Nokia Siemens Networks has opened a new mobile broadband testing and development facility in the heart of Silicon Valley, USA. The company's newest Smart Lab allows US-based operators, smartphone and operating system (OS) vendors, and application developers to analyze application and device performance across 'live' mobile network environments, including LTE.

The lab aims to find the ideal balance between the best user experience and the lowest impact on network performance.

The lab benefits from the company's new Smart Lab Performance Advisor, a reporting dashboard that provides instant insights into app and device behavior. Each application and device tested is ranked by comparing test results to a database of network performance indicators. Operators can use this ranking to get a thorough understanding of application and device impact, and achieve the most effective network configuration to minimize such impact.

"Smartphones with always-connected applications introduce a new type of network behavior, and increase volatility in mobile broadband demand," said Jan Hellman, head of Smart Labs at Nokia Siemens Networks. "This can considerably increase signaling traffic and drastically reduce smartphone battery life, and thus impact user experience. Our Smart Labs provide the world's leading mobile broadband testing facilities and collaboration with other industry players allowing us to better advise our customers on how to make their networks more smartphone friendly."