Introduction to 802.

11ac
and LTE Testing
National Instruments

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Agenda

Part 1: 820.11ac

Progression of WLAN standards

Overview of 802.11ac standard
802.11ac Test challenges

Part 2: LTE & LTE Advanced

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Intro to the LTE physical layer

Intro to LTE test specifications
Looking forward to LTE advanced

Evolution of Wireless Standards

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Wireless Connectivity
Bluetooth

Bluetooth EDR
802.11a/b

802.11g

BT HS

Low- Energy

802.11n

802.11ac

Cellular and WiMAX

GSM (2G)

EDGE
WCDMA (3G)

EDGE+

HSPA

HSPA+
WiMAX

Mobile WiMAX

HSPA+ Adv
Wave-2

LTE (4ish G)

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LTE Advanced

2013

Opening: Wireless Technologies (conti)

Quoted from Global Suppliers Association (GSA)

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NI PXI RF & Wireless Test Advantage

R&D Boxes

NI PXI RF & Wireless Test

+
-

Good Performance

Very High Cost

Slow Measurement Speed
Less Flexible
Manufacturing Boxes

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Better Performance
Lower Cost
Faster Measurement Speed
More Flexibility
Broad Wireless Test Coverage

+
-

Low Cost & Good Measure Speed

Lower Performance
Limited Wireless Test Coverage
Less Flexible

NI RF Software for Connectivity & Cellular

WLAN

Bluetooth

LTE

802.11
a/b/g/n/ac

(2.1+EDR)

(FDD/TDD)

WCDMA
& HSPA+

CDMA2000

GNSS

EV-DO

GSM/EDGE +

FM/RDS

GPS, GLONASS

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Part 1: 802.11ac

802.11 Evolution
IEEE 802.11a Wi-Fi

IEEE 802.11
Data Rate: 2
Mbps
Use Case:
Internet

1997

1998

starts to become
ubiquitous.
Data Rate: 54 Mbps
Use Case: Rich-data
Web experience

1999

2000

2001

2002

Data Rate: 54 Mbps

Use Case: Web
experience

2003

2004

IEEE 802.11b
Data Rate: 11
Mbps
Use Case: E-mail

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IEEE 802.11ac
Up to 6.93 Gbps.
First solution is < 1.8 Gbps.
Use Case: Whole-home
coverage for video-consumption
age

IEEE 802.11g

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

IEEE 802.11n
Data Rate : Up to 600 Mbps. Most
common is 150 Mbps.
Enhanced range due to use of
MIMO
Use Case: Medium-resolution
video streaming

2010

2011

2012

802.11 a/b/g/n and ac comparison

802.11a/g

802.11n

802.11ac

Antenna Configuration

1x1 SISO

4x4 MIMO

8x8 MIMO

Highest Order
Modulation

BPSK to 64-QAM

BPSK to 64-QAM

BPSK to 256-QAM

Channel Bandwidth

20 MHz

20 MHz and 40 MHz

mode

20, 40, 80, 80 + 80, and

160 MHz

64 (20 MHz), 128 (40

MHz)

64, 128, 256

512 (optional)

FFT Size

64

Year Introduced

1999 (802.11a)
2003 (802.11g)

2009 (draft)

2011 (draft)

Maximum Throughput

54 Mbit/s

600 Mbit/s

6.93 Gbit/s

Note:
1.56 Gbps (80 MHz, 4 Tx, MCS9) is average case
6.93 Gbps (160 MHz, 8x8, MCS9, short GI) best case

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Why 802.11ac?
-

Integration of WLAN into more products

-

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Smartphones, Digital cameras, media players, gaming

consoles

HD Video on multiple devices

Download data to mobile phones faster
Data sharing between multiple phones / tablets and PCs
Better coverage with fewer dead zones

10

802.11ac Details
Operates only in 5-6 GHz band
Mandatory 20,40 and 80 MHz channels
Optional support for contiguous 160 MHz an non
contiguous 80+80 MHz tx and rx

5170 5330 MHz

5490 5730 MHz

20 MHz
40 MHz
80 MHz
160 MHz

Non
Contiguous

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11

5735 5835 MHz

Channel BW for 802.11ac and Data Rates Calculation

Channel
Bandwidth (MHz)
20

Subcarrier Spacing
(kHz)
312.5

Total Subcarriers
(IFFT Size)
64

Data Subcarriers

Pilot Subcarriers

52

40

312.5

128

108

80

312.5

256

234

80 + 80

312.5

256 / ch

234 / ch

8 /ch

160

312.5

512

468

16

Channel BW

Spatial
Streams

Modulation
Scheme

Code Rate

Total
Subcarriers

Data
Subcarriers

NDPSC

Max. Data
Rate

20 MHz

256 QAM

3/4

64

52

312

86.7 Mbps

40 MHz

256 QAM

5/6

128

108

1440

400 Mbps

80 MHz

256 QAM

5/6

256

234

6240

1.733 Gbps

160 MHz

256 QAM

5/6

512

468

24960

6.933 Gbps

Note: Number of data bits per subcarrier NDPSC =

Bits per Symbol X Number of Data Subcarriers X Code Rate

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12

Test Challenges for 802.11ac

256 QAM requires better

EVM

Wider bandwidths are

required

Tranmitter relative EVM is -32

dB for 256 QAM vs. -28 for 64
QAM
Better EVM requires better
linearity and phase noise

80 MHz mandatory (calibration

and equalization algorithms are
important)

MIMO capabilities

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Up to 4X4
8X8 possible
13

Modulation

Coding Rate

RMS EVM

BPSK

1/2

-5 dB

QPSK

1/2

-10 dB

QPSK

3/4

-13 dB

16 QAM

1/2

-16 dB

16 QAM

3/4

-19 dB

64 QAM

2/3

-22 dB

64 QAM

3/4

-25 dB

64 QAM

5/6

-27 dB

256 QAM

3/4

-30 dB

256 QAM

5/6

-32 dB

Why PXI for Wireless LAN Testing?

Flexibility
Combine cellular, connectivity and
navigation standards in a single tester

Industry leading speed

4-5X faster than boxed instruments

APIs
API for LabVIEW, C, .NET and
LabWindows

Soft Front Panels

SFPs for generating and analyzing
802.11 signals

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Industry leading performance

-47 dBc EVM for 80 MHz 802.11ac
Leading competitor is at -44 dBc

15

Higher Performance & Faster Measurements

VST residual EVM & test time compared with Agilent MXG and PXA
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16

Fraction of the Size of Traditional Solutions

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17

Support for 802.11ac including MIMO

Expandable to 4x4 MIMO 802.11ac (80 MHz) system with

both RF and Baseband IQ
160 MHz (via 80+80 MHz) and multi-stream EVM
measurements support

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18

802.11ac Tests

Transmitter

Transmit Spectrum Mask

Spectral Flatness
Center Frequency Tolerance
Packet Alignment
Symbol Clock Frequency Tolerance
ModAcc
o
o

Receiver Tests

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Center frequency leakage

Constellation EVM

Minimum input level sensitivity

Adjacent channel rejection
Nonadjacent channel rejection
Receiver maximum input level
19

Transmit Spectrum Mask

-

160/80 MHz mask is extension of 40 MHz mask

Measured with 100 kHz rbw
For 80 + 80 mask is linear sum of the separate 80 MHz
masks for values from -20 dBr to -40 dBr

Channel
Size

A
(MHz)

B
(MHz)

C
(MHz)

D
(MHz)

20 MHz

11

20

30

40 MHz

19

21

40

60

80 MHz

39

41

80

120

160
MHz

79

81

160

240

Spectrum Mask for 20,40,80 and 160 MHz

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20

80 + 80 MHz Non-contiguous Spectrum Mask

Values

80+80 MHz
Non Contiguous
Cf separated by 160 MHz
Frequency overlap Both
masks have values between 20 and -40 dBr
Neither between 0 and -20 dBr

-25 dBr

In MHz

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-200

-160 -121 -119

-80

-41 -39

39 41

21

80

119 121 160

200

802.11AC 80+80 Test Solution (160Mhz Bandwidth)

Dual PXIe-5644R

Dual Splitter + Combiners

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22

802.11AC 80 + 80 Video

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23

Demo

Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) for 802.11ac

-

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Test instrument specification needs to be at least -42 dB

(10 dB better than spec)

24

WLAN Test Times

802.11ac 80 MHz, 256 QAM, MCS 9

Test

Value

Std Deviation

Time Taken

EVM

-47 dB

0.9

16 ms

Spectral Mask

NA

NA

350 ms

Transmit Power

-10 dB

0.6

7 ms

ModAcc
Carrier Frequency
Offset + Carrier
Frequency
Leakage +
Spectral Flatness
+ Number of
spatial streams

Multiple

Multiple

295 ms

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Part 2: LTE & LTE Advanced

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

GSM (2G)

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

EDGE
WCDMA (3G)

2011

2012

EDGE+

HSPA

HSPA+
LTE (4ish G)

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2010

26

HSPA+ Adv
LTE Advanced

2013

Overview of 3GPP Standards

GSM/EDGE

WCDMA / HSPA
/ HSPA+

3GPP LTE

1991 (GSM)
2003 (EDGE)

2001 (WCDMA)
2008 (HSPA)

2010 (Trial)

Modulation

GMSK , 8-PSK,

QPSK, 16-QAM, 64QAM

QPSK, 16-QAM, 64QAM

Channel BW

200 kHz

5 MHz

Variable from
1.5 to 20 MHz

Single-Carrier
Modulation

WCDMA

OFDMA (DL)
TD-SCDMA (UL)

Up to 473.6 kbps
(DL-EDGE)

Up to 42.2 Mbps
(DL-HSPA+)

Up to 300 Mbps
(4x4 MIMO)

FDD (TDMA)

FDD (CDMA)

FDD & TDD

Evolved EDGE

HSPA+

LTE Advanced

Deployment Date

Carrier Structure
Peak Downlink
Data Rate
Duplexing
Next Evolution
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27

3GPP Releases Overview

GSM + UMTS (WCDMA)

Rel 99

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), 1.28Mcps TDD

Rel 4

HSDPA, IP Multimedia System (IMS)

Rel 5

HSUPA, MBMS

Rel 6

Rel 7

HSPA+ and MIMO, Evolved EDGE (EGPRS2)

DC-HSPA, LTE + SAE

Rel 8

Rel 9

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GSM: Global System for Mobile Communications

UMTS: Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
HSPA: High-speed Packet Access
DC-HSPA: Dual-Carrier HSPA
LTE: Long-Term Evolution
SAE: System Architecture Evolution
MBMS: Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services

28

DC-HSPA+MIMO, LTE Enhancements

LTE PHY Layer Overview

Channel
bandwidth

1.4
MHz

3 MHz

5 MHz

10
MHz

15
MHz

20
MHz

Subcarriers Used

72

180

300

600

900

1200

# Resource
Blocks

15

25

50

75

100

Modulation

Downlink: QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM

Uplink: QPSK, 16-QAM, and 64-QAM

Multiple Access

Downlink: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple

Access (OFDMA)
Uplink: Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple
Access (SC-FDMA)

Peak Data Rate

Downlink: 300 Mbps (4x4 MIMO, 20 MHz)

Uplink: 75 Mbps (20 MHz)

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29

OFDMA Basics
Groupings of 12 sub-carriers are called resource
blocks
Each UE is allocated specific RBs and timeslots
Transmission BW can be limited to active RBs

Unused RBs

Active RBs

Transmission BW

5 MHz LTE Channel BW (25 RB)

3GPP TS 36.521-1, Sec 5.4.2
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30

LTE Frame Structure

One Sub-Frame = 1 ms
#0

#1

One Radio Frame = 10

ms

....

#18

#19

One Slot = 0.5 ms

...
...
..

7 symbols per slot , 6 if long cyclic prefix

Frequency

....
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12 sub-carriers per
resource block

Time

LTE Signals Suffer from High PAPR

(Classic Linearity Problem)

Ideal Amplifier
Pin vs. Pout = 1:1

Pout

Non-Linear
Region
Actual Amplifier
Behavior (non-linear)

Higher PAPR means

Lower AVG Power

Linear
Region

Pin
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32

LTE Uplink Solution: SC-FDMA

Uses Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA)

Nearly Identical to OFDM & OFDMA

FFT pre-coding helps reduce PAPR

Enables better RF front end efficiency

Time Domain

Subcarrier
Mapping
M-point
IFFT
0s

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Time Domain

33

Serializer

Deserialize
r

N-point
FFT

Frequency Domain

Cyclic
Prefix
Insertion

SC-FDMA Improves PAPR

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34

The NI Cellular Test System

Flexibility
Combine cellular, connectivity and
navigation standards in a single tester

Industry leading speed

4-5X faster than boxed instruments

APIs
API for LabVIEW, C, .NET and
LabWindows

Soft Front Panels

SFPs for generating and analyzing
802.11 signals

ni.com

Industry leading performance

-52 dB EVM for LTE

35

LTE Measurement Suite

Based on 3GPP, release 9
Interactive Soft Front Panels
TestStand Support
API for LV 8.6.1 and above
API for C, C++, and .NET API

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36

LTE UE Conformance Testing

3GPP TS 36.521-1

6.2 Transmit power

6.2.2 UE Maximum Output Power
6.2.3 Maximum Power Reduction
6.2.4 Additional Maximum Power Reduction
6.3 Output Power Dynamics
6.3.2 Minimum Output Power
6.3.4 ON/OFF time mask
6.5 Transmit signal quality
6.5.1 Frequency Error
6.5.2 Transmit Modulation

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In-channel
conformance testing

6.6 Output RF spectrum emissions

6.6.1 Occupied bandwidth (OBW)
6.6.2 Out of band emission

6.5.2.1 Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)

6.5.2.2 Carrier leakage
6.5.2.3 In-band emissions for non allocated RB
6.5.2.4 EVM equalizer spectrum flatness

6.6.2.1 Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM)

6.6.2.2 Additional Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM)
6.6.2.3 Adjacent Channel Leakage power Ratio (ACLR)

7.3 Reference sensitivity level

37

Out-of-channel
conformance testing

6.2.2 UE Maximum Transmit Power

Test Purpose:
To verify that the error of the UE maximum output power does not exceed
the range prescribed by the specified nominal maximum output power and
tolerance.

Minimum Requirements:
The period of measurement shall be
at least one sub frame (1ms).

Allocated RB
DC image

Power class 3 : 23 dBm 2 dB

IQ image

Test Description
=> TS 36.508

Ex. Always partial RB allocation

Band 20, EARFCN 24300 (847MHz)
1RB@RB#0 and 8RB@RB#0
Test Configurations

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38

6.5 Transmit Signal Quality, Overview

6.5.2.3 In-band emissions for non allocated RB

6.5.2.1 Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)

6.5.2.4 EVM equalizer spectrum flatness

6.5.1 Frequency Error

6.5.2.2 Carrier leakage

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39

6.5.1 Frequency Error

Test Purpose:
This test verifies the ability of both, the receiver and the transmitter, to
process frequency correctly.

Receiver: extract downlink signal from BS

Transmitter: derive the modulated carrier frequency from the results, gained by the receiver.

Minimum Requirements:
within 0.1 PPM observed over a period of one time slot (0.5ms)

( 847MHz x 0.1ppm = 84.7Hz )

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6.5.2.1 Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)

Test Purpose:
The Error Vector Magnitude is a measure of the difference between the
reference waveform and the measured waveform.

Minimum Requirements:
EVM measurements are
evaluated for 10 uplink sub-frames (20 slots)

Complicated test configurations -> Multiple combinations of RB allocation

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41

6.6 Output RF spectrum emissions

Spectrum emissions ~ Operating band unwanted emissions

Caused by Tx modulation and non-linearity

ACLR

OOB (Out-of-Band)

SEM

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42

6.6.2.1 Spectrum Emission Mask (SEM)

6.6.2.2 Additional Spectrum Emission Mask

Test Purpose:
To verify that the power of any UE emission shall not exceed specified level
for the specified channel bandwidth. Please recall A-MPR as for Additional
Spectrum Emission Mask.

Minimum Requirements:

Complicated test configurations -> Multiple combinations of RB allocation

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43

6.6.2.3 Adjacent Channel Leakage power Ratio

Test Purpose:
To verify that UE transmitter does not cause unacceptable interference to
adjacent channels in terms of Adjacent Channel Leakage power Ratio
(ACLR).

Minimum Requirements:

Symmetrical limits

E-UTRAACLR1 (channel BW)

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UTRAACLR1

UTRAACLR1

(3.84 MHz)

(3.84 MHz)

Active RBs

44

7.3 Reference sensitivity level (REFSENS)

All requirements shall be verified by using both (all) antenna ports simultaneously.

Test Purpose:
To verify the UE's ability to receive data with a given average throughput for a specified reference
measurement channel, under conditions of low signal level, ideal propagation and no added noise.
A UE unable to meet the throughput requirement under these conditions will decrease the
effective coverage area of an e-NodeB.

Minimum Requirements:
The throughput shall be 95% of the maximum throughput of the reference
measurement channels (RMCs).

Provide Tx -Rx isolation (> 20dB)

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47

Generating LTE Signals (SFP)

Up to 8 Phase
Synchronized
Generators

Preview
Generated
Waveform

Load
predefined
configurations

CCDF
Power vs Time
I & Q vs. time

Support for UL
(FDD or TDD)

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48

LTE Test Times with the NI Cellular Test System

10 MHz Fully Filled PUSCH Signal
Measurement
Fully Filled PUSCH
EVM

Value

Std Deviation

Average MeasTime

-56.14 dB

0.18 @ 10 averages

155 ms

-65 dBc

0.01

3.64 ms

NA

NA

69.49ms

Channel Power
(ChP)

-10 dBm

0.06

2.46ms

Occupied
Bandwidth (OBW)

8.9MHz

0.18

18.5ms

CCDF (PAPR)

6.99 dB

0.31

8.6ms

ACP 10 MHz BW
Spectral Emissions
Mask

Total Test Time

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249.09 ms

49

LTE Demo

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50

Looking Ahead to LTE Advanced

Carrier aggregation

Allows for up to five 20 MHz carriers (100 MHz total BW)

Enables downlink data rates of up to 1 Gbps

Enhanced MIMO support

Up to eight downlink transmission antennas (currently four)

Up to four uplink transmission antennas (currently one)
Ability to beam-steer specific downlink resource blocks
20 MHz Channels

100 MHz Total BW

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51

Summary

Wireless standards continue to evolve

RF test equipment must meet increasingly difficult requirements

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802.11n 802.11ac
LTE LTE Advanced
Higher-order modulation requires better SNR
Wider bandwidth & carrier aggregation

National Instruments offers industry-leading test time &

performance

52

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