FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure concerns a measurement system for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test, a measurement setup for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test as well as a method for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test.

BACKGROUND

The total radiated power of radio devices in networks, especially the spurious emissions of these devices, are regulated by the standards that govern the wireless network. Thus, any device that is designed for use in such a wireless network has to fulfill these requirements. In order to measure the total radiated power of a device, measurement systems with an anechoic chamber and a measurement antenna are known.

However, as the total radiated power measurements have to be performed over a wide range of frequencies, the measurement antenna of such measurement systems do not cover the whole frequency range. Thus, several measurements have to be carried out.

SUMMARY

There is a need to provide a measurement system, a measurement setup as well as a method for performing total radiated power measurements of a device under test that allow quick measurements over a broad frequency range.

For this purpose or others, a measurement system for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test is provided. In an embodiment, the measurement system comprises an anechoic chamber, a positioner with a device section for supporting the device under test, at least one link antenna for establishing communication with the device under test and a plurality of different measurement antennas, wherein the measurement antennas are arranged in the anechoic chamber and are designed to carry out a total radiated power measurement.

By using a plurality of measurement antennas designed for total radiated power measurements, multiple measurements can be carried out at the same time. Thus, the duration of a total radiated power measurement can be reduced.

The device section may lie within the quiet zone of the anechoic chamber, for example along the entire measurement path.

The link antenna is particularly adapted to establish communication, especially far-field communication with the device under test using radio frequency signals.

In some embodiments, the measurement antennas are designed to determine spurious emissions of the device under test.

In an embodiment, at least two of the measurement antennas are adapted to measure a different frequency range, for example each of the measurement antennas is adapted to measure a different frequency range. This way, the frequency range, in which the measurement is carried out, can be multiplied even though the frequency range of every single antenna may be smaller than the desired frequency range of the measurement system.

The frequency ranges of the measurement antennas may overlap.

In an aspect, the measurement antennas are arranged in the corners of anechoic chamber and/or equidistant to the device section. This way, no deviation between the measurements of the various measurement antennas is present.

In order to reduce the size of the measurement system, the measurement antennas may be arranged in near-field distance of the device section.

In an embodiment of the disclosure, the measurement system comprises a reflector for the signal of the link antenna, the reflector being arranged in the anechoic chamber, particularly wherein the shortest propagation path of signals of the at least one link antenna to the device section runs via the reflector. This way, the size of the measurement system can be reduced further.

The measurement system may be a compact antenna test range (CATR) system using indirect communication between the link antenna and the device under test via the reflector.

In an embodiment, the shortest propagation path is longer than the far field distance.

For a complete and versatile measurement, the positioner is configured to move the device section in three dimensions, for example along a sphere. The sphere is for example a full sphere.

To this end, the positioner, in some embodiments, comprises a pivoting arm, and, for example, a turntable arranged on the pivoting arm. The device section may be provided on the pivoting arm, especially on the turntable. In some embodiments, the pivoting arm may be u-shaped and/or the turntable being a 360° turnable turntable.

For the above purpose, further a measurement setup for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test is provided. The measurement setup comprises a device under test and a measurement system according to the disclosure as discussed above, wherein the device under test is fixed in the device section of the positioner.

Further, for above purpose or others, a method is provided for performing measurements of the total radiated power of a device under test, for example using a measurement system according to the disclosure as described above. In an embodiment, the method comprises the following steps:

placing the device under test in an anechoic chamber on a positioner;

moving the device under test in the anechoic chamber along a measurement path by the positioner; and

measuring spurious emissions of the device under test using a plurality of measurement antennas arranged in the anechoic chamber while the device under test is moved along the measurement path.

In the sense of the disclosure, measuring while the device under test is moved may be done by moving and measuring continuously and simultaneously or by alternating a moving step and a measuring step.

The features and advantages discussed in the context of the measuring system also apply to the method and vice versa.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a communication is established with the device under test using a link antenna arranged in the anechoic chamber. Thus, the total radiated power may be measured under working conditions. The communication may be present during measurement. The link antenna may also be called “feed antenna”.

In order to perform complete measurements, the measurement path is a spiral path and/or covers a full sphere.

In an embodiment, the distance between the device under test and the measurement antennas remains the same along the measurement path. In some embodiments, the distance remains the same along the full measurement path. This way, the measurements of the measurement antennas do not have to be normalized with respect the distance to the device under test.

In order to allow very quick or very precise measurements, the device under test may be moved continuously or in a stepped manner.

In an aspect of the disclosure, the orientation, for example the azimuth and/or the elevation of the device under test with respect to at least one measurement antenna, for example each of the measurement antennas, is recoded during the measurement. This allows comparing the measurements of different measurement antennas with one another.

For an efficient evaluation, the measurements of the measurement antennas may be received by an evaluation unit or circuit and the measurements are transferred to the same calculation base by the evaluation unit, for example on the basis of the recorded orientation, for example the recorded azimuth and/or elevation.

In other words, each antenna may measure the spurious emissions of the device under test at a different angle due to the position of the device under test. However, as the device under test faces each one of the measurement antennas in a similar manner during a full measurement, the measurement results may be transferred to the same coordinate system.

