Measurement system and method for multiple antenna measurements with different angles of arrival

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10969427-B2
Application number	US-201916239158-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 3, 2019
Priority date	Jan 3, 2019
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A measurement system and method for over the air multiple antennas measurements are provided. The measurement system comprises, inside an anechoic chamber, a device under test, several measurement antennas, several mirrors and at least one shaped reflector. The measurement antennas are placed pointing at the shaped reflector. Each of the mirrors is placed along fields reflected by the shaped reflector. The mirrors reflect fields that form different angles of arrival at the device under test.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A measurement system, for over the air multiple antenna measurements, comprising, inside an anechoic chamber:
a device under test,
two or more measurement antennas,
two or more mirrors,
at least one shaped reflector, and
wherein the measurement antennas are placed pointing at the shaped reflector, and
wherein each of the mirrors is placed along fields reflected by the shaped reflector, whereby the mirrors reflect fields that form different angles of arrival at the device under test.

2. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein each of the measurement antennas is also a feed antenna, and/or
wherein the shaped reflector corresponds to a compact antenna test range reflector.

3. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the anechoic chamber is a shielded anechoic chamber, and/or
wherein the anechoic chamber is shaped as a cuboid.

4. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the measurement antennas are set at different angles whereby the measurement antennas pointing at the shaped reflector are at an offset distance from the focal point of the shaped reflector, and/or
wherein the field generated by each of the measurement antennas pointing at the reflector is off center.

5. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
further comprising a device under test positioner configured to move the device under test in all three dimensions, in order to perform measurements in different positions.

6. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, is segmented into multiple small mirrors in order to simulate the spread or clustering of energy inside the angle of arrival at the device under test.

7. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the mirrors have different sizes, or alternatively are positioned at different angles, to create different quiet zone sizes.

8. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein some of the mirrors are combined into a single mirror, whereby each section of the single mirror reflects a field creating multiple angles of arrival at the device under test.

9. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein the measurement antennas are part of an antenna array,
wherein the antenna array is configured to generate a number of M beams in multiple angles, wherein the number M of beams is greater than, or equal to, or smaller than the number N of measurement antennas.

10. The measurement system according to claim 1 ,
wherein at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, is manually or automatically removable from the anechoic chamber through an aperture arranged in one of the walls of the chamber, and/or
wherein at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, is movably arranged in the chamber in a way that the mirror is activated or deactivated by being tilted manually or automatically by a tilt mechanism, especially downwards its back surface wherein the back surface of each of the mirrors is covered with an absorber material.

11. A measurement method for over the air multiple antenna measurements, comprising the steps of:
placing inside an anechoic chamber each of two or more measurement antennas pointing at a shaped reflector, and
placing inside an anechoic chamber two or more mirrors along several fields reflected by the shaped reflector, wherein the mirrors reflect fields that form different angles of arrival at a device under test.

12. The method according to claim 11 ,
wherein each of the two or more measurement antennas is formed to be also a feed antenna, and/or
wherein the shaped reflector corresponds to a compact antenna test range reflector.

13. The method according to claim 11 ,
wherein the anechoic chamber is formed as a shielded anechoic chamber and/or
wherein the anechoic chamber is formed in a cuboid shape.

14. The method according to claim 11 ,
further comprising setting the measurement antennas at different angles whereby the measurement antennas pointing at the shaped reflector are at an offset distance from the focal point of the shaped reflector, and/or
wherein the field generated by each of the measurement antennas pointing at the reflector is arranged to be off center.

15. The method according to claim 11 ,
further comprising the step of moving the device under test in all three dimensions by using a device under test positioner, in order to perform measurements in different positions.

16. The method according to claim 11 ,
further comprising the step of segmenting at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, into multiple small mirrors to simulate the spread or clustering of energy inside the angle of arrival.

17. The method according to claim 11 ,
wherein the mirrors are formed to have different sizes, or alternatively are positioned at different angles, to create different quiet zone sizes.

18. The method according to claim 11 ,
wherein the mirrors are combined into a single mirror, whereby each section of the mirror reflects a field creating multiple angles of arrival at the device under test.

19. The method according to claim 11 ,
wherein the measurement antennas are formed to be part of an antenna array, and
wherein the antenna array is configured to generate a number of M beams in multiple angles, wherein the number M of beams is greater than, or equal to, or smaller than the number N of measurement antennas.

20. The method according to claim 11 ,
further comprising the steps of:
removing at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, from the anechoic chamber, manually or automatically, through an aperture arranged in one of the walls of the chamber, and/or
movably arranging at least one of the mirrors, preferably each of the mirrors, in the anechoic chamber in a way that the mirror is deactivated by being tilted, manually or automatically by a tilt mechanism, downwards its back surface, wherein the back surface of each of the mirrors is covered with an absorber material.

Assignees

• Rohde & Schwarz

Inventors

• Rowell Corbett

Classifications

• H10W90/754

  between a chip and a stacked insulating package substrate, interposer or RDL · CPC title

• H10W72/884

  Die-attach connectors and bond wires · CPC title

• H01Q15/14

  Reflecting surfaces; Equivalent structures {(electromagnetic shields H01Q1/526)} · CPC title

• G01R31/3025 Primary

  Wireless interface with the DUT · CPC title

• G01R31/2822

  of microwave or radiofrequency circuits (of attenuation, gain, e.g. using network analyzers G01R27/28) · CPC title