When surveying the future mobile landscape, multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) over-the-air (OTA) testing methodologies and solutions are expected to play major roles. With that in mind, a collaboration between Anite and China Telecommunication Technology Labs (CTTL)-Terminals aims to develop MIMO OTA systems that will help foster efficient benchmarking of MIMO-capable products.
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The joint effort will leverage Anite’s Propsim channel emulators, which comply with CTIA, CCSA, 3GPP, and major mobile operator acceptance test plans. Development goals include MIMO OTA methodologies for carrier-aggregation MIMO OTA, 3D MIMO OTA testing, virtual-drive MIMO OTA testing, MIMO OTA with multi-cell handover and interference, and device-to-device testing.
Propsim RF fading emulators serve to enable realistic propagation simulation. They emulate radio-channel characteristics, including path loss, multi-path fading, delay spread, Doppler spread, polarization, correlation, and the spatial parameters necessary for MIMO testing.
The Propsim F32’s high RF I/O capacity suits it for OTA testing in an anechoic chamber. It can support eight or 16 dual polarized antennas to create a multi-probe environment. The Propsim FS8, on the other hand, is targeted for testing in a reverberation chamber because of its ability to provide full control of critical parameters like dynamic mobile speed, multipath profile, range delay, and base-station antenna correlation. The devices reportedly offer more than twice the emulation capacity versus other similar products.