Systems and methods for over the air performance testing of wireless devices with multiple antennas
DCFirst Claim
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1. A method of testing a wireless device by simulating a multipath environment, comprising:
- placing a plurality of antennas at various angles around the wireless device within an anechoic chamber;
connecting the plurality of antennas to a variable path simulator having N multiple separate paths and simultaneously introducing a different user-defined delay spread into each separate path connected to an antenna, where N is an integer greater than 1, wherein each separate path of the variable path simulator is coupled to a different one of the plurality of antennas, and the user-defined delay spreads being chosen to provide significant multi-path fading effects;
connecting the N multiple separate paths of the variable path simulator to M spatial channels of a wireless communication tester emulating a wireless transceiver having the M spatial channels, where M is an integer greater than 1; and
simultaneously receiving or transmitting by the plurality of antennas, a plurality of signals, each signal associated with a different one of the plurality of antennas, and wherein each signal propagates through a separate one of the multiple separate paths of the variable path simulator to simulate a desired pattern of multi-path fading effects.
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Abstract
Embodiments include systems and methods for testing a wireless device, especially one with multiple antennas. In one embodiment, a plurality of antennas are placed around a device under test in an anechoic chamber. Each of a plurality of the antennas is connected to a path of a variable path simulator capable of generating multiple paths between the antennas and external wireless communication test equipment. The variable path simulator introduces a delay spread into each path. In this way, a multipath environment is simulated with signals appearing to arrive from different angles and different distances.
48 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of testing a wireless device by simulating a multipath environment, comprising:
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placing a plurality of antennas at various angles around the wireless device within an anechoic chamber; connecting the plurality of antennas to a variable path simulator having N multiple separate paths and simultaneously introducing a different user-defined delay spread into each separate path connected to an antenna, where N is an integer greater than 1, wherein each separate path of the variable path simulator is coupled to a different one of the plurality of antennas, and the user-defined delay spreads being chosen to provide significant multi-path fading effects; connecting the N multiple separate paths of the variable path simulator to M spatial channels of a wireless communication tester emulating a wireless transceiver having the M spatial channels, where M is an integer greater than 1; and simultaneously receiving or transmitting by the plurality of antennas, a plurality of signals, each signal associated with a different one of the plurality of antennas, and wherein each signal propagates through a separate one of the multiple separate paths of the variable path simulator to simulate a desired pattern of multi-path fading effects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 18, 19)
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6. A test system for testing a wireless device in a multipath environment, comprising:
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a plurality of antennas disposed at various positions around the wireless device under test within an anechoic chamber, the plurality of antennas capable of simultaneous operation; a variable path simulator with different paths connected to different ones of the plurality of antennas, the variable path simulator configured to simultaneously introduce a different delay spread into each path connected to an antenna, the delay spreads chosen to provide significant multi-path fading effects; and a wireless communication tester to communicate signals to the wireless device through the variable path simulator, the wireless communication tester emulating a wireless transceiver having M spatial channels coupled to N paths of the variable path simulator, where M and N are integers greater than 1. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17)
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12. A system for testing a wireless device in a multi-path environment, comprising:
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a simulator to simultaneously simulate a plurality of separate spatial paths, each separate spatial path coupled to a different one of a plurality of antennas, the plurality of antennas capable of simultaneous operation, the simulator configured to introduce a different delay spread into each separate spatial path connected to an antenna, the delay spreads chosen to provide significant multi-path fading effects; and a Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) tester to measure a signal in each of M emulated channels of a wireless transceiver emulated by the MIMO tester, the M emulated spatial channels coupled to N spatial paths of the simulator, where M and N are unequal integers greater than 1. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification