Measuring equipment with electrically small antennas
BLUETEST of Gothenburg in Sweden produces reverberation chambers and software for the fast and precise test of equipment with electrically small antennas like RF transceiver modules, mobile phones and tablet PCs using wireless standards such as Bluetooth, WiFi, ZigBee, GSM, UMTS and LTE.The chambers measure:
- Antenna efficiency
- Data throughput
- Total radiated power (TRP)
- Total isotropic sensitivity (TIS)
For WiFi and LTE terminals with MIMO antennas the reverberation chamber is the only possibility to directly measure:
- Diversity gain
- MIMO capacity
| Measurement | Typ. Test Time |
|---|---|
| Passive Antenna Measurements | 1 min |
| Passive Diversity Gain | 1 min |
| Passive MIMO Capacity | 1 min |
| TRP (Total Radiated Power) | 1 min/channel |
| TIS (Total Isotropic Sensitivity) | 10 min/channel |
| FastTIS Measurement (GSM and WCDMA) | 3 min/channel |
| TPUT (Throughput) Measurement | 1-2 min |
Over-The-Air-Test (OTA) according to CTIA and 3GPP
The reverberation chamber is the only measurement methodology for wireless large form factor devices in CTIA’s test plan for over-the-air (OTA) performance. All devices larger than notebook-size (one dimension larger than 42 cm) are defined as a large form factor device. The test plan covers the following cellular protocols: CDMA, CDMA 1xRTT DATA, CDMA 1xEV-DO, GSM, GPRS, EGPRS, UMTS und LTE.The Bluetest reverberation chamber is a candidate for the Over-The-Air-Test (OTA) of MIMO-terminals according to 3GPP and CTIA.
Bluetest announces the 5th Generation of Reverberation Chambers
New features of Bluetest's reverberation chambers
The new measurement chamber of Bluetest simplifies and accelerates OTA measurements with:
- New ergonomic front design with touch screen, easily accessible RF interfaces and larger door.
- New interior: modular turntable enables a larger variety of DUTs (Device Under Test), has less vibration.
- New “Bluetest FLOW” Software Platform:
Flow Manager: Software for measurement control
Flow Analyzer: Software for data analysis
Flow Touch: Web-Interface for access with tablet-PCs and smartphones.
Bluetest reverberation chamber versions
Currently four chambers with different size and different lower and upper cutoff frequencies are available:RTS25 for the ISM-bands 2.5 GHz and 5-6 GHz
RTS 25 is optimized for Bluetooth, WLAN, ZigBee, WirelessHart.Data sheet RTS25
RTS65 for the frequency range 650 MHz to 6 GHz
RTS65 is optimized for LTE MIMO tests.Data sheet RTS65
RTS85HP for 5G Base Station Tests at 500 MHz to 43 GHz
RTS85HP is designed for RF power levels up to 200 W and loads up to 150 kg. Data sheet RTS85HPRTS95 is optimized for the frequency range 400 MHz to 6 GHz and for large DUTs.
The usable space in the RTS95 OTA chamber is 2m x 2m x 2m.Data sheet RTS95
Among BLUETEST's customers are many renowed manufacturers of
- mobile phones,
- laptop computers,
- WIFI-equipment,
- femto and pico base stations,
- modules for RFID, Bluetooth, ISM (Zigbee)
Publications regarding reverberation chambers can be found here.
Within the sixth frame program of the EU a comparison was made by the Antenna Centre of Excellence. The test results show that BLUETEST chambers perform similar or even better than anechoic chambers, with a standard deviation of only 0.5dB. www.antennasvce.org
Bluetest ISS11 Attenuator-Matrix
For throughput measurements of MIMO-access points and MIMO-terminals operating in the ISM-bands at 2.4GHz and 5GHz or with LTE, Bluetest has developped the ISS11 attenuator system.ISS11 is ideal for measuring IP-throughput over power level of LTE or WLAN IEEE 802.11ac. It supports MIMO up to 4x4.
ISS11 can be used with Bluetest's echo chambers for OTA (Over-the-Air) tests. It is fully integrated into Bluetest's FLOW software. ISS11 can be used also for conducted measurements or with other OTA chambers.