GSM RF equipment testing and performance analysis

We present four radio frequency (RF) measurements used to evaluate fundamental performance parameters of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) equipment. We describe the relevant theory for each measurement, and then we proceed to explain the algorithms associated with it. These algorithms are implemented using LabVIEW in a GSM Measurement Toolkit (GMT). GMT is developed for National Instruments (NI) to be used with the PXI-5660 RF Signal Analyzer (RFSA) to test RF equipment. Using this toolkit, a base transceiver station (BTS) downlink signal and a mobile station (MS) uplink signal are tested to ensure their conformance to 3/sup rd/ Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards.