Does LBS Deliver on User Expectations?

It’s not unusual to hear an LBS user complain: “it takes too long to find my location”, “in many situations I can’t find my location at all” or “when I do find my location, it’s often several blocks from where I actually am”.

The good news is that — in spite all these challenges — the LBS market has experienced a huge growth in the recent years, thanks to enabling technologies such as Assisted GPS (A-GPS).

A-GPS is energizing today’s wireless industry with its potential to bring greater accuracy, sensitivity and consistency to LBS. However, the end-user experience of these services is highly dependent on the technology’s performance.

While the number of devices that support A-GPS is exploding, not all of them are created equal. The best-performing devices enable users to obtain a quick, accurate location fix in challenging GPS environments such as urban streets and buildings. Users with poorer-performing devices are often not so fortunate. Fully testing A-GPS performance is a key part of ensuring LBS user satisfaction.

Spirent — the Leading A-GPS Test Partner

As recognized global leaders in GPS simulation and test, Spirent introduced the industry’s first complete, automated test solution for A-GPS devices more than seven years ago. Since then it has delivered A-GPS solutions for CDMA, GSM and UMTS devices to virtually all the leading A-GPS chipset developers, device manufacturers and network operators. Spirent solutions are used the world over in A-GPS research and development, design verification, regression testing, conformance/certification testing, device evaluation/benchmarking and operator acceptance testing.

“Over The Air (OTA)” – the Latest Buzz in A-GPS Testing

Spirent’s latest A-GPS solution meets a growing lab-based OTA testing need, which results from:

• The requirement for excellent GPS antenna performance and device physical design to handle the low signal levels from GPS satellites
• The time, expense and lack of repeatability associated with A-GPS testing on live networks in the field
  
• The absence of A-GPS antenna performance testing in existing device certification testing

The CTIA, recognizing the industry’s need for a standard A-GPS OTA test methodology, is expanding its existing Cellular OTA test specification to cover A-GPS. The revision is now in its final stages and once formally adopted will become a requirement at all CTIA OTA test labs. It is also expected to be adopted by the North American certification body, the PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB).

Spirent has a complete solution to address A-GPS OTA testing needs of CDMA, UMTS and GSM devices, offering:

• A complete, automated system that works with all common anechoic chambers
  
• CTIA Test Plan compliance
• A-GPS OTA performance testing capability well beyond the minimum requirements of industry standards

Read more about A-GPS testing >