by the engineering team.
“Multi-lane protocols such as Serial RapidIO offer both terrific advantages for embedded computing as well as headaches in debugging them.” says Manoj Samanta, VP of Engineering at Absolute Analysis. “Investigator for Serial RapidIO helps relieve the debug effort significantly by capturing complex 4 lane conversations and presenting them in way where engineers can find problems quickly.”
To help facilitate connection to devices under test for multi-lane designs, an array of innovative connectivity options also have been released. Investigator uses a native QSFP connector, and provides options to connect this to CX4, SMA, SFP or mid-bus probe connectors. All are designed to tap into the signal with minimal disturbance.
Availability
Investigator for Serial RapidIO is available now. Lead time for orders is 4 to 6 weeks. For more information on Investigator for Serial RapidIO, visit the product page: http://www.absoluteanalysis.com/solutions/by-protocol/serial-rapid-io.html
About Absolute Analysis
Absolute Analysis develops test equipment that performs complete high speed serial bus verification and validation across standard protocols, custom or proprietary protocols, and mixed protocol environments. Protocol support includes Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, CPRI, OBSAI, Fibre Channel, Ethernet up to 10 Gbps, and many others. Their product lines allow engineers to perform a variety of protocol level tests, including protocol analysis, traffic generation, BER testing, error injection, and impairment testing. All verification is accomplished via a single piece of hardware, and a single user interface, saving customers both time and money.
Monday, 09 April 2012 13:54
Admin
Investigator for Serial RapidIO was featured as part of a RapidIO interoperability demo at the recent Embedded Systems conference in San Jose. The demo incorporated sRIO devices from multiple vendors all connected into the same sRIO fabric. The devices included FPGAs, network processors, switches, and test equipment.
Investigator is the world's only fully fledged protocol analyzer for Serial RapidIO. More information about the product can be found on its product page: http://www.absoluteanalysis.com/solutions/by-protocol/serial-rapid-io.html
The Investigator description starts at 2:51 into the video.
Watch the video below
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 11:26
Admin
New Integris Tester Accurately Measures the Performance of RRH to BBU Networks that Use CPRI, OBSAI, and Ethernet
Newbury Park, CA, February 15, 2012 –Absolute Analysis today announced the introduction of the Integris Performance Tester, an innovative modular tester that is capable of characterizing performance for mobile access networks. Designed for simplicity, portability, and accuracy, Integris is the world’s first platform that utilizes a single tool to identify impairments, characterize performance, and validate interoperability. Engineers and technicians are now able to quickly gather the data necessary, to pinpoint faulty devices or cables. Integris can be used easily in both laboratory and field applications.
As service providers worldwide continue upgrading their networks to 4G/LTE to support the exponential growth of mobile broadband services, the network connections from the radio heads to the base stations are increasing in complexity. Future trends towards “cloud” based digital processing base stations will continue to put pressure on the access network to provide the necessary performance required to meet specification.
Integris solves the problem of the need to accurately measure the true performance of these complex networks. Built from the ground up for simplicity, portability and accuracy, Integris identifies impairments, characterize performance, and validates interoperability all with a single portable tester. Parameters such as latency (point to point or round trip), link failover/recover time, and bit error rates (BER) all can be monitored and recorded from a single software interface.
“The trend towards ‘cloud’ based digital processing of radio signals is being pushed by Ericsson, Alcatel and Nokia. This has forced service providers to implement complex fiber topologies in their access networks, which makes characterization and identification of problems more difficult.” says Manoj Samanta, VP of Engineering at Absolute Analysis. “Integris is able to connect to a network at multiple points, allowing it to not only characterize performance properly, but also pinpoint problems such as impairments instantly.”
Integris reduces capital expenditure by integrating in a single test platform the same capabilities that normally require multiple test tools. Ethernet, CPRI, and OBSAI are all supported. In addition, tests can be completed significantly faster using multiple ports, which boosts field productivity and reduces operating expenses.
For more information, visit the Integris webpage at http://www.absoluteanalysis.com/products/integris.html
About Absolute Analysis
Absolute Analysis develops test equipment that performs complete high speed serial bus verification and validation across standard protocols, custom or proprietary protocols, and mixed protocol environments. Protocol support includes Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, CPRI, OBSAI, Fibre Channel, Ethernet up to 10 Gbps, and many others. Their product lines allow engineers to perform a variety of protocol level tests, including protocol analysis, traffic generation, BER testing, error injection, and impairment testing. All verification is accomplished via a single piece of hardware, and a single user interface, saving customers both time and money.
Thursday, 19 January 2012 08:27
Admin
Tools to benchmark and validate new equipment for leading LTE Mobile Access Network
Newbury Park January 12th, 2012 - Absolute Analysis today announced it has been selected by a major Asian mobile communications service provider to support their mobile backhaul 4G LTE deployment.
Quality of service (QoS) is paramount to the success of today's mobile service providers. Consequently they must thoroughly test and validate the performance and reliability of all equipment that is to be used in their Mobile Access Network. The Mobile Access Network refers to the edge of the service provider's network used in connecting Remote Radio Heads (RRH) to centralized Base Band Units (BBU). Networks with distributed antennas helps to both reduce operating costs while also improving signal quality. New technologies that leverage protocol standards such as CPRI and OBSAI now allow service providers to distribute radio antennas across their network achieving both economic and performance gains as a result. In order for Radio Heads and Base Stations to operate in separate locations stringent network performance thresholds must be met. Typical implementations also include optical multiplexors and transponders providing instant failover redundancy in the event of link failure.
Absolute Analysis LTE performance test equipment has been used to benchmark the performance of network equipment providers competing for their place in the new LTE network. Real-time statistical measurements are made in both laboratory testing as well as field deployments. This helps ensure that access network equipment complies with LTE and WiMax specifications for performance and interoperability between devices in both normal and failover modes. Network impairments, data link bottlenecks, and cabling issues are identified through a simple GUI that provides real-time latency, recovery or failover delay, and bit error rate measurements, across multiple points in the network, over both copper and optical media. The Absolute Analysis equipment also includes capabilities for capture and decode of network traffic providing precise details of problem areas.
"The selection by a major mobile service provider further validates our solution approach to the market." says Dennis Murphy, CEO of Absolute Analysis. "Close cooperation between our engineering team and the customer and their hardware vendors yielded a solution that guarantees the interoperability, reliability and performance of their Mobile Access Network."
About Absolute Analysis
Absolute Analysis develops test equipment that performs complete high speed serial bus verification and validation across standard protocols, custom or proprietary protocols, and mixed protocol environments. Protocol support includes Serial RapidIO, PCI Express, Ethernet up to 10 Gbps, and many others. Their flagship InvestigatorTM platform contains functions for full interoperability and compliance testing, consisting of protocol analysis, traffic generation, BER testing, error injection, and impairment testing. All verification is accomplished via a single piece of hardware, and a single user interface, saving customers both time and money.
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