VIAVI Solutions has introduced a TETRA mobile station (MS) radio base station simulator option for its field-portable CX300 communications service monitor, enabling more comprehensive testing of mission-critical radio systems without requiring devices to be placed in T1 test mode. 

The upgrade is designed to simplify and speed up validation processes for TETRA-based communications systems used by emergency services, government agencies and industrial sectors.

TETRA’s Role in Critical Communications

TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) is a global open standard for voice and data communications developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Operating independently of commercial cellular networks, the technology is widely used in mission-critical environments due to its resilience, rapid call setup capabilities and secure communications features. It also supports group voice push-to-talk functionality and direct device-to-device communication through Direct Mode Operation (DMO). 

Software-Based Upgrade for CX300 

The new TETRA MS upgrade is available as a software-keyed option for the CX300 and does not require additional hardware. According to VIAVI, the feature enables full testing of TETRA mobile station radios, including transmitter parametric measurements such as power profile, RF power, carrier frequency offset, burst timing and modulation accuracy. 

It also supports call processing and receiver bit error rate (BER) and modulation error ratio (MER) loopback testing, while eliminating the need to place the radio under test into T1 test mode. The company added that migration support is available for users transitioning from the legacy 3920B platform. 

“VIAVI has been the benchmark for TETRA radio testing for more than two decades, and the CX300 TETRA MS option is the next step in that tradition,” said Wayne Wong, Director of Product Management, Radio Test at VIAVI.“This upgrade lets technicians test a TETRA mobile station the way it actually operates in the field, registering to a base station without requiring any special test mode on the radio,” Wong added. 

Broader Testing Capabilities 

The CX300 platform supports testing across several major land mobile radio (LMR) and professional mobile radio (PMR) protocols, including TETRA, P25, DMR (MOTOTRBO) and NXDN.The device also integrates a range of network testing and analysis capabilities, including spectrum analysis, signal generation and analysis, cable and antenna testing, two-port one-path vector network analysis (VNA), power measurement, audio analysis and automated alignment through VIAVI AutoTest.