NI’s WLAN Measurement Suite tests to early 802.11ax spec

Combined with NI’s RF vector signal transceiver (VST), the WLAN Measurement Suite supports draft 0.1 of the IEEE 802.11ax high-efficiency wireless standard.  This early-access software suite introduced at IMS2016 lets engineers measure the performance of their 802.11ax designs, a key necessity due to significant changes to the 802.11 physical layer specification. The WLAN Measurement Suite already gives researchers/engineers/technologists the ability to generate and analyze a wide range of 802.11 waveforms, such as those for 802.11a/b/g/n/j/p/ac/ah/af.

The latest software supports such key features of 802.11ax as narrower subcarrier spacing, 1024-QAM, and multi-user OFDMA (orthogonal frequency division/multiple access). It also includes example system design code for LabVIEW to help engineers automate WLAN measurements quickly and easily.

NI’s platform-based approach is designed to help ensure that engineers can configure their existing PXI RF test systems to support 802.11ax device testing with a simple software update, and continue to do so as the 802.11ax standardization process evolves. This approach to RF test aims to not only help lower test cost, but also better prepare for future connectivity and cellular standardization initiatives, such as 5G. “The fast pace of evolving wireless standards demands instrumentation that can evolve at the speed of software,” said Charles Schroeder, vice president of RF marketing at NI. “Our support for the latest 802.11ax draft standard in the WLAN Measurement Suite is part of the evolution of a platform that scales with changing connectivity standards and provides our customers with superior RF performance in lab and production environments.” The whitepaper “Introduction to 802.11ax High-Efficiency Wireless” provides more information about the new WLAN Measurement Suite and 802.11ax.