HP Launches CDMA, TDMA Test Sets

To help mobile-phone manufacturers develop high-quality wireless phones, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) has introduced an instrument dubbed the HP E8285A for accurate testing of dual-mode and triple-mode CDMA/PCS mobile phones.

Based on the company's HP 8924C, the HP E8285A CDMA/PCS mobile-station test set supports hard handoffs between RF channels, so that once a call is established, the link is maintained while CDMA tests are performed on each channel. CDMA-to-analog handoffs from both cellular and PCS modes are also supported. In addition, with synchronized multiple units, the test set can verify soft-handoff of a CDMA signal between two base stations.

To realistically simulate base-station signaling, the HP E8285A provides pilot, paging, and traffic channel simulation. Users can specify a variety of parameters to create different test scenarios.

The HP E8285A works with HP's 83217A CDMA test software. It is available this month and is priced at $52,500

TDMA tester
In a second release yesterday, HP also announced the availability of a drive-test system for TDMA applications. The HP E7474A helps TDMA designers eliminate network problems, while improving network quality and reducing downtime and costs.

The new drive-test system includes a receiver-based RF coverage measurement system and a phone-based service-quality analysis system. It also sports an air-interface measurements system that integrates receiver and phone measurements to provide a comprehensive drive—test capability.

Similar to the HP E8285A, the HP E7474A is available now. Pricing for this system starts at $12,000

For more information on both new products, contact HP at 800-452-4844.