Spirent tests A-GPS for LBS

GPS World, March, 2008

Spirent Communications (Crawley, United Kingdom) has made available of two new capabilities for its UMTS Location Test Solution (ULTS): enhanced testing of Secure User Plane (SUPL) and WCDMA Signaling Conformance testing.

Spirent has released a new SUPL Enhanced Test Pack for the ULTS which allows testing of SUPL clients in a wide rage of real-world situations not addressed in current industry test specifications. Developed in conjunction with leading network operators, the new test pack gives ULTS users full control over all SUPL parameters and the ability to perform advanced testing involving SUPL session interruptions, simultaneous SUPL sessions with voice or emergency calls, and the introduction of impairments into SUPL messages.

With the launch of 3GPP TS 34.123 WCDMA signaling conformance test cases for the ULTS, Spirent offers a complete validated assisted GPS (A-GPS) conformance testing solution for WCDMA devices to Global Certification Forum (GCF) and PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB) requirements. The ULTS can also carry out conformance testing of A-GPS in GSM devices to the 3GPP TS 51.010 specification.

SUPL will be the catalyst for widespread deployment of next-generation location-based services, claims Spirent, since it allows network operators to provide A-GPS-enabled services without the need for costly changes to their infrastructure.

Spirent's ULTS can verify conformance of A-GPS devices to industry standards, while also being capable of fully testing A-GPS performance beyond the minimum requirements of the standards.