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CRTU-W for 3G UMTS Development

7th September, 2004

Europe : Besides WCDMA conformance testing, the R&S CRTU-W from Rohde & Schwarz can now also be used for signalling tests in research and development. In addition to TTCN test cases, a new, flexible C++ programming interface (MLAPI) is available for the protocol tester. The MLAPI architecture allows automatic configuration of the lower UTRAN layers. By using a graphical tool, the user can generate and modify layer 3 messages without having to recompile the test scenario sequence.

The R&S CRTU-W with its interface for official TTCN (tree and tabular combined notation) test cases has already been successfully used for testing UMTS terminals. However, the research and development labs of mobile radio companies and network operators require a programming interface by means of which customer-specific signalling scenarios can be easily set up. Exactly these requirements are met by the protocol tester’s new C++ programming interface.

The medium level C++ programming interface (MLAPI) provides numerous programming components and example scenarios in source code that contain UMTS-typical signalling sequences. This helps development engineers to generate user-defined interoperability test scenarios or simulate a faulty response.

Unlike with the official TTCN test cases, the lower UTRAN (UMTS terrestrial radio access network) layers can be automatically configured using the MLAPI. As soon as the user transmits a layer 3 message from a scenario, the MLAPI automatically extracts the relevant information and forwards it to layers 1 and 2. This considerably reduces both susceptibility to faults and development work without compromising the programming interface’s flexibility.

The R&S Message Composer, a graphical tool, has been implemented to help development engineers generate or modify layer 3 messages and their parameters. The dynamic sequence of the selected scenario does not need to be recompiled. For example, the user can change system information of the base station simply by editing the relevant XML files in the message composer.

All actions carried out within a scenario as well as all messages sent are written to log files and can be visualized by means of the R&S Message Analyzer.

The MLAPI is now available from Rohde & Schwarz as a new software option (R&S CRTU-WT02) for the R&S CRTU-W.

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