US - Spirent Communications announced the first delivery of its new Over-the-Air (OTA) test solution for Assisted GPS (A-GPS) in mobile devices to 7 layers in Irvine, California. 7 layers, a global group of test and service centers, is the first CTIA-accredited 3rd party laboratory to enlarge its OTA service portfolio with Spirent's UMTS Location Test System (ULTS).

Poor GPS antenna performance often leads to a disappointing user experience of location-based services (LBS), which can reflect negatively on operators' LBS revenues. However, adding a GPS antenna to a densely-packed mobile device form factor can be a major challenge. Because the industry's existing certification standards for A-GPS do not include OTA testing, performance issues due to the GPS antenna are not always caught prior to commercial deployment. This has led the CTIA to broaden the scope of its existing OTA Performance Test Plan to include A-GPS.

"At Spirent we have always recognized the key GPS test challenges. Our GPS simulation expertise and integrated test solutions such as ULTS have enabled the entire industry to address A-GPS performance issues early in the development cycle. We have made important contributions to all the industry's A-GPS test standards, including the CTIA's revision of its OTA Performance Test Plan, and we have worked closely with 7 layers' experts on implementation and verification of the CTIA tests on our ULTS platform" said Ron Borsato, Solutions Architect at Spirent Communications, who also chairs the CTIA's GPS OTA Subgroup. "Once finalized, the revised CTIA test plan will become a requirement at all CTIA-accredited OTA test labs, helping to ensure a consistent level of A-GPS performance."

"Working with Spirent gives us the earliest possible opportunity to meet our customers' requests for both development testing and A-GPS certification once the CTIA Test Plan has been revised," said David Bissonette, Vice President Business Development at 7 layers. "Working together with Spirent, a partner that has more than 20 years of GPS testing experience, proved to be highly successful and we feel that this new test service complying with CTIA requirements will be an important step to ensure end-user satisfaction with the latest A-GPS services."