Spirent Communications (News - Alert) plc, a global provider of wireless networks, devices and services testing solutions, has introduced what it calls “the industry’s first solution” to test Assisted GLONASS capabilities on UMTS mobile devices and chipsets.

 

The new A-GLONASS testing capability, supported by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Spirent’s 8100 UMTS Location Technology, gives early adopters of A-GLONASS a competitive edge by allowing for delivery of better-performing devices and improved user experiences, Spirent said.

 

“As the industry prepares to leverage the benefits of A-GLONASS and adds this technology to LBS-enabled devices, effective verification and performance testing become critical,” said Hesham ElHamahmy, vice president and market segment leader for wireless solutions at Spirent. “Since we are already a leader in GLONASS simulation and A-GPS enabled device testing, performance testing of A-GLONASS enabled devices is natural extension of Spirent’s expertise.”

 

According to Spirent, the addition of A-GLONASS to the list of available LBS-enabling technologies such as GPS is set to make a major impact on mobile device positioning in 2010 and beyond.

 

GLONASS is a Russian navigation satellite system that recently formalized open civilian access. Using both GPS and GLONASS offers a mobile device receiver almost twice the number of usable satellites in the sky compared with GPS alone. This can substantially improve the performance of location-based applications in challenging environments such as urban streets, where much of the sky can be obstructed and multiple signal reflections from tall buildings can confuse satellite receivers.

 

A-GLONASS device testing on the 8100 ULTS is built upon the expertise gained from Spirent’s PLTS, which was introduced into the CDMA market in 2001 and ULTS, the first commercially-available UMTS A-GPS test system.