Drive Testing Engineer Means

Drive testing engineer is a method of measuring and assessing the coverage, capacity and Quality of Service (QoS) of a mobile radio network.

The technique consists of using a motor vehicle containing mobile radio network air interface measurement equipment that can detect and record a wide variety of the physical and virtual parameters of mobile cellular service in a given geographical area.

By measuring what a wireless network subscriber would experience in any specific area, wireless carriers can make directed changes to their networks that provide better coverage and service to their customers.

Drive testing requires a mobile vehicle outfitted with drive testing measurement equipment. The equipment are usually highly specialized electronic devices that interface to OEM mobile handsets. This ensures measurements are realistic and comparable to actual user experiences.

Drive test equipment typically collects data relating to the network itself, services running on the network such as voice or data services, radio frequency scanner information and GPS information to provide location logging.

The data set collected during drive testing field measurements can include information such as:

• Signal intensity
• Signal quality
• Interference
• Dropped calls
• Blocked calls
• Anomalous events
• Call statistics
• Service level statistics
• Quality of Service information
• Handover information
• Neighboring cell information
• GPS location co-ordinates

• Optimization and troubleshooting

• Optimization and troubleshooting information is more typically used to aid in finding specific problems during the rollout phases of new networks or to observe specific problems reported by consumers during the operational phase of the network lifecycle. In this mode drive testing data is used to diagnose the root cause of specific, typically localized, network issues such as dropped calls or missing neighbour cell assignments

What is RF Testing Job?

RF is short for radio frequency.  RF is any frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. Many wireless technologies are based on RF field propagation. These frequencies make up part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum.

Electromagnetic radiation consists of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together (that is, radiating) through space at the speed of light. Taken together, all forms of electromagnetic energy are referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves and microwaves emitted by transmitting antennas are one form of electromagnetic energy. Often the term electromagnetic field or radiofrequency (RF) field may be used to indicate the presence of electromagnetic or RF energy.

An RF field has both an electric and a magnetic component (electric field and magnetic field), and it is often convenient to express the intensity of the RF environment at a given location in terms of units specific for each component. For example, the unit "volts per meter" (V/m) is used to measure the strength of the electric field and the unit "amperes per meter" (A/m) is used to express the strength of the magnetic field.

RF waves can be characterized by a wavelength and a frequency. The wavelength is the distance covered by one complete cycle of the electromagnetic wave, while the frequency is the number of electromagnetic waves passing a given point per unit of time. The frequency of an RF signal is usually expressed in terms of a unit called the hertz (Hz). One Hz equals one cycle per second. One megahertz (MHz) equals one million cycles per second. Different forms of electromagnetic energy are categorized by their wavelengths and frequencies. The RF part of the electromagnetic spectrum is generally defined as that part of the spectrum where electromagnetic waves have frequencies in the range of about 3 kilohertz (3 kHz) to 300 gigahertz (300 GHz). 

for more :RF Testing Job

What is RF Testing?

RF Technician :

RF Technician is short for radio frequency.  RF is any frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space. Many wireless technologies are based on RF field propagation. These frequencies make up part of the electromagnetic radiation spectrum.

Electromagnetic radiation consists of waves of electric and magnetic energy moving together (that is, radiating) through space at the speed of light. Taken together, all forms of electromagnetic energy are referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum. Radio waves and microwaves emitted by transmitting antennas are one form of electromagnetic energy. Often the term electromagnetic field or radiofrequency (RF) field may be used to indicate the presence of electromagnetic or RF energy.

An RF field has both an electric and a magnetic component (electric field and magnetic field), and it is often convenient to express the intensity of the RF environment at a given location in terms of units specific for each component. For example, the unit "volts per meter" (V/m) is used to measure the strength of the electric field and the unit "amperes per meter" (A/m) is used to express the strength of the magnetic field.

RF waves can be characterized by a wavelength and a frequency. The wavelength is the distance covered by one complete cycle of the electromagnetic wave, while the frequency is the number of electromagnetic waves passing a given point per unit of time. The frequency of an RF signal is usually expressed in terms of a unit called the hertz (Hz). One Hz equals one cycle per second. One megahertz (MHz) equals one million cycles per second. Different forms of electromagnetic energy are categorized by their wavelengths and frequencies. The RF part of the electromagnetic spectrum is generally defined as that part of the spectrum where electromagnetic waves have frequencies in the range of about 3 kilohertz (3 kHz) to 300 gigahertz (300 GHz). 

RF Systems Technicians

Steps for RF Systems Technicians

How can I become an RF systems technician?

Step 1: Complete Post secondary Training

The first step is to complete post secondary training. Although there are no set educational requirements for becoming a radio frequency systems technician, employers may prefer to hire candidates with at least an associate's degree. Some schools offer associate's degree programs in electronics engineering technology with wireless options. Other options include earning a degree in electrical engineering technology or computer science.

Step 2: Gain Experience

The next step is to gain experience. Although it's possible to gain entry-level employment in RF systems technology, many employers prefer hiring candidates with prior experience working with design, installation, troubleshooting, and repairing RF systems and related technologies. Gaining experience in a related area can help give aspiring RF systems technicians the familiarity with the equipment and technology that they'll be working on in the field. Entry-level technicians often work as part of a team and with substantial supervision. Some employers also require on-the-job training for new RF systems technicians.

You will want to look for opportunities to become professionally certified in the field. Voluntary certification may increase job opportunities, since the credentials demonstrate professional expertise. Some available options include the RFID certification issued by the RFID Professional Institute, wireless certification issued by Anritsu, and various certifications issued by iNARTE. Although the requirements for each credential vary by organization, candidates generally need to have some prior experience and take a certification exam.

You will also want to research certification renewal requirements. Some organizations may require candidates to renew the certification periodically. Continuing education, training, or work experience may be a condition of keeping certification current.

RF systems technicians have training and/or education after high school. They are highly skilled and work in some dangerous situations, and they earn a median annual salary of $51,660.

Network Operations Center Design Best Practices

A Network Operations Center (NOC) forms a central location for a data center of any medium or large-scale network monitoring effort. In it, your NOC engineers will monitor for and respond to network problems. Your NOC services forms the vital link between the detection of a network problem and the implementation of a solution (usually in the form of a technician dispatched to the remote site).

While many NOC operation centers (yes, the word "centers" is redundant, but it aids understanding), are open 7x24x365, this isn't always the case. Some companies are in a transitional phase of growth. Their network is large enough to have warranted an investment in NOC center construction, but they can't yet justify the expense of staffing it outside of regular or possibly extended business hours. In this case, companies use after-hours alarm notifications (to email or phones) to alert on-call technicians of alarms in the network.

The core of any NOC room is one (or sometimes more) central master console. This console accepts inputs from the handful, hundreds, or thousands of remote devices in your network.

NOC Jobs

Overview

A network operations center, or NOC (pronounced “knock”), is a centralized location where IT technicians directly support the efforts of remote monitoring and management (RMM) software. NOC teams are heavily utilized in the managed IT services space, and a tremendous driver of service delivery for many managed services providers (MSPs).

These technical teams keep a watchful eye over the endpoints that they monitor and manage, independently resolving issues are they arise and taking preventative steps to ensure many issues do not occur. NOC teams are also heavily involved in high-level security actions and backup and disaster recovery (BDR) efforts, ensuring 24x7x365 uptime for an MSP’s customers.

What are the Roles & Responsibilities of a NOC Technician?

NOC engineers and technicians are responsible for monitoring infrastructure health, security and capacity on a clients’ environment. They make decisions and adjustments to ensure optimal network performance and organizational productivity.

When any action or intervention from the MSP is required, NOC technicians can create alerts (or “tickets”) that identify and categorize the issue based on severity, alert type and other criteria. Depending on the relationship between the NOC and the MSP, technical teams can then work together to resolve the problem (and identify its root cause to prevent future issues).