Munich, Germany and SANTA CLARA, Calif., October 22, 2010 - Nomor Research GmbH and Agilent Technologies Inc. (A) today announced the availability of a simple cost-effective method for generating realistic LTE uplink inter-cell interference signals required for LTE field trials by using Agilent’s MXG signal generators. This is the most cost-effective cellular interference signal generation method available for engineers who need to validate LTE system performance under real-world signal conditions.

Nomor Research has developed a method for generating realistic inter-cell interference signals using off-the-shelf signal generators for performance testing in LTE field trials and lab tests. Realistic emulation of the uplink inter-cell interference generated in a multi-cell LTE network is ensured through use of comprehensive system level simulation according to 3GPP and NGMN simulation methodology. The signal is physically generated by an Agilent MXG signal generator and can be coupled into the receiver path at the base station. 

Moray Rumney, Lead Technologist with Agilent: “Performance evaluation of LTE systems must be done under realistic interference conditions. Until recently, the only way to do this involved expensive and time-consuming deployment of large numbers of mobile devices in adjacent cells. With this new method, a near equivalent interference environment can be created at the base station representing the combined interference from hundreds of mobiles in adjacent cells.” 

Eiko Seidel, Chief Technical Officer of Nomor Research: “The newly standardized orthogonal LTE uplink access scheme has changed the uplink interference characteristics in such a way that traditional Gaussian noise methods for emulating interference are no longer suitable for realistic performance testing. Inter-cell interference in today’s LTE networks is highly variable with respect to time and frequency, and is dominated by a small number of interferers per resource block, causing unexpected behavior for adaptive algorithms that respond to inter-cell interference. Only realistic modeling of inter-cell interference offers infrastructure manufacturers and operators a tool for testing advanced base-station scheduling algorithms and for quantifying the true performance of LTE base-station equipment.” 

The test solution offered is currently being used by most infrastructure vendors in global LTE field trial activities and is now being made available to the LTE community. A set of default interference files for representative scenarios is provided at no cost and may be used with any Agilent MXG signal generator. An extended pack of interference files for alternative deployment scenarios and customized parameter settings is available on request. 

Additional information about the Agilent MXG signal generators is available at www.agilent.com/find/MXG.

Information about Nomor’s uplink interference files is available at http://www.nomor.de/home/solutions-and-products/products/lte-uplink-inte...

About Agilent Technologies 

Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world's premier measurement company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences, electronics and communications. The company's 18,500 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had net revenues of $4.5 billion in fiscal 2009. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com.

About Nomor Research GmbH

Nomor Research (www.nomor-research.com), based in Munich, Germany, is a leading company in the research and development of future and emerging communication systems that offers related consultancy services and products. Nomor, among other services, is known for its state-of-the-art protocol stack implementations for Long Term Evolution where Nomor offers LTE software modules and related design or integration service used in macro, pico or femtocell base stations or in test equipment.