US : Spirent Communications announced that the Spirent UMTS Location Test System ( ULTS ) ( see left ) now supports full certification testing of 3G Partnership Project’s (3GPP) Assisted GPS (A-GPS) RF Minimum Performance test cases for both W-CDMA and GSM devices. With this latest capability, Spirent is the first test equipment vendor to support all A-GPS testing standards including RF performance, signaling conformance and Secure User Plane (SUPL) Application Enabler.

Spirent ULTS is the industry’s first platform that enables mobile operators and manufacturers offering W-CDMA devices to certify 100 percent of the 3GPP TS 34.171 A-GPS RF Minimum Performance test cases. The validation and certification of these test cases are based on the requirements of the Global Certification Forum (GCF) and the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB). In addition, for the first time, customers can validate GSM devices for multiple 3GPP TS 51.010 A-GPS RF Minimum Performance test cases based on PTCRB specifications.

“Having the ability to validate and certify conformance to industry standards is critical to commercial deployment of A-GPS enabled devices,” says Richard Catmur, Location Product Segment manager at Spirent Communications “In keeping with our commitment to advancing A-GPS testing, Spirent ULTS ensures our customers can be confident that their handsets and chipsets meet the quality and performance standards prescribed by the 3GPP.”

Spirent ULTS already validated five of the six TS 34.171 test cases and now supports certification testing of the sixth test case - Fine Time Assistance (FTA). FTA is a technique that enables improved receiver sensitivity and faster Time-To-First-Fix (TTFF) by providing highly accurate timing information to the handset. Spirent’s validation of TS 51.010 test cases allows the evaluation of the A-GPS performance of GSM devices. The validated test cases include position accuracy, TTFF, multipath and dynamic range performance.

Spirent has been the leading provider of A-GPS test systems since the beginning of this decade. The Spirent ULTS system is used by all the world’s leading A-GPS chipset developers, handset manufacturers and network operators to test the conformance and performance of mobile A-GPS technology.