FREDERICKSBURG, VA and BARCELONA, Spain, -- QRC Technologies, a systems integrator specializing in mobile cellular measurement products, announced at Mobile World Congress 2013 the launch of its Wide Band Transcorder (WBT), a self-contained radio frequency (RF) recording and playback system that helps commercial enterprises and government organizations more quickly and cost-effectively address various RF problems.
Exploding consumer demand for smartphones, tablets, TVs, cars and other wirelessly connected devices is putting increasing pressure on the radio spectrum available for consumer use. Broadcasters, broadband providers, commercial entities and governments are challenged with operating within finite RF spectrum, while tackling major threats such as growing interference. At the same time, limited resources are forcing organizations to tackle spectrum-related challenges more cost effectively.
"Fixing RF issues and challenges such as interference or equipment malfunction is generally easy; it's reproducing the issue on-demand that can be difficult, time-consuming and costly," said Tom Callahan, General Manager and CTO, QRC Technologies. "Other RF recording devices on the market today are designed for lab environments and can be expensive, cumbersome and difficult to operate. The affordable and portable WBT requires virtually no training and takes the guesswork out of capturing RF issues and environments, so organizations can better focus on business and customer needs."
The WBT is ideal for a wide range of applications and industries including reference signal recording and playback, signal analysis, electronic warfare, market penetration, interference analysis, training, receiver test and design, security, competitive analysis, surveillance, spectrum allocation, repeater, IED profiling, RADAR testing and other capabilities. Sample use cases can be found at WBT.QrcTech.com and include, but are not limited to, industries such as:
- Telecommunications—Pinpoint the root cause of dropped calls and enhance the user experience.
- Capital Equipment Optimization—Record complex waveforms or special test cases from other equipment and/or simulation and signal processing tools and replay them at an unlimited number of locations.
- Government—Identify commercial and military radar interference to keep troops safe and to simulate real world situations in a controlled test environment.
The WBT allows users to record and analyze in real-time 2x25 MHz Blocks of RF spectrum from 50 MHz to 4.4 GHz and play it back into other devices for repeated analysis. WBT contains an embedded GPS disciplined oscillator (GPSDO), Gigabit Ethernet and eSATAp ports, removable CFAST flash card and two bays that utilize widely commercially available 2.5 in. solid-state disk drives for continuous recording.
Benefits of the WBT include:
- Compact Size and Light Weight—Unlike competitive solutions that require extensive rack space, the WBT is about the size of a laptop bag, weighs fewer than 10 lb. and consumes fewer than 70 W, making it portable for staff on the go. An optional light weight power pack provides more than two hours of fully untethered use.
- Intuitive Interface—The touch screen features a one-button record/playback interface that requires minimal training. Virtually any technician can quickly gather data from the field to replay in the lab, cutting down travel time for costly engineering staff.
- Unlimited Recording on Inexpensive Media—The operator can easily insert additional recording media into the two drive bays indefinitely without shutdown.
- Lower Cost of Ownership—Traditional systems often require three or more components, numerous interconnects and training. The WBT is physically stackable and remote controllable by other WBT units, thus lowering the cost of recording signal bandwidths larger than 50 MHz.
A live WBT demonstration can be experienced at Mobile World Congress 2013 at QRC Stand 7B60. Pricing for the WBT begins at $59,995 and is available for order immediately for July shipping.
About QRC Technologies
QRC Technologies (QRC) specializes in RF Test and Measurement products, especially for cellular communications. QRC develops and produces survey tools for cellular communication systems, phone based measurement, stimulation tools, forensic tools, and integrated RF recording and playback equipment.
QRC was founded in 1987 and has been serving as a systems integrator since its inception, and in the last decade has expanded with a portfolio of RF Test and Measurement products. The company has over 50 employees in three offices, one in Gaithersburg, MD, one in Stafford, VA, and the world headquarters located in Fredericksburg, VA.