TR-398 Issue 4 WiFi Testing with LANforge: 32 WiFi-7 Radios + Mesh

The TR-398 WiFi Performance test plan by the Broadband forum provides a comprehensive set of tests to qualify the performance of WiFi access points (APs) to be deployed in residential and small office indoor environments. The TR-398 Issue 4 will include TR-398 Issue 3 features as well as WiFi-7 support. The Candela TR398 test cases allows customization of test executation and pass/fail metrics to allow interested users to run advanced tests not specified in TR398.

The TR398 issue-3 document from Broadband Forum is still in progress. Pass/fail thresholds and perhaps some other small changes to the test procedure are still being resolved.

See example reports auto-generated by this testbed:

• 6.1.1 RX Sensitivity at different angles and encodings.
• 6.2.1 Max Connection 32 station throughput
• 6.2.2 Max TCP Throughput
• 6.2.3 Airtime Fairness
• 6.2.4 Dual Band Throughput
• 6.2.5 TCP Bi-directional Throughput
• 6.2.6 Latency under Load Test
• 6.2.7 Quality of Service
• 6.2.8 Multi-Band Throughput
• 6.3.1 Rate vs Range
• 6.3.2 Spatial Consistency
• 6.3.3 Peak Performance
• 6.4.1 Multiple Stations Performance
• 6.4.2 Multiple Association Stability
• 6.4.3 Downlink MU-MIMO, Requires that AP must be able to disable/enable MU-MIMO.
• 6.4.4 Multicast Multi-Station
• 6.5.1 Long Term Stability.
• 6.5.2 AP Coexistence
• 6.5.3 Automatic channel selection.
• 6.6.1 Mesh Backhaul Rate vs Range
• 6.6.2 2-hop Mesh Backhaul Rate vs Range
• 6.6.3 Mesh Roam

Key Measurements

• PASS/FAIL results table for each test per the TR-398 document.
• Detailed per test measurements.

Overview

Candela Technologies offers a fully automated TR-398 Issue 4 test system. All the required test hardware including multi station emulator, traffic generator, RF enclosures, turntable, programmable attenuators, and fully automated test software along with PASS/FAIL results are provided in a packaged, easy to use and affordable solution. This testbed uses 32 Intel be200 tri-band WiFi-7 radios. These are not 'virtual' stations, so this testbed offers additional testing opportunities, including OFDMA, MU-MIMO and (in the future) MLO.

Wiring Diagram for TR398 Issue-4 without Mesh.

Wiring Diagram for TR398 Issue-4 with Mesh.

The test setup, testbed components and environment are all created as per the requirements in Section 5 of the TR-398 Issue 3 test plan document. Some of the components may be different than pictured depending on the options purchased. Please ask your sales representative for details.

TR398 issue-4 with 1 mesh extender, 32 Intel be200 Radios.

TR398 issue-4 with 2 mesh extenders plus 3rd-party devices chamber, 32 Intel be200 Radios plus 6 virtual station radios.

More testbed pictures: CT840b Front | CT840b Inside | CT840b Front Open | CT840b Back | CT840b Mesh Diag

The LANforge GUI provides integrated configuration and automation control for all the components of the testbed including the station emulators, traffic generator, attenuators, and turntables. The entire set of supported TR-398 Issue 4 tests, or optionally a subset of these tests, can be run with a single push of a button. An HTML, PDF, and xlsx report can be generated with a second button click when the test completes.

More testbed screen shots: Virtual-Stations | BE Stations | More BE Stations | Mesh Setup | Mesh Setup 2 | Per-Test Configuration | Report Configuration | Upcoming Tests

Includes these Building Blocks

• Hardware
  • LANforge CT523c Multi station Emulation and Traffic Generation Hardware – 32 WiFi-7 radios, Multi-Gig Ethernet ports.
  • CT521b systems for auto-calibration and for interferer devices needed for some tests.
  • CT820a-Medium RF Chambers (stackable and rack-mount available).
  • CT822a-Medium RF Chambers with internal antenna supports (stackable and rack-mount available).
  • CT840a or CT840b Large RF Chamber with Programmable Turntable.
  • CT714b 4 Port Programmable Attenuators.
  • RF Splitters/Combiners.
  • Directional Antennas.
  • High quality RF Cables.
• Software
  • TR-398 Issue 4 Automation Software
  • Normal LANforge WiFi testing features are included at no additional charge.

Key Tests for TR-398 Issue 4

• Calibration and Testbed Setup
  • Automatic calibration of station attenuators.
  • Automatic calibration of mesh backhaul attenuators.
  • Automatic verification of basic testbed correctness.
• 6.1 RF capability
  • 6.1.1 Receiver Sensitivity Test
• 6.2 Baseline performance
  • 6.2.1 Maximum Connection Test
  • 6.2.2 Maximum Throughput Test
  • 6.2.3 Airtime Fairness Test
  • 6.2.4 Dual-band Throughput Test
  • 6.2.5 Bidirectional Throughput Test
  • 6.2.6 Latency under Load Test
  • 6.2.7 Quality of Service Test
  • 6.2.8 Multi-band Throughput Test
• 6.3 Coverage
  • 6.3.1 Range Versus Rate Test
  • 6.3.2 Spatial Consistency Test
  • 6.3.3 802.11ax Peak Performance Test, including 2x2 320Mhz. (4x4 not supported at this time)
• 6.4 Multiple Stations Performance
  • 6.4.1 Multiple Stations Performance Test.
  • 6.4.2 Multiple Association/Disassociation Stability Test.
  • 6.4.3 Downlink MU-MIMO Performance Test (6E not currently supported, not required by TR398i3).
  • 6.4.4 Multicast Performance Test (not officially part of TR398 Issue4).
• 6.5 Stability/Robustness
  • 6.5.1 Long Term Stability Test
  • 6.5.2 AP Coexistence Test (6E not currently supported.)
  • 6.5.3 Automatic Channel Selection Test (6E not supported at this time)
• 6.6 Mesh test cases (TR398 issue-3)
  • 6.6.1 Mesh Backhaul Rate vs Range
  • 6.6.2 2-hop Mesh Backhaul Rate vs Range
  • 6.6.3 Mesh Roaming Test
• 7 AP Stability/Robustness
  • 7.1.1 RSSI Accuracy
  • 7.1.2 Channel Utilization Accuracy
  • 7.1.3 Noise Accuracy (Not supported at this time)

Testbed Options

Price Range

Lead Times and Support:

Lead Times: Four to six weeks.

TaaS/Onsite Support: Customers with only occasional test needs can use our Test as a Service option. Candela engineers can do the testing for you in our fully equipped test lab and provide a detailed test report with recommendations.

For more information, please contact sales@candelatech.com or give us a call at: 1-360-380-1618