Anritsu Corporation has added the long term evolution (LTE) DL6 carrier aggregation and the LTE UL 256QAM software options to its signaling tester MD8430Ato measure faster LTE-advanced pro (LTE-A Pro) communications speeds.

The MD8430A is an LTE-A Pro base station simulator for configuring a benchtop pseudo-network required to develop chipsets and data terminals. Adding these software options to extend the MD8430A functions supports world-first data throughput tests at up to 2 Gbps (DL) and up to 300 Mbps (UL) by using DL 6CA and UL 256 QAM at connections with LTE-A Pro terminals.

As well as supporting carrier aggregation (CA) for extending the communications bandwidth, the LTE-A prostandard uses multiple-input multiple-outpout (MIMO0 antenna technology to achieve communication speeds ranging from 1 to 3 Gbps while moving.  Prior to full-scale  deployment of 5G communications supporting multi-gigabit speeds, LTE-A Pro aims for a smooth transition from the current LTE technology to 5G with the following key tests for the mobile communications market.