LTE-Advanced RF conformance test system wins Cat-M1 test GCF certification

Anritsu Corporation has announced the LTE-Advanced RF Conformance Test System ME7873LA which has won the first GCF certification for the Cat-M1 RF Conformance Test as part of IoT communications technology. This certification claims to give the company the world lead in GCF-certified test cases. Many network operators have announced introduction of Cat-M1 and NB-IoT technologies, for use by mobile networks supporting the approaching explosive growth of the “IoT Society”. These technologies are based on the LTE standards in 3GPP Release 13 defining the IoT Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) network technology supporting communications at low power over wide coverage areas. Large North American network operators are starting to deploy Cat-M1 and further introductions in Japan, Europe and North America are expected during 2017. In addition, NB-IoT is announced for services in Europe, China and South Korea. For the future, these IoT communications technologies are expected to see active adoption in various fields, including smart meters, home-security systems, lighting, freight tracking, vending machines, health care appliances, and many more. The system is a test platform for verifying compliance of LTE/LTE-Advanced mobile-terminal RF TRx characteristics, performance and so on, with 3GPP standards. It is used by mobile operators worldwide, especially in North America and Asia, as an acceptance inspection test system.