Innovative Hybrid Over-The-Air Chamber for Quick Multi-Functional Testing of Wireless Devices

Purpose and goal

The goal of the project is to develop innovative hybrid chamber techniques, including the necessary hardware and algorithms, to enable time and cost-efficient production, conformance, and functional testing of telecommunication base stations. Objectives: 1) Tailored test scenario definition; 2) Optimized electronically reconfigurable chamber and antenna array design; 3) Development of testing methodologies; 4) Experimental validation.

Expected effects and result

Project´s expected outcomes and results include: * Test scenarios for base stations in the hybrid chamber; * The optimized hybrid chamber design, including the chamber antenna array and RF backend to realize these test scenarios; * Dynamic environment emulation, electronic angle-of-arrival steering; * Testing methodologies to measure key performance indicators for 5G/6G base stations (such as TRP, radiation patterns, EIRP, OOB emissions); * Experimental validation of the developed hardware and methodologies.

Planned approach and implementation

The implementation of the project is planned as follows: * A dedicated simulation tool will be used to develop and numerically validate the chamber design and test methodologies. * The hybrid chamber built during the pre-study will be upgraded to enable testing realistic DUTs using developed test methodologies and scenarios. * Maximum utilization of the base station hardware components (provided by Ericsson) as part of the chamber to improve cost-efficiency and sustainability. * Utilizing Xilinx Zynq ZCU216 board to perform experiments.