XAir2 LTE Module
The XAir2 LTE load module supports LTE UE simulation at the 3GPP LTE UU interface. The XAir2 module provides a rich array testing capabilities for all layers of 3GPP LTE User Equipment including the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS protocols. In conjunction with the Ixia PerfectStorm 10G Load Module and IxLoad, the XAir2 provides a complete evolved Node-B (eNB) test environment in a single powerful, intuitive, and easy to use system. Application layer traffic such as VoLTE, HTTP, FTP and streaming video can be generated on 1 or 1000s of simulated UEs. These simulated UEs can support the latest LTE Advanced PRO functionality for increased throughput such as multiple carrier aggregation (FDD and TDD).
XAir2 provides all of the key features and capabilities provided by the previous generation XAir XM module. In addition, the XAir2 module provides support for an increased number of carriers, increased throughput and the latest of LTE-Advanced and LTE-Advanced PRO PHY and MAC functionality.
Key Features
The XAir2 LTE load module features continue to be significantly enhanced with a steady stream of frequent and new software releases. New features and enhancements to existing features as defined in the 3GPP Release 10, Release 11,12 and 13 3GPP specifications. Not all of the features listed below will be available in the initial release. For a detailed description of available features, please consult Ixia representative.
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4 Primary Carriers
- FDD and TDD duplex, selectable on each carrier
-
LTE-Advanced Carrier Aggregation (2CA through 5CA)
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4 CPRI Ports supporting CPRI line rates 3,5 and 7 (2457.6 to 9830.4 Mbit/s)
-
SISO, 2x2 and 4x4 MIMO antenna configurations
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Transmission Modes ranging from TM1 to TM9
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Up to 256QAM Downlink and 64QAM Uplink
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Built-in high accuracy Stratum 1 10MHz clock
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LTE Advanced PRO Licensed Assisted Access (LAA)
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1000s of simulated UEs
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Mobility validation with Handover and ReEstablishment scenarios
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Standard and Custom Channel Modeling features
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Support for simulated UE Categories 1-7 and 9-12
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Application support for IxLoad Voice, Video and Data protocols including VoLTE, HTTP, FTP
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Tcl and automation APIs
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Supports the Ixia Wideband Radio with support for all bands in the range of 400 MHz to 6 GHz
Part Numbers
Part Numbers for XAir2 LTE Load Module and Supported Adapters are provided in the following table.
Model Number | Part Number | Description |
---|---|---|
XAir2 |
960-0518 |
|
Specifications
The load module specifications are contained in the following table.
Feature | NOVUS-R100GE8Q28+FAN |
---|---|
Hardware Load Module Specifications |
|
Chassis Slots Used |
1 slot |
Physical Interfaces per module |
16 |
Number of CPRI Ports |
4 |
Number of 10G Ethernet Ports |
1 |
CPU and Memory |
Multicore processor with 32GB Memory |
Load Module Dimensions |
17.3” (L) x 1.3” (W) x 12.0” (H) 440mm (L) x 33mm (W) x 305mm (H) |
Load Module Weights |
Module only: 12.9 lbs (5.85 kg) Shipping: 19.7 lbs (8.94 kg) |
Temperature |
Operating: 41°F to 104°F (5°C to 40°C) Storage: 41°F to 122°F (5°C to 50°C) |
Humidity |
Operating: 0% to 85%, non-condensing Storage: 0% to 85%, non-condensing |
Chassis Capacity: Maximum Number of XAir2 Cards per Chassis Model |
|
XGS12-SD Chassis (940-0011) |
12 load modules, 48 carriers |
XGS2-SD Chassis (940-0010) |
2 load modules, 8 carriers |
LTE PHY Features |
|
Number of carriers |
4 carriers per XAir2 module |
Bandwidths |
5,10,15,20 MHz |
CPRI line rate options |
3,5 and 7 (2457.6, 4915.2, 9830.4 Mbit/s) |
Bands |
Supports all 3GPP defined LTE bands in the 400MHz to 6000 MHz range |
Duplex |
FDD, TDD |
Physical Antenna Configurations |
1x1, 2x2 |
Transmission Modes |
TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4 |
Carrier Aggregation |
2CA and 3CA Downlink in all R12 supported combinations of FDD and TDD |
Channel Modeling |
Custom channel modeling and pre-defined DL channel models based on 3GPP TS 36.101 (AWGN, EPA5Hz, EVA5Hz, EVA70Hz, ETU70Hz, ETU300Hz, HST) |
Layer 4-7 Application Traffic Testing Support |
|
Data |
UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, TCP Session, FTP |
Video |
RTSP, IPTV, VoD |
Voice |
Advanced VoIP SIP & RTP, Audio & Video Codecs, VoLTE, MSRP, SMS, includes: Voice Quality and Video Quality for conversational video traffic |
Access |
IPv4, IPv6 |
Application Support
The Ixia application support for the XAir2 load module is provided in the following table:
Application | Support |
---|---|
Tcl API |
Allows custom user script development for layer 2-7 testing. |
IxLoad |
Provides a scalable L4-7 solution for simulating a broad variety of traffic mixes commonly found on LTE User Equipment devices including Voice, Video and Data. |
Additional Specifications
Front Panel
There are a total of 16 SFP+ transceiver ports on the XAir2 front panel with 8 labeled CPRI 1-8 and 8 more labeled Port 1-8. Not all ports are currently used on the XAir2 LTE product with the remaining unused ports available for possible future expansion features. The ports currently supported are CPRI 1, CPRI 2, CPRI 5, CPRI 6 and Port 4.
The front panel of the XAir2 LTE load module is shown in the following figure:
Figure: Front panel of XAir2 Load Module
LED Panel
The XAir2 LTE card has 16 multi-color LEDs visible on the front panel. Each LED is located directly below or directly above a SFP+ transceiver port. These LEDs provide you with a visible status related to the operation of each of the XAir2 ports. Not all SFP+ ports are currently used on the XAir2 module as described above. Therefore, the LEDs associated with ports that are not used are off. A description of the LEDs for the ports that are active on the XAir2 module are described in the table below.
SFP+ Port Label | Active Port Numbers | Description | |
---|---|---|---|
LED Color | Meaning | ||
CPRI |
1, 2, 5, 6 |
Off |
No test actively running |
Red |
Test running, no CPRI sync |
||
Blue |
Test running, CPRI Hyperframe sync but no LTE radio frame alignment |
||
Yellow |
Test running, CPRI Hyperframe sync and Radio Frame alignment successful, but no BCH sync |
||
Green |
Test running and BCH is being decoded |
||
PORT |
4 |
Off |
No Link or no test actively running |
Yellow |
Test running, No Link Status on 10GE |
||
Green |
Test running, 10GE Link Status |
Note: If more than one carrier is configured to utilize the same CPRI port, it is possible that one carrier is indicating Yellow (Radio Frame Alignment) and the second carrier is indicating Green (BCH decoded). In this case, the LED color will be Yellow, indicating that at least one of the carriers is not successfully decoding BCH. An example of this scenarios is where the radio is being used to support 2 independent 2x2 MIMO carriers (primary carriers or a primary and secondary carrier). The radio has a single CPRI connection supporting both carriers in this configuration. This would be different than the radio supporting a single 4x4 carrier.
Transceivers and Cables
The XAir2 LTE load module supports optical transceivers and fiber cables for each of the physical interfaces that are enabled for the product. The following SFP+ transceivers are supported and qualified on the specified SFP+ port.
SFP+ Port Label | Active Port Numbers | Ixia Part Number | Description |
---|---|---|---|
CPRI |
1, 2, 5, 6 |
988-0012 |
Optical Singlemode, LC-LC 1310nm transceiver with pluggable SFP+ interface and 3m LC-LC singlemode optical cable. This provides the direct CPRI connection to the Ixia 6 GHz Wideband Radio. Note: This SFP+ transceiver is also compatible with all 10/1 Gigabit Ethernet Novus, PerfectStorm, and Firestorm load modules and appliances. |
PORT |
4 |
988-0011 |
Optical Multimode, LC-LC 850nm transceiver with pluggable SFP+ interface and 3m LC-LC multimode optical cable. This SFP+ and cable provides the connectivity between the PerfectStorm L4-7 IxLoad application module and the XAir2 LTE module through the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch provided with the Ixia LTE Access XGS Connection Kit. Note: This SFP+ transceiver is also compatible with all 10/1 Gigabit Ethernet Novus, PerfectStorm, and Firestorm load modules and appliances. |
955-8123 |
Optical Multimode, LC-LC 850nm transceiver with pluggable SFP+ interface and 3m LC-LC multimode optical cable. This SFP+ and cable provides the connectivity between the PerfectStorm L4-7 IxLoad application module and the XAir2 LTE module through the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch provided with the Ixia LTE Access XGS Connection Kit. |
Additional Hardware Required with XAir2 LTE
General Information
The complete XAir2 LTE Access UE Simulation solution requires several other hardware and software components. The additional hardware items are listed in the table below.
Category | Options | Ixia Part Number |
---|---|---|
Chassis |
XGS12-SD, 12-slot chassis bundle with Standard Processor Module |
940-0011 |
XGS2-SD, 2-slot chassis bundle with Standard Processor Module |
940-0010 |
|
Connection Kit |
LTE Access XGS Connection Kit. One connection kit is required for every chassis with an XAir2 module present |
949-1035 |
Radio |
LTE Access 6GHz Wideband Radio |
949-1034 |
Radio Connection Enclosure |
LTE Access Radio Connection Enclosure (RCE) Standard 700 MHz-2700MHz |
949-1026 |
LTE Access Radio Connection Enclosure (RCE) High Band 1000MHz-3900MHz |
949-1029 |
Radio
The XAir2 Module is connected to the Device Under Test (DUT), typically an evolved-NodeB (eNB) through a Radio Frequency (RF) connection provided by the Ixia 6GHz Wideband Radio. The specifications for this radio are provided in the table below.
Figure: Ixia 6GHz Wideband Radio
Feature | XAir2 Specification |
---|---|
Physical Dimensions |
|
General |
19” Rack Mount |
Height |
1U |
Depth |
<500mm |
Weight |
<12kg |
Mounting |
Tool-less Rack Mount Kit (included) |
Environmental |
|
Operating Temperature |
+5C to +50C |
Humidity |
0% to 85%, non-condensing |
Power |
|
Mains Power |
100 – 240 VAC, 50-60 Hz |
Front Panel Interfaces |
|
Receiver inputs |
4 SMA connectors, female |
Transmitter outputs |
4 SMA connectors, female |
Status LED |
16 multi colour LEDs |
Rear Panel Interfaces |
|
Mains input |
IEC-C14 |
CPRI |
Duplex LC |
Ethernet |
RJ45 Note: The Ethernet Port is designed for compatibility with an Ethernet cable meeting the requirements for Category 5e or Category 6, however the Ethernet port is not used in the Ixia IxLoad LTE Access solution and no Ethernet cable is required. |
RF Specifications |
|
Frequency Range |
400MHx – 5925MHz |
Bandwidths Supported |
5MHz, 10MHz, 15MHz, 20MHz |
Display status indication |
|
Sys Clk |
|
SFP1 status (Only SFP 1 on Radio 0 is externally accessible) |
|
AxC TX (TX baseband configuration status) |
|
AxC RX (RX baseband configuration status) |
|
RF TX ports |
Green = Active |
RF RX ports |
Green = Active |
STS (CPRI link embedded Ethernet status) |
|