“The 5G development momentum is strong, and the 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band provides a wealth of spectrum to support the extremely high capacity, high throughput, low latency and increasing number of 5G millimeter wave devices, including mobile phones, laptops, and so on.
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Author: Tektronix
The 5G development momentum is strong, and the 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band provides a wealth of spectrum to support the extremely high capacity, high throughput, low latency and increasing number of 5G millimeter wave devices, including mobile phones, laptops, and so on.
However, in terms of network speed, bandwidth and synchronization, the demand for testing and characterization of the latest 5G networks is exponentially higher than the previous generation of networks. This requires testing new technologies and new devices, including multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna arrays, high GHz millimeter wave frequency signal testing and generation.
We often encounter the following two pain points:
• Test mixed signal: The DUT contains signals that need to be tested, such as RF signals, digital signals, and analog signals. Multiple test environments must be set up. The purchase of all different equipment requires a lot of money, and the expenditure is considerable.
• MIMO/Bandwidth: The spectrum analyzer used to test 4G signals in the past cannot be used. The 5G signal has a wider bandwidth and needs to test more than one channel at the same time.
Figure 1. 5G SignalVu software measurement: ACPR, SEM, EVM and power
How is beamforming introduced? We often hear about beamformers empowering 5G millimeter waves. This is not hype. Beam management is a decisive feature in millimeter wave communications and will play a key role in the future development of 5G wireless design. Essentially, beamforming is a necessary function for 5G millimeter waves to be effective for users.
Figure 2. 5G millimeter wave beamformer for 4×4 MIMO dual-polarization base station (Renesas Electronics).
Beamforming uses multiple antennas to broadcast the same signal at slightly different times, allowing us to focus the wireless signal to the designated receiving device through a more directional connection, so that the communication speed is faster, the quality is higher, and the reliability is higher. Stronger. The beamformer is the core of the system, because it drives each antenna array, which usually adds up to 512 antennas and 1,024 antenna elements. Since there are so many patch antennas or antenna elements in each wireless unit, it is very important to optimize the overall performance, power consumption, and cost of each wireless unit.
Figure 3. Beamformer MIMO OTA test setup (left), including RF power measurement (top right) and phase matching (bottom right).
Because of such a large number of units, every aspect of beamformer design is critical. The power consumption will be multiplied by 512, and any unsatisfactory or mismatch between units will also be amplified. You need good RMS phase error between units, and good quadrature between phase and gain when steering the beam, otherwise the sideband level will increase, which will endanger the overall system performance. All of this makes the beamformer a vital part of 5G millimeter wave wireless design.
However, when testing all aspects of beamforming, the number of man-hours required and the amount of equipment time faced challenges. There are many devices, many parameters and unit combinations, you must be careful about the coupling between the various units. From interference to blocking and equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), it must be measured from the perspective of the entire antenna area, so conduction measurement becomes extremely important, and over-the-air (OTA) measurement becomes critical.
Then what? We need more and wider bandwidth. We have advanced 5G to the boundary of extremely high frequency and high instantaneous bandwidth. The next step for 6G is to optimize existing resources, make technology more environmentally friendly, and make better use of limited spectrum.
Author: Tektronix
The 5G development momentum is strong, and the 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band provides a wealth of spectrum to support the extremely high capacity, high throughput, low latency and increasing number of 5G millimeter wave devices, including mobile phones, laptops, and so on.
However, in terms of network speed, bandwidth and synchronization, the demand for testing and characterization of the latest 5G networks is exponentially higher than the previous generation of networks. This requires testing new technologies and new devices, including multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna arrays, high GHz millimeter wave frequency signal testing and generation.
We often encounter the following two pain points:
• Test mixed signal: The DUT contains signals that need to be tested, such as RF signals, digital signals, and analog signals. Multiple test environments must be set up. The purchase of all different equipment requires a lot of money, and the expenditure is considerable.
• MIMO/Bandwidth: The spectrum analyzer used to test 4G signals in the past cannot be used. The 5G signal has a wider bandwidth and needs to test more than one channel at the same time.
Figure 1. 5G SignalVu software measurement: ACPR, SEM, EVM and power
How is beamforming introduced? We often hear about beamformers empowering 5G millimeter waves. This is not hype. Beam management is a decisive feature in millimeter wave communications and will play a key role in the future development of 5G wireless design. In essence, beamforming is a necessary function for 5G millimeter waves to be effective for users.
Figure 2. 5G millimeter wave beamformer for 4×4 MIMO dual-polarization base station (Renesas Electronics).
Beamforming uses multiple antennas to broadcast the same signal at slightly different times, allowing us to focus the wireless signal to the designated receiving device through a more directional connection, so that the communication speed is faster, the quality is higher, and the reliability is higher. Stronger. The beamformer is the core of the system, because it drives each antenna array, which usually adds up to 512 antennas and 1,024 antenna elements. Since there are so many patch antennas or antenna elements in each wireless unit, it is very important to optimize the overall performance, power consumption, and cost of each wireless unit.
Figure 3. Beamformer MIMO OTA test setup (left), including RF power measurement (top right) and phase matching (bottom right).
Because of such a large number of units, every aspect of beamformer design is critical. The power consumption will be multiplied by 512, and any unsatisfactory or mismatch between units will also be amplified. You need good RMS phase error between units, and good quadrature between phase and gain when steering the beam, otherwise the sideband level will increase, which will endanger the overall system performance. All of this makes the beamformer a vital part of 5G millimeter wave wireless design.
However, when testing all aspects of beamforming, the number of man-hours required and the amount of equipment time faced challenges. There are many devices, many parameters and unit combinations, you must be careful about the coupling between the various units. From interference to blocking and equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), it must be measured from the perspective of the entire antenna area, so conduction measurement becomes extremely important, and over-the-air (OTA) measurement becomes critical.
Then what? We need more and wider bandwidth. We have advanced 5G to the boundary of extremely high frequency and high instantaneous bandwidth. The next step for 6G is to optimize existing resources, make technology more environmentally friendly, and make better use of limited spectrum.