a Teradyne Company

2019 Wireless Test Trends

High Level Trends for 2019

New RF Spectrum

Over-the-Air (OTA)

Spectrum is getting crowded

New Spectrum Opening

3 kHz 6 GHz 30 GHz 300 GHz

mmWave

Electromagnetic Spectrum

“6 GHz”

Unlicensed

“Midband”

CBRS

Global 5G Spectrum Deployment PlansSub 6GHz (FR1) & mmWave (FR2)

5G Global Spectrum Exploration

Information Shared Under NDA – Do Not Distribute

6 GHz Band enables global deployment of 160 MHz Wi-Fi Channels

802.11ax Proposed > 6GHz Band Allocations

Yellow: may require reduced power for incumbent protection

Black: not available in some locations

U-NII-5: 5925-6425 MHz

U-NII-6: 6425-6525 MHz

U-NII-7: 6525-6875 MHz

U-NII-8: 6875-7125 MHz

Expect FCC to open by end 2020, with others following quickly

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Deployment

• Wi-Fi 6 Deployment

Verifying Key Specs for Wi-Fi

Throughput

Battery Life

Range

Previously, we cared about…

Power

EVM

Mask

New Wi-Fi 6 Tests

Power Control

TIME

Timing

Multi-User

In 2019, Most Mobile 5G will be over Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi5G NR

A “technology translator” for existing mobile devices

5G Use Case Revisited: eMMB, mMTC, URLLC

2019 Focus

Release 16NB-IoT

It takes a range of different products in 5G

Let’s explore some announced products…

5G “UE” Device Spectrum

Mobile Hotspot

“Pocket Router”Handset CPE / FWT

Major 2018 5G Device Announcements

Pocket Router Handset CPE / FWT

mmWave UE Form-Factor Test Challenges

Source: Qualcomm 2018

LitePoint’s Complete 5G mmWave Test Solution

Compact mmWave OTA Test Chamber

for Design Validation Testing

• Designed for 24” far field distance (~600 mm)

• 2-axis device positioner option

• UE and larger form-factor chambers available

OTA Measurements in the Real World

Simulated Measured

Theta polarization shown

How Big a Chamber?

It depends on the size of the antenna array and the application

Examples for Rff at 28 GHz and 39 GHz

Antenna Array 2x2 3x3 4x4 5x5 6x6 7x7 8x8

Aperture D (mm) 15 23 30 38 45 53 61

Approx Far Field (cm) 5 10 18 27 39 53 69

Antenna Array 2x2 3x3 4x4 5x5 6x6 7x7 8x8

Aperture D (mm) 11 16 22 27 33 38 44

Approx Far Field (cm) 4 7 13 20 28 38 50

Freq (GHz): 39 Wavelength (mm): 7.7

Assume lambda/2 antenna size

Freq (GHz): 28 Wavelength (mm): 10.7

Assume lambda/2 antenna size

Rff, Far Field Region

D

Source

Transmitting

Antenna

Receiving

Antenna

Plane-Wave

Approximation

The far-field region is at a distance R where the

wave may be considered to be a plane wave

Rff =2D2

𝝀

D = Maximum effective

size of the antenna

𝝀 = Wavelength of the

signal

Example Measurement Antenna

• Fixed 10 dB gain horn antenna

• Antenna aperture: 12.4 mm x 14 mm

• Horn Far Field Distance = 9.1 cm @ 39 GHz

Example Assumptions for mmWave OTA Test

Example 28 GHz + 39 GHz Patch Antenna

• Antenna array is 2x2 with antenna length

of 5 mm per element (λ/2 for 28 GHz)

• Array Far Field Distance = 6 cm @ 39 GHz

10

mm

10 mm

12.4 mm 14 mm

Use measurement

Far Field of 10 cm

Path Loss for Example Antennas

@ 28 GHz @ 39 GHz

DUT antenna aperture 1.5 cm 1.5 cm

DUT antenna Far Field Distance 4.3 cm 6 cm

Horn antenna aperture 1.9 cm 1.9 cm

Horn antenna Far Field Distance 6.5 cm 9.1 cm

Path Loss @ 10 cm with horn Gain 31.4 dB 34.3 dB

12.4 mm 14 mm

FF =2D2

𝝀

D = Effective diameter

(aperture) of the antenna

𝝀 = Wavelength of the

signal

Far Field Equation

10

mm

10 mm

New RF Spectrum

So… What’s New in 2019?

Over-the-Air (OTA)

• Wi-Fi a critical part of 5G experience

• New Requirements: power control,

timing, & multi-user

• Wi-Fi Alliance certification in Q3

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband use-case focus

• Pocket Routers, Handsets, Fixed-Wireless

• Expect many product announcements

• Embedded mmWave antennas create

new test challenges

• Characterization of antenna patterns

• Know your far-field – production testing

with horn antennas

• Testing in high path loss environments

• “Midband” 5G (3.2 – 4.9 GHz)

• “6 GHz” band (5.9 – 7.125 GHz)

• mmWave (24 – 44 GHz)