LitePoint Predicts Big Benefits to Consumers and Carriers from New Spectrum in 5GHz Wi-Fi Band

SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- "We believe that increasing the availability of Wi-Fi spectrum in the 5GHz band will have far-reaching benefits across multiple industry segments, and we applaud the FCC's actions." That is the view of Curtis Schmidek, vice president of Marketing at LitePoint, on the FCC's recent Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to expand Wi-Fi spectrum in the 5GHz band by an additional 195MHz.

The proposal, if adopted, would increase system capacity and throughput for users of this ubiquitous technology. "Wi-Fi has become an essential part of the infrastructure of our lives. The additional spectrum that this proposal provides would better enable bandwidth-intensive applications such as in-home video distribution and mobile video conferencing, while dramatically increasing capacity and performance of mobile devices at high-density hot spots such as airports and convention centers," added Schmidek.

Another significant benefit of this additional spectrum is the ability of carriers to "off-load" cellular data traffic onto their own Wi-Fi hotspot networks or private networks whenever possible. "An on-going challenge for carriers, as more smartphone and tablet devices come into use, is how to handle the demand for capacity and throughput," Schmidek explained. In 2013, nearly 4 billion gigabytes worth of mobile data traffic will be generated in the US alone, with traffic doubling in 2014. More than a third will be off-loaded to Wi-Fi networks [1]. This additional 195MHz of spectrum would help keep subscribers connected in dense usage areas.

Schmidek explained that this spectrum expansion would give the US a contiguous 755MHz of spectrum in the 5GHz Wi-Fi band, enabling up to four 802.11ac VHT channels in the band (160MHz each). But this added spectrum brings new challenges in device production test. The 5GHz band represents the largest portion of Wi-Fi calibration and verification time. Adding another 195MHz to calibrate and test requires that manufacturers come up with new strategies so that production test times do not become excessive.

LitePoint's Wi-Fi production test solutions are already capable of addressing these new band requirements. Additionally, LitePoint's deep domain expertise in Wi-Fi that also encompasses the standards, chipsets and turnkey software offerings, enables a seamless transition when these new bands become available.

[1] Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017.

About LitePoint

LitePoint, a wholly owned subsidiary of Teradyne, Inc. (NYSE:TER), is based in Sunnyvale, California. The company designs, develops and supports advanced wireless test solutions for developers of wireless devices and consumer electronics, contract manufacturers and wireless integrated circuit designers. LitePoint solutions have enabled optimization and verification of the operation of more than one billion wireless devices worldwide. LitePoint products are used in development and high-volume manufacturing, providing its customers with improved ROI, time-to-market, manufacturing yields, and product quality. For more, go to www.litepoint.com.