Multiple CATR Reflector System for Multiple Angles of Arrival Measurements of 5G Millimeter Wave Devices

• Main Authors: Corbett Rowell, Benoit Derat, Adrian Cardalda-Garcia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
• Series: IEEE Access
• Subjects: 5G mobile communication; antenna measurements; millimeter wave communications; MIMO; mobile radio mobility
• Online Access: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9261325/

This paper presents a novel method using multiple compact antenna test range (CATR) reflectors to perform simultaneous multiple angle measurements for 5G devices that are capable of beam-forming in the millimeter wave frequency range. Four CATR reflectors and their respective feed antennas are arranged on a planar semi-circle arc with the device under test placed on a positioner at the center of the arc. This arrangement is designed to generate four planar wavefronts with different incidences, realizing up to five pairs of angular spreads or four switched/simultaneous angles of arrival. The objective of this setup is to reproduce configurations involving multiple base-stations radiating from different directions. The initial target application is radio resource management (RRM) testing, where the execution of mobility procedures and radio link monitoring of a 5G millimeter wave device are evaluated. The reflectors create far-field conditions at the device under test for quiet zones up to 30 cm in diameter inside a portable system with a footprint of 3.25 × 1.4 meters. The applicability of the approach to RRM testing is demonstrated through measurements, performed with both sinusoidal and modulated signals, using horn antennas and commercial 5G devices.