Every little bit helps out those margins....
HP Lowers Cost of Servicing CDMA Cellular and PCS Phones; Streamlined HP CDMA Mobile-station Service Test Set Provides High Accuracy and Automated Features
February 24, 1998
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via Individual Inc. -- Hewlett-Packard Company today announces a lower-cost version of its code-division multiple-access (CDMA) mobile-station test set. Through a combination of measurement-accuracy, automation and streamlined features, the new test set helps CDMA service providers and repair centers reduce the cost of mobile-phone testing without sacrificing quality or thoroughness.
Applications for the HP 8924E mobile-station service test set include incoming inspection, failure verification, repair verification and customer-return testing of CDMA cellular and (personal communications services) PCS phones. Customers also can use the test set for trouble-shooting and verification at repair stations on manufacturing lines.
"The HP 8924E has the accuracy and repeatability of the HP 8924C manufacturing test set, which tests many of the CDMA/PCS mobile phones manufactured today," said Jim Rundle, general manager of HP's Spokane Division. "With the HP 8924E, service and repair organizations can reduce test-equipment costs yet remain confident that their measurements will correlate with phone manufacturers' tests."
EASE OF USE
The HP 8924E's one-button features and automated test capability simplify CDMA measurement. Complex over-the-air call processing required to make a CDMA phone call can be initiated by pressing a single front-panel key.
Technicians can configure and run pre-selected automated tests by inserting an HP 83217A AMPS/NAMPS/CDMA tests software card into the instrument. By storing custom specifications and test points on individual cards, users can switch easily from testing one brand or type of phone to another.
The HP 8924E includes analog as well as CDMA cellular and optional CDMA PCS test capabilities, enabling quick handoff of a phone call from one format to another. Using the test set's automation software, technicians can run a suite of tests in minutes rather than in the hours it would take to perform the tests manually.
MEASUREMENT ACCURACY
To extend battery life, mobile phones typically are set just above minimal power-level requirements. The HP 8924E provides accurate CDMA average power measurement (+/-5 percent, +/- 0.22dB) and low-level power measurement (+/-1.0dB absolute and +/-0.5dB relative) to verify that phones are within specified tolerances.
Other standard features that enhance measurement accuracy include confidence-limit testing, which allows service technicians to make accurate receiver measurements to a specified confidence level in the shortest-possible time, and a highly accurate Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) source to enable measurement of key CDMA receiver tests.
OPTIONAL FEATURES
The standard frequency range of the HP 8924E CDMA mobile-station service test set (30MHz to 1,000MHz) covers CDMA cellular and analog testing. The optional HP 83236B PCS interface (1,700MHz to 2,000MHz) extends frequency coverage to North American PCS, Korean PCS and similar international bands.
Optional spectrum-analysis capability adds tools for in-depth trouble-shooting of CDMA and analog mobile phones.
The HP 83217A AMPS/NAMPS/CDMA tests software offers options for automating tests for AMPS, NAMPS, TACS, JTACS and CDMA mobiles as well as U.S./Korean CDMA PCS and U.S. AMPS mobiles.
U.S. PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
The HP 8924E CDMA mobile-station service test set is available now for $33,000. The HP 83217A AMPS/NAMPS/CDMA tests software is $2,500. Option 601, HP 83236B PCS interface, is $8,750; Option 102, spectrum-analysis capability, is $2,140.
ABOUT HP
Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 123,300 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.
Information about HP's test and measurement products can be found on the World Wide Web at hp.com.
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