App-Notes » Spirent Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for Massive MIMO Beamforming testing

Spirent Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for Massive MIMO Beamforming testing

automated test equipment ate spirent massive mimo beamforming

Introduction

Automated Test Equipment (ATE) plays a pivotal role in evaluating and validating Massive MIMO beamforming systems, which are integral to the performance of 5G New Radio (NR) and emerging wireless technologies. Companies which manufactures massive mimo radio include Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung. Moreover, companies which manufactures beamforming ICs include Analog Devices Inc., Texas Instruments, Anokiwave, NXP Semiconductors etc.

Test Cases for Massive MIMO Beamforming

Test CategoryTest Cases
RF Transmitter TestsOutput power and linearity, EVM, ACLR, SEM, Modulation accuracy, Spectral flatness
RF Receiver TestsSensitivity and dynamic range, NF (Noise Figure) and IIP3, Gain and phase imbalance
Beamforming TestsBeam direction and angle accuracy, Beam scanning speed, Beam quality and sidelobe level, Multi-beam operation
Antenna Array TestsRadiation pattern (azimuth/elevation), Far-field or near-field OTA , Polarization tests
Functional TestsTDD/FDD operation validation, NR frame and subcarrier spacing, MU-MIMO support, Channel coding/decoding (LDPC, Polar)
Interference TestsCo-channel and adjacent channel interference immunity,Inter beam isolation
Latency and ThroughputUplink/downlink latency, Throughput under different MCS and BWPs, Real-time scheduling and HARQ behavior
Power and Thermal TestsPower consumption under load, Thermal cycling and heat dissipation performance
Digital Interface TestseCPRI/Fronthaul timing, Synchronization accuracy, Data integrity over high speed links

Generic features of ATE for 5G massive MIMO testing

  • Support massive antenna ports and configurations including 16T16R, 32T32R, 64T64R etc.
  • Supports Sub-6 GHz and mmwave frequency bands
  • Supports beamforming verification :
    • Supports static/dynamic beam switching sets
    • Measures beam direction, gain and steering accuracy
  • Supports near-field and far-field OTA testing as per 3GPP standards
  • Supports all the test cases as per 3GPP R15 to R17 specifications and conformance documents
  • Supports wide band signal analysis and measures EVM, ACLR, SEM etc.
  • Supports both RF and baseband layer related tests
  • Provision to interface with beamforming ICs, RF SoCs and antenna arrays
  • Supports high speed interface types such as JESD204B/C, eCPRI, PCIe etc. and verifies jitter, latency and throughput
  • Massive MIMO calibration and synchronization : Measures gain, phase and timing across RF chains, supports factory calibration and re-calibration

Key features of Spirent ATE

The Spirent ATE is available in following three solutions.

  1. Phase Matrix Instrument : Used for functional beamforming tests
  2. Phase matrix and Vertex channel emulator : Used for advanced beamforming test
  3. Multiple Vertex channel emulators : Used for complete beamforming test solution
  • ATE Supports frequencies up to 6 GHz and bandwidths up to 100 MHz.
  • Spirent’s ATE solutions are compatible with 5G New Radio (NR) standards, ensuring that Massive MIMO devices are tested in accordance with the latest industry protocols and specifications.
  • Visit Website : spirent.com for more details on the product.

Other ATE manufacturers for Massive MIMO Beamforming testing

  • National Instruments (NI), now part of Emerson Electric Co.
  • Keysight technologies
  • Anritsu Corporation
  • Viavi Solutions
  • Rohde & Schwarz

Conclusion

The use of Automated Test Equipment (ATE) for Massive MIMO beamforming tests is critical to the successful implementation of 5G NR and future wireless technologies. These testing solutions ensure that complex antenna systems perform reliably under diverse conditions, ultimately leading to enhanced network performance and user experience.