Aeroflex Incorporated announced that it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) program.
Under the agreement, PSCR is using Aeroflex’s TM500 Test Mobile system to test LTE (Long Term Evolution) network infrastructure for U.S. public safety broadband networks. The first call was completed successfully on the LTE wireless broadband network designated for public safety using an Aeroflex TM500 Test Mobile with an Alcatel-Lucent base station.
A national, interoperable public safety network has unique needs and specifications compared with other networks. For example, network robustness must be tested to make certain the network can handle sudden spikes in network traffic during emergencies, as well as potential heavy loads in sparsely populated areas. PSCR sees testing to verify these requirements as an important part of its network evaluation process.
The TM500 Test Mobile is the only test system available today that can emulate real emergency network traffic scenarios and public safety use cases with LTE-based public safety network equipment. The TM500 Test Mobile includes the latest 3GPP specification with all features required for public safety communications. As the rollout of LTE public safety network is completed over the next few years, the TM500 Test Mobile can expand to meet any test requirement.
“In an emergency, hundreds of first responders will simultaneously begin using the network with different levels of access and priority. These unique public safety scenarios necessitate testing the type of real world network usage that can only be properly emulated with the TM500 Test Mobile system,” said Oleg Fishel, North American Marketing Manager, Aeroflex Test Solutions.
About the TM500 Test Mobile family from Aeroflex
The Aeroflex TM500 Test Mobile family has established itself as a leading test solution for cellular infrastructure equipment manufacturers worldwide. Manufacturers must test network equipment under realistic operating conditions. All the major infrastructure vendors, as well as many femtocell manufacturers, currently use the TM500 Test Mobile. The TM500 Test Mobile offers all the capabilities of a mobile handset or set of mobile handsets, with advanced test functionality for comprehensive 3GPP verification, validation, and optimization.
About the PSCR
The U.S. government has mandated a nationally interoperable public safety network based on the LTE standard as defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the telecommunications industry standards body. The National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) began granting federal funds in 2010 for public safety network rollouts.
The PSCR, a partnership of NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences and the Law Enforcement Standards Office at Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, acts as an objective technical advisor and laboratory for critical public safety communication standards and technologies. As part of its role, PSCR will be deploying and operating a demonstration and evaluation LTE network for
public safety broadband. This network will serve the dual purpose of demonstrating the technological capabilities and allow public safety entities to evaluate infrastructure vendor’s equipment against a live public safety network.