Aeroflex extends LTE measurement capabilities to its PXI platform

Aeroflex’s new measurement suite option for the PXI 3000 allows production test system engineers to use low-cost modular PXI equipment to characterise LTE terminals, chipsets and RF components. LTE terminals will feature the co-existence of LTE with legacy standards in the same device. Support for multiple cellular standards in a single test platform is key to improving production yield and reducing test times.



The new measurement suite is complemented by the new LTE waveform generation capabilities of Aeroflex’s IQCreator software, which supports the PXI 3000 Series as well as the Aeroflex 3410 Series of bench-top digital RF signal generators, making them ideal for LTE RF component test.



“The new LTE test support for the PXI 3000 Series further strengthens Aeroflex’s LTE test offering and complements our other test platforms such as the 3410 and 7100, enabling the fastest path from R&D to low-cost manufacturing test and providing reduced risk in achieving the best time-to-volume,” said Tim Carey, PXI Product Manager at Aeroflex.



Aeroflex’s PXI 3000 and 7100 platforms share much in common, simplifying the migration from R&D to manufacturing. The same software algorithms underpin both platforms and comparable RF performance is achieved, so equipment used by R&D engineers will give results that correlate very well with measurements in the factory. This can eliminate delays that occur when a range of instrument types behave differently and require time-consuming troubleshooting to overcome the discrepancies.



Upcoming deployments of LTE networks around the world and a strong forecast in consumer demand for 4G services mean the ramp-to-volume manufacturing must be supported by a flexible test solution that will strengthen production output. The PXI 3000 platform achieves this by reducing test times and costs, enabling future capacity expansions while maintaining performance and accuracy levels comparable to that of the R&D system.