Aeroflex base station tester adds encryption support

The new feature provides a field portable and easy-to-use base station test solution for installation and commissioning, routine maintenance and fault finding, as well as final unit production testing. Support for the A5/3 encryption algorithm complements the 6113's existing support for the A5/1 and A5/2 algorithms.

The A5/3 encryption algorithm supplies signaling protection so that voice calls, user-generated data and other sensitive information, such as telephone numbers, are protected over the radio path.

The algorithm was designed by the Security Algorithms Group of Experts (SAGE) within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

It is based on the requirements of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)'s Working Group SA3. A5/3 was further developed with the support of the GSM Association, 3GPP and the U.S. T1 Standards Committee.

More information is available at www.aeroflex.com.