Abstract
The development of base stations (BS) with large
aperture antenna arrays, enabled partially by the utilization of
cmWave and mmWave frequency bands, will require radiated
testing in fading conditions. In this paper, the objective is
to investigate the suitable measurement distances and physical
dimensions of the over-the-air (OTA) setups for the performance
evaluation of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
BSs in anechoic chambers with multiple probes. Setup dimension
is the major cost factor in the test systems and is thus the key
issue to be investigated. The purpose is to determine whether the
conventional far field criteria must be followed when determining
the range of the setup or if they can be relieved. The impact of
limited test setup dimension on various metrics, e.g. far field
criteria, field performance within the test area, system link
budget analysis, direction of arrival (DoA) estimation algorithm
as well as multi-user MIMO sum-rate capacity are investigated to
determine the range of the test setup. It was found that the link
budget doesn’t support for the measurement distances claimed by
the Fraunhofer distance. Most of the utilized metrics, especially
the sum rate capacity, indicate that smaller setup sizes can
still yield reasonable measurement accuracy. Simulations were
performed at 2.6, 3.5, and 28 GHz frequencies.
aperture antenna arrays, enabled partially by the utilization of
cmWave and mmWave frequency bands, will require radiated
testing in fading conditions. In this paper, the objective is
to investigate the suitable measurement distances and physical
dimensions of the over-the-air (OTA) setups for the performance
evaluation of massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)
BSs in anechoic chambers with multiple probes. Setup dimension
is the major cost factor in the test systems and is thus the key
issue to be investigated. The purpose is to determine whether the
conventional far field criteria must be followed when determining
the range of the setup or if they can be relieved. The impact of
limited test setup dimension on various metrics, e.g. far field
criteria, field performance within the test area, system link
budget analysis, direction of arrival (DoA) estimation algorithm
as well as multi-user MIMO sum-rate capacity are investigated to
determine the range of the test setup. It was found that the link
budget doesn’t support for the measurement distances claimed by
the Fraunhofer distance. Most of the utilized metrics, especially
the sum rate capacity, indicate that smaller setup sizes can
still yield reasonable measurement accuracy. Simulations were
performed at 2.6, 3.5, and 28 GHz frequencies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | IEEE Access |
| Volume | 4 |
| Pages (from-to) | 5971 - 5981 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| ISSN | 2169-3536 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Sept 2016 |