N9071C GSM/EDGE/EVO X-Series Measurement Application

The GSM/EDGE/EVO measurement application transforms the X-Series signal analyzers into standards-based GSM, EDGE, and EDGE-Evolution transmitter testers by adding fast one-button RF conformance measurements to help you design, evaluate, and manufacture your GSM/EDGE devices. The measurement application is further enhanced to support multicarrier (MC) BTS and voice services over adaptive multi-user channels on one slot (VAMOS)—allowing you to stay on the leading edge of your design and manufacturing challenges.

The GSM/EDGE/EVO measurement application is just one in a common library of more than 25 measurement applications in the Keysight Technlogies, Inc. X-Series, an evolutionary approach to signal analysis that spans instrumentation, measurements, and software. The X-Series analyzers, with upgradeable CPU, memory, disk drives, and I/O ports, enable you to keep your test assets current and extend instrument longevity. Proven algorithms, 100% code-compatibility, and a common UI across the X-Series create a consistent measurement framework for signal analysis that ensures repeatable results and measurement integrity so you can leverage your test system software through all phases of product development. In addition to fixed, perpetual licenses for our X-Series measurement applications, we also offer transportable licenses which can increase the value of your investment by allowing you to transport the application to multiple X-Series analyzers.

Technology Overview

The global system for mobile communications (GSM) digital cellular standard is a time division multiple access (TDMA) channel access scheme that uses Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) modulation. It uses 200 kHz RF channels, time division multiplexed, to enable up to eight users to access each carrier.

Enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE) technology is an upgrade to the GSM standard, providing higher data rates in the same frequency spectrum by using higher density modulation, 3π/8 rotating 8PSK modulation. The rotation prevents symbol transitions through the origin, reducing the peak-to-average power ratio, thereby minimizing spectral re-growth and improving power efficiency. The 3π/8 rotating 8PSK is not a constant amplitude modulation; hence a standard Gaussian filter (non-linear) will distort the signal. Therefore, EDGE uses a special “linearized” version of the Gaussian filter from GSM resulting in a spectrum that is very similar to that of GSM, while minimiz­ing non-linear distortion in the baseband signal.

EDGE Evolution or EGPRS2 is a technology to offer near-UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system) level data throughput with more than double the spectrum efficiency. For a higher data rate, the EDGE Evolution signal configuration has normal burst (NB) and higher symbol rate (HSR) burst including new modulation formats such as QPSK, 16QAM, and 32QAM. New pulse shaping filters are defined as narrow and wide filters for HSR. This is necessary to adjust the HSR spectrum with normal EDGE mask tests because GSM, EDGE, and EDGE Evolution will coexist in commercial services.

Now included in 3GPP Release 9 is voice services over adaptive multi-user channels on one slot (VAMOS). VAMOS can double the channel number assignment capacity of existing GSM networks by sending two sub channels on one slot. It utilizes adaptive QPSK (AQPSK), which is PSK with four state points whose positions are adjustable via a parameter Alpha.