Europe UK : Aeroflex and the Beijing StarPoint Telecommunication Software Company have announced an agreement to jointly develop the first, full TD-SCDMA protocol conformance test system.  TD-SCDMA is the 3G technology standard being developed by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunication Technology (CATT) that is expected to be the primary 3G technology in use during the forthcoming Beijing Olympics.

With TD-SCDMA mobile terminal and basestation technology now reaching maturity, the protocol conformance test system to be jointly developed by Aeroflex and Beijing StarPoint will support its commercial roll-out, both speeding up and decreasing the cost of deployment by reducing the requirement for extensive field and interoperability trials.  

To expedite the development of the TD-SCDMA protocol conformance test system, both Aeroflex and Beijing StarPoint will make available technology for the project from its existing products.  Already a global leader in protocol conformance test with extensive experience in developing GSM, CDMA and W-CDMA test systems that have been widely adopted by the wireless communications industry, Aeroflex has been tracking the development of the TD-SCDMA standard since 2001.  Additionally Beijing StarPoint has developed and is already shipping a TD-SCDMA mobile tester - the SP6010 - which also utilises Aeroflex’s PXI modules.

“Apart from Beijing StarPoint’s SP6010 ( inset ) mobile terminal tester, only relatively simple test equipment such as signal generators and spectrum analysers has been available to date for TD-SCDMA,” said Stephen Hire, Aeroflex Asia’s Director of Marketing.  “Our agreement with Beijing StarPoint marks a significant milestone in the development of the sophisticated protocol conformance test systems needed to support the rapid roll-out of TD-SCDMA.”

“With around 500 million mobile phone subscribers, making China the world’s largest single market, the opportunity for TD-SCDMA is enormous,” said Dr Xu Guo Xin, CEO of Beijing StarPoint Telecommunication Software Company. “Our agreement with Aeroflex will ensure the rapid development of a full TD-SCDMA protocol conformance test system and reinforce our ability to meet early market demand for comprehensive TD-SCDMA test solutions.”

Aeroflex Incorporated is a global provider of high technology solutions to the aerospace, defence, cellular and broadband communications markets. The company’s diverse technologies allow it to design, develop, manufacture and market a broad range of test, measurement and microelectronic products. The company’s common stock trades on the Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol ARXX and is included in the S&P SmallCap 600 index.