Wireless Cable Testing for 5G Radios: A future-proof compact 5G radio performance test solution

5G is envisioned to be the next major innovation. As 5G matures, the time for large-scale 5G commercialization is now. 5G radio design will be highly integrated, necessitating radiated over-the-air (OTA) testing methods. Traditional OTA methods, e.g. multiprobe anechoic chamber method, reverberation chamber, however, are challenged in 5G radio testing due to the need for large floor space, high system cost and complexity. In this proposed project, a novel wireless cable method, which can achieve traditional cable connection functionality yet avoids radio frequency cables, is proposed for 5G radio performance testing. The proposed method, unlike state-of-art methods, can be applied for arbitrary multi-antenna systems and the testing can be executed in a small shielded box. Therefore, the proposed wireless cable method is envisioned to be highly attractive in OTA testing due to its unique advantage in terms of measurement time, and setup cost.