Spirent-Signal Research evaluate chipset performance

Spirent and Signal Research Group tie up to work on chipset performance testing. Signals Research report (SRG) has revealed the differences between HSPA+ and HSPA chipset data performance through 8100 Mobile Device Test System The SRG report reveals large performance differences between HSPA+ chipsets and devices, as well as between commercial devices and solutions supplied directly by vendors.

The report indicates that, although the variation between vendor-supplied chipsets is becoming less significant, the biggest differences exist with HSPA+ chipsets. In some test scenarios, SRG found that commercially-available HSPA+ devices underperformed their peers by more than 50 percent, indicating opportunities for significant improvement. The findings in the report clearly illustrate that testing chipset and device performance beyond minimum certification requirements uncovers performance differences which can significantly impact a subscriber's satisfaction with a particular device, not to mention degrade the overall performance of the operator's 3G network.

SRG collected and analyzed performance results of sixteen different device/chipset configurations from nine chipset companies, including HiSilicon (Huawei), , Intel Mobile Communications, Icera, Motorola, Qualcomm, Renesas Mobile, Samsung, and ST-Ericsson. These configurations included seven HSPA+ (Category 14, up to 21Mbps)devices from five chipset suppliers, and nine HSPA(Category 8, up to 7.2Mbpsor Category 10, up to 14.4Mbps) devices from six chipset suppliers.

“Unlike years past, no single company dominated the competition; however there still remains a meaningful performance gap between commercially-procured devices and vendor-supplied solutions,” said Michael Thelander, CEO, Signals Research Group. He also added, “This suggests that, while the industry is reaching a degree of maturity, in particular with the lower category chipsets, these improved features have yet to enter the distribution channel.”