Advanced digital signal processing solutions for performance testing and troubleshooting of CDMA transmitters

The rapid growth of 3G telecommunications systems has created the need of getting new test equipment as well as measurement techniques up and running in a very short time. Trying to satisfy this exigency, a measurement method for testing and troubleshooting CDMA transmitters is proposed. Thanks to the use of time-frequency representations, the method provides a unified approach for carrying out most of measurements needed to fulfill the aforementioned task automatically and in a very straightforward manner. Thus, different techniques, complex procedures, and qualified users are no longer required. After a brief outline of CDMA technology basics, the measurement principles of maintenance and troubleshooting tests on CMDA transmitters are given. The fundamental steps of the proposed method are then described with references to a clarifying example; advantages with respect to other measurement solutions are also highlighted. Finally, the method's performance is assessed by means of several experiments on emulated CDMA signals.