“We have stood for quality, precision and innovation in all fields of wireless communications”

Hans-Joerg Strufe Director of Product Management, Signal Generators, Rohde & Schwarz

Please tell us about the ‘four pillars’ that guide the strategy at Rohde & Schwarz?

For more than 80 years, Rohde & Schwarz has stood for quality, precision and innovation in all fields of wireless communications. The company is strategically based on four pillars: test and measurement, broadcast and media, secure communications, radiomonitoring and radiolocation. Thanks to this strategy, the company can address diverse market segments, including wireless communications, the broadcasting and electronics industry, aerospace and defense, homeland security and critical infrastructures. The electronics group, headquartered in Munich, Germany, is among the world market leaders in all of its business fields.

How do you perceive the growth of GNSS technology and applications based on it, in future and possible role of Rohde & Schwarz?

Rohde & Schwarz is addressing various business fields with its wireless solutions where GNSS solutions are deployed, such as the automotive, communications and aerospace & defense industries. In the automotive segment, eCall is using GNSS positioning in combination with mobile communications. This is an important growth application, given that eCall systems will become mandatory in new cars in many countries worldwide. In the mobile communications market, location based services are being integrated increasingly. They are typically based on GNSS technology. To ideally address the special testing needs, which are often defined by the network operators who want to ensure a high quality of service, Rohde & Schwarz offers a dedicated test system called R&S TS-LBS. It combines our GNSS simulator with mobile communications testing for a complete test solution. Rohde & Schwarz being a strong partner in both, GNSS as well as mobile communications, is working closely with all key players making sure the right testing tools are available.

And last but not least, GNSS is becoming more and more integrated into the different systems used in the A&D field. All these applications have dedicated environments for GNSS which translate into various conditions where GNSS receivers are deployed. To improve the quality of service for any GNSS application, Rohde & Schwarz offers flexible environment simulation capabilities including shading and multipath effects.

Of the various solutions available from Rohde & Schwarz which ones are based on GNSS technology?

Some Rohde & Schwarz testing solutions also rely on GNSS themselves. For example, GNSS is used for positioning of the vehicle in drive test solutions, so that the measurement data can be attributed to a specific location. In order to assess the RF quality of a network, mobile network operators use reference RF receivers. These so called drive test scanners, such as the R&S TSMW or R&S TSME, have built-in GPS receivers that serve as frequency and time reference. They are much faster and more accurate compared to commercial phones, and provide an independent view of the RF environment. With GPS as an absolute timing reference, drive test scanners can also validate whether base stations are synchronized, which is relevant for example in TD LTE networks to avoid interference between uplink and downlink.

Please tell us about the Rohde & Schwarz satellite monitoring solutions portfolio?

Satellite monitoring solutions from Rohde & Schwarz include stationary and mobile systems for use on the ground, at sea and in the air. In this field, Rohde & Schwarz is supported by its French subsidiary Arpège SAS, which implements satellite monitoring systems in close collaboration with the Munich headquarters.

How do you see emerging economies as a potential market for your product and solutions?

Emerging economies are very interesting markets for Rohde & Schwarz because of their fast growth. GNSS is driven in these markets by the prospering population who is very interested in mobile communications and location based services which are becoming standard in newer mobile devices. In addition, some emerging economies want to be independent from GPS and launch and operate their own GNSS systems such as Glonass or BeiDou. Supporting these standards in our GNSS simulator is key to success in these markets.

What is the latest GNSS offering from the Rohde & Schwarz technology stable?

The R&S SMBV100A GNSS simulator from Rohde & Schwarz is a complete test solution for various navigation systems. Looking at the list of various applications which the simulator is already supporting shows Rohde & Schwarz’ strong commitment to support the GNSS market. We have included in various GNSS standards such as GPS, Glonass, Galileo and BeiDou. All these can be used in basic and sophisticated environments, supporting complex applications such as a realistic drive through a dense city automatically taking into account the effects of buildings, bridges and so on. In addition, simulation of attitude and body shadowing like on a plane is addressed. The latest enhancements for GBAS, general avionics like DME and VOR/ILS make the simulator complete.