Spirent Announces Carrier-Approved A-GNSS Record and Playback Solution for Mobile Device Testing

Spirent now offers A-GNSS record and playback capabilities for mobile device testing.

Spirent Communications today announced the availability of carrier-approved Assisted GNSS Record and Playback capabilities on its Hybrid Location Technology Solution (HLTS).  This new A-GNSS Record and Playback capability provides unprecedented realism and repeatability by recording GNSS signals in the field and delivering synchronized assistance data over a radio access interface to test the A-GNSS positioning performance of mobile devices in the lab.

“With user location playing a key role in most smartphone services and applications, A-GNSS positioning performance greatly influences the end-user experience,” said Nigel Wright, vice president of wireless, Spirent Communications.  “This new A-GNSS Record and Playback solution enables device manufacturers and network operators, as well as chipset and technology vendors, to accurately test this essential technology using real-world field conditions.  This helps ensure high quality LBS and emergency service performance for every mobile subscriber.”

Combining GNSS signals from multiple satellite positioning systems (such as GPS and GLONASS) with assistance data delivered by the network to the device, A-GNSS is regarded as the most universal and precise positioning technology. As such, it is used in mobile devices to support the location information required by commercial services, social media and emergency services such as E911.

Although established A-GNSS simulation tools play an important role in generating repeatable and reliable controlled environments in the lab, they can have limitations when it comes to representing the full range of challenging conditions experienced by mobile users on live networks. Spirent’s A-GNSS Record and Playback addresses these limitations by capturing conditions in the field and playing them back in a reliable and repeatable lab environment. This helps to reduce device time to market and control testing cost by reducing the need for extensive field testing.

Spirent HLTS is recognized by the industry for its unique capabilities that span a wide range of test requirements from early R&D phases to mobile device acceptance. The HLTS now incorporates Spirent’s GSS6400 GNSS Record and Playback System (RPS), together with patent-pending SimHybrid software that generates and delivers the correct assistance data, synchronized with the recorded GNSS signals.

For more information on Spirent HLTS and A-GNSS Record and Playback, visit the Spirent website.