At the 2014 Mobile World Congress (MWC), Agilent Technologies showcased the latest wireless communication design and test solutions capable of addressing current and future test technology challenges, including LTE, LTE-A, and 3GPP Release 11 and 12.

The newly introduced Agilent design and test solution focuses on high-capacity solutions for handling increasing peak data rates, incorporating various technologies such as carrier aggregation, enhanced multi-antenna technology, and improved uplinks for the research, development, and manufacturing of next-generation wireless devices.

Benoit Neel, Vice President and General Manager for Europe and Africa at Agilent, stated, “LTE and LTE-A are currently being deployed, and development for 5G has already begun.” He added, “Keysight Technologies is scheduled to be spun off from Agilent in the second half of this year, and the need for high-speed connectivity will become even greater in the upcoming 5G network era. We are committed to providing design and test solutions to create a seamless environment with the goal of ‘Everything, Everywhere.’”

At this MWC, Agilent unveiled the new E6640A EXM wireless test set, which provides groundbreaking production test scalability in the wireless communications field. The EXM offers the performance and capacity to test up to 32 cellular and wireless connectivity devices in parallel, supporting LTE and LTE-A. It also introduced the E7515A UXM wireless test set, a highly integrated signaling test set designed for RF design and function verification in environments beyond 4G. UXM is a solution that provides extensive capabilities to test the designs of the latest wireless devices, currently supports LTE-A Category 6, and will provide the processing of more complex test cases in the future.

Today's wireless communication technologies—RF, wireless, millimeter-wave, and high-speed digital—are integrated and applied to advanced automotive systems. Automotive communication and component testing face various measurement challenges arising from the inclusion of 2/3/4G cellular, 802.11p WAVE, Bluetooth® Low Energy, and Near Field Communication (NFC). Furthermore, as the benefits of technologies such as blind spot detection, emergency braking, and real-world crash protection—which protect drivers from potential hazards or accidents—increase, the automotive industry and related professionals face significant changes and challenges during the design and testing phases.

Agilent, a leader in RF, wireless communications, millimeter-wave, and high-speed digital design and test equipment, provides extensive and powerful automotive serial bus test solutions for research and development as well as production and conformance testing. These solutions consist of oscilloscopes, signal generators, signal analyzers, and one-box testers for RF and wireless communication verification.