eBook

5G Over the Air Testing (OTA)

Challenges and Solutions
April 2019

S P O N S O R E D B Y

Courtesy of Molex.
Table of Contents

3

Introduction
Pat Hindle
Microwave Journal Editor

4

Progress and Challenges of Test Technologies for 5G
Zhengbo Jiang, Wei Hong, Nianzu Zhang and Chao Yu
Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Tianze Su
Shanghai Transcom Instrument Technologies Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China

10

Navigating the 5G NR Standards
Sheri DeTomasi
Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, Calif.

14

Software and Hardware Near-Field Transformations
for 5G OTA Testing
Benoît Derat, Corbett Rowell, Adam Tankielun and Sebastian Schmitz
Rohde & Schwarz, Munich, Germany

18

Test & Measurement Industry Tackles 5G
Over-the-Air Testing
Pat Hindle
Microwave Journal Editor

26

MVG mmWave OTA Test System Provides Proof
of Concept for 5G Beamforming Solution
Microwave Vision Group
Paris, France

2
Introduction

5G Over The Air Testing (OTA) Challenges and Solutions

With the full approval of Release 15 by the 3GPP in June 2018, 5G commercial networks
were quickly launched in the U.S. (Verizon and AT&T) and South Korea (KT, LG UPlus and SK
Telecom) by the end of the year. In 2019, the industry is seeing increased activity with many 5G
launches and a major shift in emphasis from LTE to 5G networks. Since 5G testing standards
are still not completely defined, base station and handset manufacturers, wireless carriers and
regulators have to come together quickly around the world and agree on how to install, verify and
maintain commercial 5G networks.

5G NR expands into higher frequencies and uses new technologies that add complexity in
the way signals are built, transmitted and processed compared to 4G. As the standard continues
to evolve, more features will be added so testing needs to be flexible and ready to adapt to the
higher mmWave frequencies with wider bandwidths, denser waveforms and a growing number of
test cases.

This eBook starts out with a couple of general articles about 5G testing challenges and a
5G NR standards overview. These overviews will help you to understand the issues and testing
needed to verify various types of 5G radios. The third article describes how software and
hardware near-field transformations for 5G OTA Testing are meeting the challenges for testing
both sub 6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. The next article provides an overview of the various
test methods including the advantages and disadvantages of the methods. Then it summarizes
some of the solutions available from 9 leading test and measurement companies in this field.
Finally, MVG reviews their mmWave OTA test system that provides proof of concept for measuring
5G beamforming.

5G OTA testing will evolve quickly in 2019, as standards are defined and 5G products go into
production. The primary tradeoffs for cost, accuracy and throughput will need to be determined
quickly and the test methods standardized as 5G deployments accelerate. This eBook is
sponsored by MVG and Boonton and Noisecom.

Pat Hindle, Microwave Journal Editor

3
Progress and Challenges of Test
Technologies for 5G
Zhengbo Jiang, Wei Hong, Nianzu Zhang and Chao Yu
Southeast University, Nanjing, China
Tianze Su
Shanghai Transcom Instrument Technologies Co. Ltd., Shanghai, China

The 5G test system must closely integrate pre-research results with practice at all stages,
providing researchers and developers with flexible, efficient and reliable test platforms and test
data to accelerate the commercialization of 5G products. In this article, we introduce the testing
requirements and challenges running through different processes in the 5G industry. Combined
with various test scenarios, the test industry’s current R&D status is summarized, technical
challenges faced by instrument researchers and developers are highlighted and the potential
development of 5G test is forecast.

T
he information and communications indus-
try is facing great change due to the rapid
development of applications, leading to an
explosive growth in data traffic. Traditional
transmission technologies and architectures for wireless
communications are challenged by a variety of smart
devices and different connectivity requirements.1-2 The
fifth generation mobile communications system (5G)
imposes diverse scenarios and extreme performance
requirements. Its main operational scenarios include
seamless wide area coverage, high capacity hotspots,
low power massive connections and low latency with
high-reliability.3-4
The 5G technology roadmap contains two parts: a
new air interface and a 4G evolution air interface.5 In
the 5G air interface technical framework, the key tech-
nology areas include massive MIMO, ultra-dense net-
work (UDN), new multiple access and full spectrum
access. As one of the most important enabling tech-
nologies for seamless wide area coverage, massive
MIMO efficiently utilizes spatial dimension resources to
dramatically increase system spectral efficiency and en-
hance the user experience. UDN significantly reduces
cell interference through inter-microcell collaboration
and expands network capacity in local hot spots. Novel
www.mwjournal.com/articles/29575
4
multiple access technologies increase equipment con-
nectivity and reduce signaling overhead, as well as user
equipment (UE) power consumption through grant-free
mechanisms. Full spectrum access, which supports a hy-
brid network integrating low and high frequency bands,
can simultaneously meet the requirements of high data
rates and large capacity.
Since 2013, the U.S., European Union, Japan, South
Korea and other countries or regions have launched 5G
R&D programs. Since 2014, the Chinese government
has supported domestic 5G technology research via the
National 863 plan, as well as major science and technol-
ogy projects. These national or regional initiatives strive
to establish favorable positions in future 5G technology
and business competitions.6 To establish standards,
3GPP launched 5G research projects in early 2016 and
plans to complete the first version of the 5G standard
(3GPP Release 15) in 2018. The IMT-2020 group, which
consolidates the efforts of industry-university research,
was established to promote 5G research and interna-
tional cooperation. It has released a series of white
papers, including 5G Vision and Requirements,3 5G
Concept,4 5G Wireless Technology Architecture5 and
5G Network Technology Architecture.7 In January 2016,
the IMT-2020 Promotion Group launched 5G R&D ex-
 MIMO Channel Sounding
GPS Receiver
RF Transceiver
IF Unit
Wireless Environment
Baseband Unit
Storage Array
Power
s Fig. 1 5G channel sounding system.
periments to evaluate key technology candidates and
facilitate the formulation of technical standards. It plans
to complete R&D trials of technologies and products in
2018 and 2020, respectively.
Test technology development has accompanied the
development of enabling technologies for each gener-
ation of mobile communications, leading to collabora-
tive development. All kinds of test instruments and sys-
tems support the multiple needs of the wireless com-
munications industry, from research to verification and
production. 5G test and measurement technologies are
expected to appear before network and UE products,
guiding product design and standard formulation. At
present, the first and second phases of developing 5G
wireless test specifications have been completed under
the organization of the IMT-2020 Promotion Group.
In recent years, research institutions, operators,
equipment, IC and instrument manufacturers around
the world have carried out key 5G technology valida-
tion and prototype testing in succession.8 According to
China’s 5G R&D test plan, the next step will be testing
technical solutions introduced by manufacturers and,
finally, system testing for typical 5G services based on
small-scale networks.
Compared to traditional testing in the 3G/4G era,
three technical characteristics of 5G impose enormous
challenges on test instruments and methods:
• the introduction of microwave and mmWave bands
above 6 GHz
• the generation, reception and storage of ultra-wide-
band signals with bandwidths of hundreds of MHz or
even GHz; and
• the design and application of large-scale antenna ar-
rays, with 64, 128 or more channels.
5
MIMO Channel Sounding
GPS Receiver
RF Transceiver
IF Unit
Baseband Unit
Storage Array
Power
5G TEST TECHNOLOGIES
The following sections explain the influences these
characteristics have on 5G test instruments and test
technology with respect to different test scenarios for
5G wireless communications. Existing solutions are in-
troduced as well.
5G Channel Sounding and Modeling
The wireless channel is one of the core components of
the wireless communications system. Physical properties
of the wireless channel are characterized by a series of
parameters, such as channel impulse response, path loss,
Doppler delay, power delay profile and angle of arrival.
Channel sounding can help extract these MIMO channel
parameters and provide an important reference for sub-
sequent 5G channel modeling and standardization. The
basic structure of the channel sounding system is shown in
Figure 1, which includes the signal transmission/receiv-
ing instruments and measurement/analysis software.
With the development of 5G technology, the tra-
ditional 3G/4G channel sounding system can nei-
ther cope with new test challenges nor be upgraded
to achieve better performance. Characteristics of
mmWave channels are not yet fully explored or un-
derstood, and the upgrade of traditional dedicated
channel sounding equipment is likely to be costly,
due to inadequacies dealing with flexible testing from
6 to 100 GHz. The ability to generate, receive and
store ultra-high speed baseband signals will need to
be greatly improved, as well. The introduction of large-
scale antenna arrays significantly increases the required
computational capacity of channel sounding instru-
ments, making new multi-channel RF transceiver com-
ponents the inevitable choice. Hardware and software
platforms must support massive data analysis and chan-
nel parameter extraction.

Massive MIMO
Channel Emulator
gNodeB
RF
UE
BS
Control
Power
s Fig. 2 5G channel emulator.
In recent years, enterprises and academic institutions
around the world have proposed a variety of solutions
for 5G channel sounding based on a combination of
existing products. Keysight Technologies proposed a
mmWave MIMO channel sounding system.9 Rohde &
Schwarz (R&S) proposed a scheme that supports fast
measurement of both indoor and outdoor time domain
channels with operating frequencies up to 100 GHz
and bandwidths as wide as 2 GHz.10 Various research
projects are investigating 5G mmWave channel mea-
surements and modeling, including METIS, NYU WIRE-
LESS,11 mmMAGIC, MiWEBA and 3GPP.
Several popular channel models, such as WINNER,12
COST 210012-13 and METIS 2020,13 have attracted more
attention due to their scalability and reasonable complex-
ity. These 5G channel models are adapted to specific sce-
narios and frequency bands. Although the mathematical
methods used are not the same, these models are based
on the analysis of a large number of channel sounding
results. At the 3GPP RAN meeting held from June 13
to 16, 2016 in Bushan, Korea, the first standard for the
mobile broadband 5G high frequency (6 to 100 GHz)
channel model was approved. So far, there has been
no unified 5G channel model integrating both low and
high frequency bands, which requires the correspond-
ing aspects of 5G wireless technology to be taken into
account. Extensive work on theoretical and practical
channel modeling has been done during the past few
years, but most research results are constrained by spa-
tial correlation and mutual coupling between adjacent
antennas. Arrangement of antenna elements is relatively
simple and assumptions about propagation conditions
and antenna characteristics are too idealistic and limited
to specific application scenarios. Therefore, it is difficult
to accurately extract a variety of actual channel charac-
teristics.
Channel Emulation
When conducting field tests for wireless communi-
cations systems in the real channel environment, there
are many shortcomings, such as climate effects, poor
mobility, high cost and unrepeatable test processes.
The MIMO channel emulator (see Figure 2) enables
researchers to emulate typical wireless channel envi-
ronments in the lab, flexibly controlling and changing
6
channel parameters, to identify performance problems
as early as possible, reduce test costs and significantly
improve efficiency.14 Therefore, manufacturers have al-
ways included channel emulation as a critical part of the
deployment of each generation of mobile communica-
tions technology, including 5G.
As a key technology for 5G, massive MIMO greatly
reduces transmission power while improving channel
capacity and spectral efficiency.15 Nevertheless, the re-
quired number of network equipment antennas is 10 to
more than 100x that of existing MIMO system antennas,
which becomes a major bottleneck in the upgrade and
optimization of current 4G/LTE channel emulators. The in-
herent “pilot contamination” problem of massive MIMO
technology directly affects the baseband channel estima-
tion algorithm, feedback mechanism, interference con-
trol and synchronization scheme.16-18 Data throughput in
the channel emulator increases sharply with expanding
antenna array size, requiring extremely high-level com-
putational resources, storage capacity and bus speed
for the baseband processing unit. The RF system design
must ensure isolation and amplitude/phase consistency
among multiple channels, which greatly increases chan-
nel calibration complexity.
Currently, Propsim F32, an advanced channel emulator
from Anite (acquired by Keysight in 2015), is only able to
support 32 RF channels at most and realize 64 × 8 MIMO
channel emulations by combing multiple instruments. Un-
fortunately, this only covers operating frequencies below
6 GHz and a maximum bandwidth 80 MHz; it is unable to
cope with the high frequency and large bandwidth chal-
lenges of 5G test. Another channel emulator, Vertex, re-
leased by Spirent in 2016, is configured with 32 RF chan-
nels and 100 MHz bandwidth to meet the requirements of
MIMO beamforming, MIMO over-the-air (OTA) and mas-
sive MIMO test, but the maximum operating frequency
to 5.925 GHz merely satisfies low frequency 5G test de-
mands.
Over the years, a handful of Chinese instrument man-
ufacturers have launched 8 × 8 MIMO channel emula-
tors for 4G testing, laying a hardware platform and al-
gorithm architecture foundation for the development of
5G channel emulators. Future channel emulator tech-
nology must achieve bandwidths of hundreds of MHz,
cover frequency bands beyond 6 GHz and contain mul-
tiple channel models.
RF Module and Antenna Array Test
Large-scale antenna arrays and RF front-ends are es-
sential 5G subsystems, consisting of digital-to-analog
converters (DAC), analog-to-digital converters (ADC),
frequency synthesizers and transmit/receive (T/R) multi-
beam antenna arrays. The T/R array contains RF compo-
nents such as filters, mixers, power amplifiers and low
noise amplifiers, each with its own set of performance
specifications and corresponding test methods.
Figure 3 shows the classes and functions of the exci-
tation/source instruments and receiving/analysis instru-
ments commonly used in RF test. Among them, the vec-
tor signal generator (VSG) and signal analyzer provide
the most comprehensive measurement and analysis of a
communication system’s overall performance. The oper-
 Oscilloscope

Time Domain Measurement

Arbitrary Waveform (Waveform, Period, Amplitude,
Generator Rising/Falling Edge, etc.)
RF Tx/Rx
Device Under Test
Digital Baseband
Signal Spectrum/Vector
Frequency Domain Signal Analyzer
Measurement
(Spectrum, Power,
Bandwidth, ACPR, etc.)
Vector Signal Modulation-Domain
Generator Measurement
(EVM, Amplitude Error,
Digital Baseband Phase Error, Frequency Error,
Signal SNR, etc.)
Analog I/Q Signal Vector Network Analyzer
Local Oscillator
Signal
RF Vector Signal
S-parameters
Microwave Signal
Generator

Signal Source Analyzer

RF/Microwave CW 0°/90° ∑
Signal
Spectral Purity (Phase
Noise, Spurious, etc.)

s Fig. 3 Instruments used to test RF T/R components.

ating frequency range must cover from DC

to approximately 110 GHz, while support- Matrix VNA Module #1
ing 200 MHz to several GHz of vector sig-
nal bandwidth. Regarding frequency cov-
erage, the Keysight E8267D PSG and the
R&S FSW85 signal analyzer have reached
44 and 85 GHz, respectively. A break-
through was announced at Mobile World
Congress in February 2016: R&S exhib-
ited the world’s first VSG (SMW200A) with
a maximum frequency of 40 GHz and a Computer
Matrix VNA
modulation bandwidth up to 2 GHz. The Module #N
HUB
maximum signal analysis bandwidth of two Massive MIMO
well-known signal analyzers products, i.e., Antenna Array
FSW from R&S and UXA from Keysight, is
2 and 1 GHz, respectively. Further band-
width expansion requires the assistance of
other components. To generate/analyze
signals with ultra-large (GHz) bandwidths,
the main technical difficulties include RF
channel equalization, high sampling rate
ADCs, high speed digital signal process- s Fig. 4 Using multiple VNAs to test a massive MIMO antenna array.
ing and high data rate transmission.
For antenna array testing, the vector some technical difficulties: the crosstalk between ports
network analyzer (VNA) is a key instrument. Due to the restricts dynamic range, and calibration time impacts
lack of a single, 64-port VNA, three methods are usually test efficiency. The third scheme uses the conventional
adopted. The first is a step-by-step test using a single, dual-port VNA with a switch matrix, which is a compro-
multi-port VNA, which is relatively inexpensive but sac- mise between the prior two options. Cost is relatively
rifices test speed and ignores the coupling character- low, but the speed is somewhat slow and the switch ma-
istics between antenna elements. The second involves trix introduces measurement errors. A few manufactur-
cascading several multi-port VNAs, e.g., a 64-element ers are developing a single multi-port VNA to provide
antenna array is tested with eight, 8-port VNAs cascad- new solutions that address crosstalk between channels,
ed (see Figure 4). This approach can accurately test the fast calibration, cost and other aspects.
actual S-parameters of each antenna element after cali- OTA test19 is another important aspect of 5G an-
bration and greatly increases test speed. Still, there are tenna array testing, for two reasons. First, directional

7
indicators of the antenna array, e.g., effective isotropic
radiated power (EIRP) and effective isotropic sensitivity
(EIS), must be tested by OTA, which is consistent with
4G MIMO OTA test principles. Second, since 5G will
use the microwave and mmWave bands, the antenna ar-
ray and T/R elements will likely be integrated to reduce
loss and improve matching. In this situation, most T/R
component characteristics cannot be evaluated without
wired conduction tests, and measures of performance
such as RF circuit transmit power and sensitivity may
interact with the characteristics of the antenna, making
individual assessment difficult.
IC, Network and User Equipment Test
Although 5G-related technologies and standards are
not yet clear, IC, UE and network equipment manufac-
turers, as well as operators, are in full swing conducting
R&D of 5G prototypes to launch competitive solutions.
Among the existing 5G prototype UEs, some support
high speed transmission of several Gbps and some sup-
port as low as millisecond latency. The battery life of cer-
tain UEs (particularly IoT terminals) has been extended to
nearly 10 years. Qualcomm, Spreadtrum, MediaTek and
other IC manufacturers are developing 5G chips, and
Qualcomm has announced prototypes. Because of the
emerging 128-channel integrated network equipment,
the corresponding test technology has been placed on
the agenda. Three features, including UE diversity, sce-
nario complexity and massive connections, challenge
the testing of ICs, UEs and network equipment,20 and
available 4G/LTE test instruments can hardly fulfill these
5G tasks.
The integrated UE tester is used to emulate partial
functioning of the network, then test the RF perfor-
mance of the UE under network conditions or, with the
signal generators, signal analyzers (including spectrum
analyzer) and other conventional test instruments, per-
form conformance testing such as RF, protocol and radio
resource management. How to emulate massive UEs is
likely to be a huge challenge for UE emulator design. 5G
UE diversity means that existing test instruments must
have superior scalability and compatibility. Additionally,
typical application scenarios of the IoT, such as intelli-
gent water meters and smart parking call for low power
consumption testing to assess battery self-discharge
and sleep mechanisms. The industry is presently lack-
ing a mature test methodology to quantify UE power
consumption characteristics. Other test systems, such
as the NV-IoT test system, 5G terminal card interface
test system and signaling monitors, are all indispensable
components of 5G UE test. Note that 5G UE test tends
to be integrated; it will be a comprehensive test system
to replace multiple sets of discrete systems, as shown in
Figure 5.
Similar to UE test, the IC manufacturers’ desire for 5G
test instruments is strong throughout all phases, from
chip development to product certification and mass
production. Specifically, test instruments are required to
simulate network functions, verify and evaluate RF solu-
tions, complete chip function/performance authentica-
tion and perform final production test. To facilitate the
operation, further needs include installing software with
8
Network Emulator
Channel Emulator
Vector Signal Generator
Vector Signal Analyzer
Power Analyzer
Test Server
Power
s Fig. 5 Integrated system for 5G terminal testing.
a project configuration and results display, integrating
other instruments to build test systems and support-
ing remote control. Also, driven by continuous module
redesign, configuration changes and reduced IC R&D
cycle times and costs, the traditional IC test system is
faced with the need to be flexible, to reduce test costs
and improve production efficiency.
Network equipment testing is used to verify com-
pliance with a communications system’s quality specifi-
cations, interface requirements with other devices and
electromagnetic compatibility, both intra-system and
inter-system. A 5G network equipment test requires
general instruments, such as a VSG, spectrum analyzer,
power meter, UE emulator and channel emulator to build
a massively connected test system with broad coverage.
The aim is to test the load capacity limit and overload
coordination capabilities of specific uplink and downlink
service models and to evaluate system performance un-
der different channel conditions. In the future, these test
instruments must follow corresponding 5G test specifi-
cations with continuous optimization and upgrade capa-
bility, satisfying the performance needs of 5G and sup-
porting a wider range of application scenarios.
CONCLUSION
Driven by considerable market demand, 5G test has
made rapid progress. Top instrument suppliers around
the world are working closely with universities and other
research institutions. The entire industry is inspired by
recent research achievements and products. Still, there
are some fundamental problems to be solved, including
 the establishment of new test specifications, the explo-
ration of 5G measurement principles and the develop-
ment of new measurement platforms.■
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the National Natural Sci-
ence Foundation of China (61627801) and China Na-
tional S&T Major Project (2015ZX03001011).
References
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sounding_230238.html.
A New Approach to
Faster. Simpler. More Affordable.
With smaller geometries, higher operating frequencies and greater levels of integration, manufacturers of 5G
devices are forced to perform over the air testing. Peak power sensors and noise sources are an ideal alternative
to expensive test equipment for 5G OTA calibration, verification, and measurements.
boonton.com/ota | noisecom.com/ota
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OTA Testing
9
Navigating the 5G NR Standards
Sheri DeTomasi
Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, Calif.

A
pproximately once each decade, wireless com-
munications standards have marched forward,
advancing through 2G, 3G, 4G and now mov-
ing into 5G. The 5G New Radio (NR) standard
creates a whole new era of wireless communications. The
promise of everything connected, all the time, with ex-
tremely fast download speeds and ultra-low latency will
require massive changes across the 5G ecosystem.
The 5G NR standard adds new operating bands
with advanced ways to package and transmit signals.
mmWave operating bands, wider modulation band-
widths, scalable numerologies and new initial access
procedures introduce many changes to understand and
implement in new infrastructure and mobile designs.
Chipsets and devices will operate at higher frequencies.
Devices and base stations will use new technologies to
make connections and networks will evolve to handle
more data, more users and different levels of service.
4G and 5G NR networks must initially
work in harmony to provide seamless
service for users. To fully capture 5G
opportunities through new use cases
and new business models, it is impor-
Enhanced Mobile
tant to understand the 5G NR stan- Broadband
dard and develop techniques for suc-
All data, all the time
cessful implementation.
vision. The 5G NR standard specifies new features that
require the development of new technologies to meet
the aggressive goals shown in Table 1. The Third-Gen-
eration Partnership Project (3GPP) is responsible for the
development of the 5G NR access technology specifica-
tions to meet the recommendations of IMT-2020.
The ITU and 3GPP are using a phased approach
to enable widespread commercialization of 5G NR by
2020. In phase 1, 5G NR Release 15 focuses on setting
the foundation for the enhanced mobile broadband
(eMBB) and ultra-reliable and low latency communica-
tions (URLLC) use cases. Phase 2 will continue the evolu-
tion of 5G NR, optimizing new features like unlicensed
spectrum access and connected vehicle-to-everything
(V2X) communication, beginning in 5G NR Release
16, which is projected to be completed by the end of
2019. 5G NR Release 15 is forward compatible with NR
Release 16 but not backward compatible with 4G Re-
TABLE 1
IMT-2020 VISION USE CASES
Ultra-Reliable and Low
Massive Machine-Type
Latency Communication
(eMBB)
(URLLC)
Communication (mMTC)
Ultra-high reliability 30 billion “things”
connected

WHO DEVELOPED THE 5G NR 2 billion people Ultra-responsive Low cost, low energy
STANDARDS? on social media
The International Telecommunica- < 1 ms air interface latency
500 km/h mobility 105 to 10 6 devices/km2
tions Union (ITU) worked with opera-
tors, network equipment manufactur- 20 Gbps peak data rate 5 ms end-to-end latency 1 to 100 kbps/device
ers (NEM) and standards organizations (downlink)
99.9999% reliability 10-year battery life
to define the International Mobile 10 Gbps peak data rate
50 kbps to 10 Mbps
Telecommunications 2020 (IMT-2020) (uplink)

www.mwjournal.com/articles/31450
10
 lease 14. 3GPP will also continue to
define enhancements to LTE-Ad-
vanced Pro (initially specified in Re-
leases 13 and 14) in Releases 15 and
16 (see Figure 1).
The expectation is that 5G NR will
operate alongside 4G LTE and deliver
enhanced services. 5G NR Release 15,
approved in June 2018, specifies the
5G radio access network (RAN) that will
operate with both the 5G NR next-gen-
eration NodeB (gNB) and LTE evolved
NodeB (eNB) base stations. 5G NR
supports both standalone (SA) and
non-standalone (NSA) modes of op-
s Fig. 1 3GPP timeline for 5G NR releases.
eration in phase 1. In NSA mode, the
user equipment (UE) requires a legacy
eNB base station with a connection to the evolved pack-
ePC et core (EPC), so the control plane can support 5G NR
communication. In SA mode, the 5G network operates
Non-Standalone NR independently from the 4G core network (see Figure 2).
Option 3A Seven different connectivity options are defined in the
5G NR specifications, enabling different upgrade paths
P

UP
+U

to the next-generation core network for NEMs.

While 5G NR Release 15 is considered complete,
CP

there is a NR late drop freeze planned for December

2018 and an abstract syntax notation (ASN) drop in
March 2019 to address NR architecture connectivity op-
tions not completed in September 2018. Conformance
test definitions, one of the biggest areas still in devel-
CP + UP opment, have a target completion date of May 2019.
LTE eNB NR gNB Release 16 will begin identifying new types of services,
devices, deployment models and spectrum bands with
an emphasis on URLLC enhancements for industrial IoT,
utilization of unlicensed bands, V2X, UE positioning and
UE power efficiency.

WHAT IS IN THE 5G NR 3GPP SPECIFICATIONS?

(a)
RAN working groups define the 5G NR specifica-
tions. The workgroup outputs are public: all documents,
meeting reports and published specifications are avail-
Next Gen Core able on the 3GPP website.1 The 5G NR specifications
Network
appear in the 38.xxx series documents. The 5G NR RAN
study items and specifications define the functions, re-
Standalone NR quirements and interfaces of the networks. RAN study
Option 2 items are followed by work items that are followed by
the release of specifications.
The radio interface between the UE and the network
consists of layers 1, 2 and 3 of the communications stack,
commonly known as the physical layer, the data link layer
and the network layer. The physical layer, defined in TS
NR gNB 38.200, represents the interface to the “real world”and
includes the hardware and software to control this link-
age. The physical layer provides a transport channel and
specifies how information is transferred over the radio
interface. Layers 2 and 3, defined in the TS 38.300 se-
ries (see Figure 3), work in conjunction with the physical
layer. The data link layer, also known as the medium ac-
(b) cess control (MAC) layer, enables data transfer between
the different networks. The MAC layer provides differ-
s Fig. 2 5G NR phase 1 non-standalone (a) and standalone (b) ent logical channels to the radio link control (RLC) in the
modes. network layer. Layer 3, the radio resource control (RRC)
11
layer, connects with the nodes in the network so that the
UE can travel seamlessly throughout the network.
The RAN working groups are responsible for develop-
ing the 5G NR specifications in certain areas, such as the
5G NR physical layer. TR represents a technical report or
study, and TS represents a technical specification. The 5G
NR RAN working groups and technical specifications are:
• RAN1 (radio layer 1, TS 38.201–38.215) is respon-
sible for the physical layer (layer 1) of the UE and
the data transport to the radio interface protocol ar-
chitecture (layers 2 and 3). It includes specifications
of the physical channel structures, mapping of the
transport channels into physical channels, multiplex-
ing, modulation and channel coding, as well as the
physical layer procedures, such as cell search, power
control and beam management.
• RAN2 (radio layers 2 and 3, TS 38.300–TS 38.331)
is responsible for the radio interface architecture and
protocols. This includes interfaces between the 5G
NR and the 5G core network. It covers the network
interfaces, the physical layer and connections to
MAC, RLC and the packet data convergence proto-
col (PDCP). RAN2 is also responsible for the RRC pro-
tocol, the strategies of radio resource management
(RRM) and the services provided by the physical layer
to the upper layers.
• RAN3 (radio network, TS 38.401–38.474) is re-
sponsible for the overall architecture and the protocol
specifications. TS 38.2xx and TS 38.3xx in RAN1 and
RAN2 define the radio interface protocols, and RAN3
defines the next-generation interface protocols.
• RAN4 (radio performance and protocol, TS 38.101–
38.307) is responsible for the RF aspects of the com-
munications and the development of the minimum
requirements for 5G NR transmission and reception,
as well as the parameters for channel demodulation.
RAN4 also provides test procedures for base station
conformance and specifications for electromagnetic
compatibility (EMC), radio link, cell selection/reselec-
tion and performance supporting RRM.
• RAN5 (mobile terminal conformance tests, TS
38.508–38.533) is responsible for the specifications of
conformance testing at the radio interface for the UE,
based on the specification defined in RAN4 for sig-
naling and protocol test cases. RAN5 has the respon-
sibility for RF and signaling subgroups, including RF
conformance and inter-radio access technology (RAT)
procedures.
The RAN specifications introduce new frequencies
and techniques for 5G NR signal creation, transmission
and reception:
• Operating bands extend into mmWave: frequency
range 1 (FR1) from 450 MHz to 6 GHz and frequency
range 2 (FR2) from 24.25 to 52.6 GHz.
• Wider channel bandwidths up to 100 MHz for FR1
and 400 MHz for FR2, which can be aggregated to
produce even wider transmission bandwidths.
• Scalable numerology with flexible allocation of re-
sources to support many use cases and services (e.g.,
subcarrier spacing that scales, enabling variable slot
duration for low latency, time-sensitive applications).
12
s Fig. 3 Radio interface protocol architecture around the
physical layer (from 3GPP document TS 38.201).
• Dynamic time-division duplex (TDD) and bandwidth,
which deliver flexibility in resource assignments and bet-
ter spectrum utilization.
5G NR signals are more complex than 4G signals. A sig-
nal’s modulation properties can be evaluated by viewing IQ
constellation diagrams and error vector magnitude (EVM),
EVM per symbol and EVM by subcarrier. This analysis pro-
vides some insight into the signal’s performance. The radio
layer protocol tests ensure a device is performing as expect-
ed. A network emulator can provide the protocol messages
with specific numerologies and frame structures to test the
key performance indicators (KPI) and validate the perfor-
mance of a device prior to commercial deployment.
Equally important, the 5G system architecture must
evolve to keep pace with the radio access changes. Key
to success are supporting the variety of 5G services, the
many different types of devices and the varied traffic
loads. Many network operators are moving to software-
defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtu-
alization (NFV). Distributed cloud, network slicing and
self-optimizing networks (SON) are key enabling tech-
nologies. These new technologies help virtualize the
network architecture and management plane to create
enhanced communication capability. In parallel with 5G
NR, the 3GPP system architecture (SA) work identifies
the features and functionality needed to deploy a servic-
es-based operational network for 5G. These specifica-
tions are contained in 3GPP TS 23.xxx documents.
CONFORMANCE, PRE-CONFORMANCE AND
DEVICE ACCEPTANCE TESTING
A major milestone in the development of devices and
base stations is passing the conformance and compli-
ance tests outlined in the 3GPP RAN4 and RAN5 specifi-
cations. All UEs and base stations must pass the required
conformance tests before being released to the market.
Conformance tests, however, only provide a minimum
pass/fail result, offering no indication of how the device
will perform when integrated into a wireless commu-
nications system. Device and base station manufactur-
ers will test a wider set of parameters using verification
and regression testing to ensure quality and sufficient
margins. Pre-conformance testing is also done to check
the confidence of a “pass” before conformance testing.
This reduces the time and expense of rework in case the
device fails official conformance tests (see Figure 4).
 What
Performance Check confidence of Schedule time for More expansive Customers form
verification and “pass” before spending independent (3rd testing of UEs for opinion, share
regression test of time and expense on party) testing of UE interoperability and experience,
components and of conformance to defined test cases performance against provide feedback
integrated devices expected use models

Development Pre Conformance Operator Deployment

Conformance

Where
Development Dedicated lab at Authorized test Operator’s test In the “real world”
engineer’s bench developer site laboratory laboratory

s Fig. 4 Typical test flow from development to deployment.

Once a UE passes conformance

TABLE 2
3GPP OTA TEST METHODS FOR UE DEVICES
Direct Far Field (DFF) Indirect Far Field (IFF)
Near field to far field
Compact approach, can be
Simple and comprehensive conversion enables compact
antenna test range
Can be very large with Suitable for testing mmWave
greater path for mmWave devices; not well suited for transceiver only; no receiver
devices spatial RRM
UE conformance tests involve connecting a device
to a wireless test system and performing the required
3GPP tests:
• RF transmission and reception to a minimum level of
signal quality.
• Demodulation to determine data throughput perfor-
mance.
• RRM to assure initial access, handover and mobility.
• Signaling to assess the upper layer signaling proce-
dures.
Even though 5G NR Release 15 is complete, most of
the 5G NR conformance tests will not be defined un-
til May 2019. One of the key challenges will be testing
the radiated performance of the device antenna. The
use of mmWave multi-element antenna arrays inte-
grated into RFIC requires over-the-air (OTA) testing to
validate beam steering and performance. It is important
to validate designs using OTA test methods approved
by 3GPP. To date, 3GPP has approved three RF perfor-
mance OTA test methods for UE devices (see Table 2).
Base station tests are still in development. An OTA test
solution typically includes an anechoic chamber, prob-
ing and the test equipment to perform a wide range of
RF, demodulation and functional performance tests at
sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequencies. Third party labs
conduct conformance tests to ensure equipment ven-
dors do not influence the results. Test systems used to
perform conformance tests must be validated and cali-
brated to ensure they perform the tests under controlled
conditions with known uncertainties.
testing, the device is validated on
a specific network. Device accep-
Near Field to Far Field tance testing is operator specific
Transformation (NFTF) and used to evaluate whether the
device has sufficient performance
to meet the goals set by the opera-
lower cost
tor. For example, some networks
Limited application: make claims such as the “fastest
network” or the “most reliable”
or RF parametric tests yet network. In these cases, the opera-
tor acceptance tests include per-
formance and functional tests to
ensure the device will deliver the promised service on
their network. Many operators expect to have 5G NR
acceptance tests available in 2019.
It will be especially important for device and base sta-
tion manufacturers to test the radiated RF performance of
their designs early in the design cycle. Multi-element an-
tennas will need validation of their 3D beam performance
and measurements such as EVM and adjacent channel
power ratio (ACPR) during movement to ensure perfor-
mance across the antenna range. Initial access and beam
management tasks like handovers and 4G fallback proce-
dures evaluated early in the design cycle will help ensure
proper operation across the wireless network.
NEXT STEPS?
5G NR promises everything connected, all the time,
with extremely fast download speeds. With 5G NR
Release 15 approved, developers are working on 5G
NR devices and base stations. 5G NR expanding into
higher frequencies and using new technologies adds
complexity in the way signals are built, transmitted and
processed. As the standard continues to evolve, more
features are added and conformance and acceptance
tests are completed, 5G NR designs need to be flexible
and ready to adapt to the higher mmWave frequencies
with wider bandwidths, denser waveforms and a grow-
ing number of test cases.■
Reference
1. 3GPP Specifications Groups, www.3gpp.org/specifications-groups.

13
Software and Hardware
Near-Field Transformations for
5G OTA Testing
Benoît Derat, Corbett Rowell, Adam Tankielun and Sebastian Schmitz
Rohde & Schwarz, Munich, Germany

Increased capacity in 5G mobile communications requires rolling out massive MIMO base
stations with network and mobile terminals at both sub-6 GHz and mmWave frequencies.
Dynamic beamforming and the absence of RF test ports on the devices being tested make
over-the-air (OTA) measurement pivotal to 5G deployment. Fortunately, OTA testing solutions
employing software and hardware near-field transformations are meeting the challenges.

5
G new radio (NR) communication systems will
increase the capacity of mobile radio networks
using frequency bands in the sub-6 GHz region,
called frequency range 1 (FR1) by 3GPP, and the
mmWave range (FR2). New technological approaches
selected by the industry and 3GPP promise greater
bandwidth at lower operational expense.
In FR1, the main innovation effort is focused on the
base station, with the enabling of massive MIMO tech-
niques.1 4G systems use single-user MIMO, where the
user equipment (UE) calculates the inverse channel
matrix to extract separate data streams. 5G multi-user
MIMO (MU-MIMO) shifts the complexity from UEs to the
base station by using a pre-coding matrix. Here, each
data stream is received independently by separate re-
ceivers. Beamforming with antenna arrays of 64 to 512
elements reduces interference to adjacent users using
MU-MIMO. In addition to facilitating the adoption of
MU-MIMO to increase capacity, beamforming has other
advantages. Its lower energy consumption brings a re-
duction in overall network operating costs by targeting
individual UEs with their assigned signals.
Communication systems in the FR2 range use large
available bandwidths at frequencies around 28 and 39
GHz. The impact is more than 60 dB path loss at 1 m
distance and large electromagnetic field absorption in
nearby objects. As with FR1 systems, the solution is to
employ antenna arrays and beam steering, improving
the gain on both the mobile device and base station
sides of the network.
www.mwjournal.com/articles/30835
14
Whether for FR1 or FR2, 5G deployment relies on
the performance of highly integrated solutions com-
bining modem, RF front-end and antenna. The chal-
lenge is to define new methods and setups for perfor-
mance evaluation, as RF test ports tend to disappear
and beam steering technologies require system-level
testing. In this context, both antenna and transceiver
performance criteria must be measured OTA: effective
isotropic radiated power (EIRP), total radiated power
(TRP), effective isotropic sensitivity (EIS), total isotro-
pic sensitivity (TIS), error vector magnitude (EVM), ad-
jacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and spectrum
emission mask (SEM). Assessing these OTA raises the
critical question of the required measurement dis-
tance. Antenna characteristics are usually measured
in the far field. Using direct far-field probing and ap-
plying the Fraunhofer distance criterion (R = 2D2/λ), a
75 cm massive MIMO device under test (DUT) radiating
at 2.4 GHz should be evaluated in a chamber with at
least 9 m range length. Even a 15 cm smartphone trans-
mitting at 43.5 GHz needs a 6.5 m testing distance. This
distance is required to create a region encompassing
the DUT where the impinging field is as uniform as pos-
sible and approaches a plane wave with phase deviation
below 22.5 degrees, known as the quiet zone.
Research shows that actual far-field behavior in the
peak directivity region can start much closer than the
Fraunhofer distance.2 These results proved, for exam-
ple, that the far-field EIRP or EIS of a 15 cm DUT radiat-
ing at 24 GHz can be assessed at a distance as short as

s Fig. 1 Spherical measurement system (ATS 1000), capable
of near-field software transformation, measuring a 28 GHz
array.
1.14 m. Distance reduction of about 70 percent comes
at the price of increased longitudinal taper error, caused
by the deviation of the apparent phase center from the
center of the measurement coordinate system. Also,
sidelobe levels cannot be evaluated accurately at short-
er distances.3 While direct far-field measurements at
shorter distances are not convenient for all applications,
there is an incentive to do so when conditions of appli-
cation are verified. This is because large OTA anechoic
chambers have high costs of ownership and limited dy-
namic range. Typical applications may be in the “white
box” case, where the antenna location within the device
and its aperture size are known.
NEAR-FIELD TO FAR-FIELD
Direct far-field measurements under “white box” as-
sumptions may be inappropriate when the radiation ap-
erture is larger than the quiet zone, the antenna cannot
be precisely identified within the DUT or multiple an-
tennas transmit simultaneously, e.g., from two extreme
edges of a DUT which does not fit within the quiet zone.
The “black box” scenario must then be considered,
where the radiating currents can flow anywhere within
the DUT. A first efficient approach to treat such cases in
a compact environment is to employ software near-field
to far-field transformations (NF-FF), for which the quiet
zone size question becomes irrelevant. Mathematical
15
implementations of NF-FF may vary, but the concept
is generally the same: at least two polarization compo-
nents of the electromagnetic field (E, H or a mixture of
the two) are measured in magnitude and phase over a
surface encompassing the DUT. The measured data is
processed using functions to propagate the fields to-
ward larger distances and extract far-field radiation
components. From the Huygens principle, the knowl-
edge of two phasors is enough to reconstruct exactly
all six field components outside the surface. Alternative
transformation methods use spherical wave expansion,
plane wave expansion or integral equation resolution,
with techniques to improve computational efficiency or
accuracy by taking parameters such as spatial sampling
rate, scanning area or truncation into account.
Figure 1 shows a commercial system capable of
both direct far-field and near-field measurements with
spherical scanning around the DUT using a conical cut
positioner. On this system, the DUT is positioned on a
turntable rotating in azimuth, while a dual-polarized Viv-
aldi antenna is mounted at the tip of a boom rotating
in elevation. An RF test port available at the DUT con-
nects one port of a vector network analyzer (VNA); the
measurement antenna ports connect to two other termi-
nals of the VNA, enabling near-field assessment through
measurements of complex S-parameters.
Near-field measurement methods often rely on un-
derlying assumptions about passive or RF-fed antenna
testing:
• The antenna feed port is accessible with a signal fed
to the antenna that is used as a phase reference.
• The RF signal is a continuous wave signal.
• Reciprocity applies so that transmit (Tx) and receive
(Rx) patterns at the same frequency are identical.
There are workarounds available in Tx cases where
such assumptions do not apply. For example, techniques
can address the case of a DUT transmitting a modulated
signal with no access to the antenna feed port. Hard-
ware and processing implementations to retrieve the
propagation phase vary, for example using interfero-
metric techniques or multi-port phase coherent receiv-
ers4 with the addition of a dedicated phase reference
antenna. For systems like those in Figure 1, this antenna
is typically attached to the azimuth turntable. Alternative
approaches include phaseless methods when the phase
information is retrieved from magnitude measurements.
However, the Rx mode is more complex. First, the
reciprocity assumption does not apply to mobile phone
and base station devices, as the Rx RF component chain
is, in general, different from the Tx RF chain. For a DUT
with no test port, the power available at the Rx input
of the RF front-end generated by an impinging wave
coming from the probe antenna (here used as the trans-
mitter) cannot be straightforwardly predicted in the near
field. In other words, it is not possible to isolate the in-
trinsic receiving properties of the DUT in the far field
from near-field coupling effects resulting from the test
setup. There is also no access to a phase reference, so
the NF-FF software transformation becomes inapplica-
ble. Therefore, EIRP can be evaluated accurately in the
near-field using NF-FF software but not EIS.

Planar Wavefront
Spherical Wavefront
s Fig. 2 Compact antenna test range with a roll-edge reflector
collimating a spherical wavefront into a planar wavefront.
30
27
24
21 –1
18
15
12
9
6 sharp edges cause diffraction, which significantly con-
3 as 2 dB. Techniques to mitigate this phenomenon in-
–4
–5
0 away from the quiet zone. The size and shape of the
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24
50 cm Range Length Spherical System
1.5 m Range Length Spherical System
42 cm x 42 cm Reflector CATR 2 dB
s Fig. 328 GHz, 2 dB amplitude taper quiet zones for a roll-
edge compact range system vs. direct far-field systems.
TRANSCEIVER PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENTS
Another key question is the OTA evaluation of radio
transceiver performance, such as EVM, ACLR or SEM.
Software NF-FF approaches are designed for process-
ing periodic portions of the RF signal (the carriers) that
determine propagation. However, this part of the signal
is of no interest to assess these performance parame-
ters, so the challenge is to extract information from the
carrier modulation.
The first difficulty is that these quantities depend
strongly on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver
(a spectrum analyzer in the Tx mode or the DUT in the
Rx mode). This can be overcome by first assessing the
complete 3D Tx or Rx pattern to determine the peak
direction. Demodulation and EVM or other measure-
ments can then be conducted at this specific location.
The question remains whether the obtained values are
reliable and reflect the results obtained in the far field.
In the case of a single transceiver, the near-field EVM
must be the same as the far-field EVM so long as the
SNR is above a certain threshold dependent on modu-
lation scheme, e.g., better than 20 dB. For multiple in-
dependent transceivers operating simultaneously, the
near-field EVM may not be straightforwardly related to
the far-field EVM because of positional dependence of
the noise figure in the near field.
HARDWARE NEAR-FIELD TRANSFORMATIONS
Alternative testing methods enable OTA assessment
in the near field without a software transformation, rath-
er a hardware-based one. The idea is to physically cre-
ate far-field conditions in a specified quiet zone region
within a short range. This is known as “indirect far field.”
A compact antenna test range (CATR) uses a mirror to
transform a spherical wave into a planar wave and vice-
versa. Using Fermat’s principle of least time, a planar
wave can be focused on a single point using a parabolic
mirror. If a measurement antenna is placed at this focal
point, using the reciprocity principle, a plane wave can
be generated as the parabolic mirror reflects a certain
–2 planar component of the incoming spherical wave from
the measurement (or feed) antenna into the quiet zone
where the DUT is placed (see Figure 2).
The error inside a CATR system comes from two
main sources: the mirror geometry—the edge treat-
ment and smoothness of the surface which limit the fre-
quency range—and the feed antenna characteristics. If
–3 the reflector is built with a simple parabolic section, the
taminates the quiet zone by producing ripples as large
–6 clude serrations and rolled edges to scatter the energy
27 30 serrated/rolled edges determine the lowest operating
frequency, where the surface roughness determines the
upper frequency. Feed antenna pattern characteristics
have a direct impact on the size of the quiet zone, as the
mirror essentially projects the radiation pattern of the
feed antenna onto the quiet zone. The reflector size with
serrated/rolled edges is generally at least 2× the DUT/
quiet zone size, where a reflector with sharp edges is 3
to 4× the size of the quiet zone. The optimum reflec-
tor to DUT separation distance is (5/3)× the focal length
of the reflector. An optimal focal length can be derived
from the manufacturing shape tolerances with a range
of roughly 0.3 to 1 for the ratio of focal length to para-
bolic diameter.
Since the quiet zone size is dependent on the reflec-
tor characteristics instead of range length, it is much
easier to create a large quiet zone inside small enclo-
sures. Figure 3 shows the measured magnitude quiet
zone size of 27 cm at 28 GHz of a CATR, similar to the
one shown in Figure 2, with a 42 cm × 42 cm reflector.
This CATR setup fits within a chamber as small as 2 m
× 1.5 m × 0.85 m. A direct far-field measurement sys-
tem featuring the same quiet zone size would require a
14.5 m range.
Such technologies are of great interest for testing
UEs or base stations operating in 5G NR FR2, promising
a significant decrease in the size of test environments.
In addition, CATR has the same capabilities as a far-field
16

s Fig. 4 R&S PWC200 showing the PWC antenna array and
calibration array mounted on a great-circle cut positioner.
system, i.e., instantaneous and direct measurements of
RF transceiver performance in both Tx and Rx. As the
path loss of such a system only occurs between the lim-
ited region where waves propagate between the feed
and the reflector, the dynamic range of a CATR system is
better than a direct far-field approach. Using Figure 3 as
an example, the CATR system has a focal length of 0.7
m compared to the equivalent far-field range length of
14 m, resulting in a path loss difference of 26 dB.
PLANE WAVE SYNTHESIS
A CATR reflector is typically built using a solid piece
of aluminum to maintain the strict surface geometry
requirements. The 5G FR2 DUT size requirements al-
low for compact and rather light reflectors (20 to
40 kg). In the 5G FR1 range, reflector weight significantly
increases, up to hundreds of kilograms for base station
DUTs. The cost, fabrication time and handling of large
heavy mirrors becomes prohibitive. A lightweight and
cost-effective alternative is to use an “electronic ver-
sion” of the CATR mirror.3 By combining the radiation
of multiple antennas assembled in a phased array and
fed with pre-determined signal magnitude and phase, a
plane wave within a defined quiet zone is created. A ver-
sion of this near-field focusing technique was used for
several years for the measurement of large phased array
radars at MIT Lincoln Labs and has been proposed as an
OTA measurement baseline for base stations by 3GPP.5
s Fig. 5EVM of a single 20 MHz carrier measured using the
R&S PWC200.
17
Figure 4 shows the plane wave converting (PWC)
system reported at the 2018 European Conference on
Antennas and Propagation.3 It comprises an array of 156
wideband Vivaldi antennas with a beamforming network
of phase shifters and attenuators, located at the rear.
This PWC array is 1.8 m wide and creates a spherical
quiet zone of 1 m diameter at a distance as short as 1.5
m in the frequency range from 2.3 to 3.8 GHz. In the
setup of Figure 4, the DUT (here the calibration antenna)
is mounted on a combined axis positioner, enabling full
spherical measurement. The calibration antenna is used
for evaluating the appropriate compensations of the in-
dividual RF channels of the PWC array, as well as deter-
mining the path loss of the entire test system. The PWC
system is reciprocal and has only one RF input/output
which can either be connected to a signal generator, a
spectrum analyzer or a VNA, enabling measurement of
devices with or without RF test ports.
Figure 5 shows the single-carrier EVM measured with
the PWC for an OFDM signal with five 20 MHz carri-
ers in the range of 2.35 to 2.45 GHz, using a Rohde &
Schwarz vector signal generator. The output power is
5 dBm and fed into a 60 cm × 60 cm patch array DUT.
The demodulation is carried out by a Rohde & Schwarz
vector signal analyzer connected to the PWC, where
the measurement span is 30.72 MHz. The EVM is as low
as 0.41 percent, roughly corresponding to the internal
EVM of the measurement instruments. EVM results were
below 0.5 percent for the other four carriers, showing
that the PWC adds negligible EVM to the measurement
setup.
SUMMARY
Near-field techniques employing software transforma-
tions are suitable for evaluation of EIRP and TRP quantities.
When Rx or demodulation is involved with a DUT using
multiple non-identical RF transceivers, methods utilizing
hardware field transformations such as CATR and PWC
overcome the limitations of software NF-FF. They also pro-
vide compact and reliable alternatives to direct far-field
measurements, making them well-suited for 3GPP RF con-
formance testing of UEs and base stations.n
References
1. C. L. I, C. Rowell, S. Han, Z. Xu, G. Li and Z. Pan, “Toward Green
and Soft: A 5G Perspective,” IEEE Communications Magazine,
Vol. 52, No. 2, February 2014, pp. 66–73.
2. B. Derat, “5G Antenna Characterization in the FF,” IEEE EMC &
APEMC 2018, Singapore, May 2018.
3. C. Rowell and A. Tankielun, “Plane Wave Converter for 5G Mas-
sive MIMO Base Station Measurements,” 12th EuCAP2018, Lon-
don, U.K., April 2018.
4. Derat et al., “A Novel Technology for Fast and Accurate Specific
Absorption Rate Measurement (SAR),” iWAT, Karslruhe, Germany,
March 2013.
5. Rohde & Schwarz, “2D Compact Range for Testing of AAS Base
Stations,” TSG-RAN WG4 #87, R4-1806605, May 2018.
Test & Measurement Industry
Tackles 5G Over-the-Air Testing
Pat Hindle
Microwave Journal Editor

With the full approval of Release 15 by the 3GPP in June 2018, 5G commercial networks were quickly launched in
the U.S. (Verizon and AT&T) and South Korea (KT, LG UPlus and SK Telecom) by the end of the year. In 2019, the
industry will see increased activity with many 5G launches and a major shift in emphasis from LTE to 5G networks.
Since 5G testing standards are still not completely defined, base station and handset manufacturers, wireless
carriers and regulators have to come together quickly around the world and agree on how to install, verify and
maintain commercial 5G networks. At this critical point in time, Microwave Journal reached out to nine leading test &
measurement companies in the industry and compiled their information about the challenges and solutions currently
available in the area of 5G over-the-air (OTA) testing. The companies included Anritsu, EMITE, ETS-Lindgren, Keysight,
MVG, National Instruments (NI), NSI-MI, Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) and Boonton and Noisecom.

5G TEST CHALLENGES measured in the far field (see Figure 1). Using direct
Anritsu outlined the primary challenge due to the far-field probing and applying the Fraunhofer distance
fundamental differences in the technology used in 5G criterion (R = 2D2/λ), a 75 cm massive MIMO device un-
testing—like mmWave frequencies, massive arrays of der test (DUT) radiating at 2.4 GHz should be evaluated
antennas, beamforming and dynamic physical layer in a chamber with at least 9 m range length. Even a 15
attributes—so trying to apply LTE test methods to 5G cm smartphone transmitting at 43.5 GHz needs a 6.5
networks will not work. Countries in different regions of m testing distance. This distance is required to create
the world are using different frequency bands for 5G de- a region encompassing the DUT, where the impinging
ployments, and in addition to showing compliance with field is as uniform as possible and approaches a plane
the 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard, many countries wave with phase deviation below 22.5 degrees, known
require compliance with local government regulations. as the quiet zone.
R&S wrote in a recent Microwave Journal article that
5G deployment will rely on the performance of highly
integrated solutions combining the modem, RF front-
end and antenna. The challenge is to define new meth-
ods and setups for performance evaluation, as RF test
ports tend to disappear and beam steering technolo-
gies require system-level testing. In this context, both D
antenna and transceiver performance criteria must
be measured OTA: effective isotropic radiated power
(EIRP), total radiated power (TRP), effective isotropic
sensitivity (EIS), total isotropic sensitivity (TIS), error Reactive Near Radiated Near Field Region Far Field
vector magnitude (EVM), adjacent channel leakage Field Region Phase & Magnitude Magnitude
ratio (ACLR) and spectrum emission mask (SEM) are
some of the critical measurements needed.
D3 2D2
R&S continued with the point that assessing these 0.62
λ λ
OTA raises the critical question of the required mea-
surement distance. Antenna characteristics are usually
s Fig. 1 R&S provided antenna radiation pattern in the near-
field, far-field, and Fraunhofer distances.
www.mwjournal.com/articles/31906
18

Reflector
DUT
Feed
s Fig. 2 Diagram of how a compact antenna test range
operates.
One way to overcome the space constraint of a big
chamber is by using a reflector that projects the incom-
ing spherical wave front to a plane wave due to the re-
flector’s parabolic shape. Using such a reflector is a well-
known method for mmWave OTA setups and is called
a compact antenna test range (CATR). The principal is
shown in Figure 2.
Anritsu said a key companion to EIRP is gated sweep.
With a gated sweep, the user can define which portion
of the 5G transmission to measure. This is important
because 5G NR signals can be configured through the
slot configuration parameter in 55 different TDD Tx/Rx
ratios in a 10 ms frame. By gating only the subframe or
symbol of interest, the user can ensure that only the RF
of the downlink is measured. This will give a more true
representation of the RF energy being radiated into the
atmosphere.
ETS-Lindgren and Anritsu both noted that significant
changes are needed for meaningful EMC tests on 5G de-
vices. TRP is a common measurement required by regu-
latory standards to ensure radios are not transmitting too
much power. Because the signal is transmitted from one
isotropic transmitter that is radiating energy evenly across
an entire sector in LTE, it is easy to make a measurement
on the total power at the radio and determine if the atmo-
spheric energy is within safe limits. ETS-Lindgren stressed
the challenge with beamforming as shown in Figure 3;
there is no easy way to measure the energy at any single
point and know how much power is being transmitted into
space since it is directional. With side lobes and back lobes,
the only way to measure the TRP is to integrate the power
in a 360 degree sphere around the entire antenna. While
this can be done, it can be expensive and time consuming.
Anritsu commented that as the industry starts to con-
verge on installation and maintenance best practices, the
next challenge will be defining procedures and finding
Main Beam 2nd 3rd 4th
Harmonic Harmonic Harmonic
s Fig. 3 ETS-Lindgren provided radiation pattern for a 28 GHz phased array showing
the main beam to the left and the first through sixth harmonic radiation patterns going
left to right.
equipment that will make the test as accurate, efficient
and affordable as possible. This will require test vendors
to react quickly to test needs and be ready with new gen-
eration hardware that can meet the challenge.
OTA TEST METHODS
Keysight explained the test methods well, stating that
when defining an OTA test strategy, it is important to
have a good understanding of what will be tested, how it
should be tested and what are the appropriate test meth-
ods for the different test cases. In the consumer market,
testing will be done on modems, antennas, subsystems
and fully assembled end-user devices. Base stations will
follow a similar testing workflow. A typical testing cycle
starts from R&D through conformance and device accep-
tance testing.
Typically, tests can be categorized into conformance
and performance tests. Conformance tests are manda-
tory tests that need to be completed to release a de-
vice. Conformance tests are a key requirement and in-
volve connecting a device to a wireless test system and
performing the required 3GPP tests:
• RF transmission and reception performance—mini-
mum level of signal quality.
• Demodulation—data throughput performance.
• Radio resource management (RRM)—initial access,
handover and mobility.
• Signaling—upper layer signaling procedures.
Keysight stated that modem chipsets, antennas, base
stations and integrated devices will require a mix of con-
ducted and OTA tests. Most frequency range 1 (FR1:
450 MHz to 7.125 GHz) tests will be done using con-
ducted measurements, while 3GPP has defined all fre-
quency range 2 (FR2: 24.25 to 52.6 GHz) conformance
tests to be done using OTA test methods.
To date, there are three OTA test methods approved
by 3GPP, according to Keysight:
• Direct Far Field (DFF): The measurement antenna
is placed in the far field. The far-field or Fraunhofer
distance begins at 2D2/λ, where D is the maximum
diameter of the radiating elements and λ is the wave-
length. This is where the angular field distribution
stops evolving. The direct far-field method can per-
form the most comprehensive tests, measuring mul-
tiple signals, but can also result in a longer test range
at mmWave frequencies.
• Indirect Far Field (IFF): A far-field environment is cre-
ated using a physical transformation, typically involv-
ing a parabolic reflector to collimate the signals trans-
mitted by the probe antenna. This method is limited
to measuring a single signal angle of arrival/departure
but provides a much shorter distance
with less path loss. This test method is
accomplished using a CATR.
• Near Field to Far Field Transforma-
tion (NFTF): Phase and amplitude
of the electrical field are sampled in
5th 6th the radiated near-field region, and
Harmonic Harmonic the far-field pattern is computed.
This method is also limited to a
single line-of-sight transceiver mea-
surement.
19
 able measurement uncertainties (MU) and test toler-
TABLE 1 ances (TT) will need to be much wider than in sub-6 GHz
HIGH LEVEL SUMMARY OF FIDELITY AND FR1 conducted testing. It is an ongoing discussion in
APPLICABILITY OF 5G TEST ENVIRONMENTS 3GPP which MUs are acceptable and what TT to use
(CREDIT: NSI-MI)
for FR2. Until this is fixed by 3GPP, spec compliant RF
AUT Size FF DFF IFF NFTF conformance tests for FR2 are not practical.
Small UEs Tx only For Standalone (SA) deployment scenarios, the
RF Testing Large UEs Tx only matching 38.521 parts 1 (sub-6 GHz) and 2 (mmWave)
are more advanced, even though the first 5G NR de-
gNodeBs Tx only
ployments early this year will be NSA. On top of this, the
Small UEs specifications for performance tests (38.521-4) and RRM
Demod Testing Large UEs test requirements (38.533) are not yet ready for NSA.
gNodeBs Table 1, created by NSI-MI, summarizes the applicabil-
Small UEs ity of the test environments to different types of testing and
RRM Testing Large UEs different antenna sizes. Colors indicate quality of the solu-
tion in terms of SNR, utility, cost, etc.
gNodeBs
EMITE said there is no single OTA test method capa-
ble of providing the answers to all of the problems and
challenges we have today. Therefore, industry will need
to adopt a variety of methods. Some companies have
shown that there are benefits to rich isotropic systems
for obtaining some key performance parameters, while
directionality is needed to address the evaluation of oth-
er 5G features. Simultaneously testing at both near- and
far-field distances, low and high frequencies, large and
small form factors may also be needed.
ETS-Lindgren added that engineers often ask if a single
do-it-all chamber for 5G OTA, EMC and cable replace-
ment tests could be designed. They find there are too
many compromises each method would impose on the
others to make this a cost effective approach. Measure-
ment uncertainty requirements drive optimization in differ-
ent directions for each type of test. Consider the additional
s Fig. 4 Anritsu’s Field Master™ Pro MS2090A handheld absorber and measurement antennas that would need to
solution.
be moved in and out of a traditional 3 m EMC chamber
quiet zone to transition between EMC and far-field OTA re-
quirements. The transition time and costs associated with
a do-it-all test chamber will mostly outweigh the benefits.

OTA PRODUCT OFFERINGS

s Fig. 5 EMITE’s F-Series 200 MHz to 110 GHz hybrid
Anechoic-reverberation chambers.
According to R&S, as of early January 2019, 3GPP
specified a number of transmitter and receiver tests in
the 3GPP TS38.521‐3, which is the NR User Equipment
(UE) conformance specification for radio transmission and
reception where “−3” refers to part 3 and means FR1
and FR2 interworking operation with LTE, basically Non-
Standalone (NSA) sub-6 GHz as well as NSA mmWave.
For mmWave, testing becomes more difficult since
everything will need to be tested OTA and a black box
approach has to be assumed. This means that achiev-
20
Here are some of the OTA solutions being offered by
these leading test & measurement suppliers:
Anritsu’s New Solution
With the launch of the Field Master™ Pro MS2090A
at MWC Barcelona 2019 in February, Anritsu intro-
duces the first field portable instrument with continu-
ous frequency coverage for sub-3 GHz, sub-6 GHz and
mmWave 5GNR measurements (see Figure 4). The Field
Master Pro MS2090A has been developed in close co-
operation with all leading 5G base station manufactur-
ers, as well as being used to install the first commercial
5GNR networks. This should have a significant impact
on the testing market to have this capability in a hand-
held unit.
The key features of the Field Master Pro MS2090A
are:
• Continuous frequency coverage from 9 kHz to 9, 14,
20, 32, 44 or 54 GHz.
• 100 MHz analysis bandwidth for current 5G deploy-
ments.
• 5G NR demodulation capabilities.
• RTSA for interference hunting.
• Built-in EIRP and gated sweep for transmission test-
ing.
• 10.1 in. multi-touch screen user interface.
EMITE Solutions
For a small company in this space, EMITE offers a
broad range of solutions. The EMITE PT-Series is a small
reverberation chamber which serves as a simple go, no-
go mmWave SISO OTA test and some non-signaling
production OTA tests for up to eight simultaneous DUTs
of up to 15 cm.
Their E-Series is a medium-size reverberation chamber
capable of providing fully-automated 5G OTA testing of
some isotropic key performance indicators, as well as la- s Fig. 6 EMITE H-Series 600 MHz to 110 GHz small anechoic
chamber including climatic enclosure.
tency and throughput. The E-Series chambers can easily
accommodate many carriers with 4G and 5G technolo-
gies, with up to 8×8 MIMO, and can make use of channel
emulators for 5G channel modeling. A unique solution
from EMITE, these can also be cascaded to test massive
MIMO and E2E OTA tests, representing a first step into
5G OTA signaling testing.
Their F-Series is a hybrid reverberation-anechoic cham-
ber capable of providing a blend of both worlds (see
Figure 5). The RC mode provides easy, fully-automated
overnight testing of 4G and 5G OTA while the AC mode
incorporates all 3GPP-permitted OTA test methods (IFF,
NFTF and DFF) for DUTs of up to 1.5 m.
The H-Series is a small anechoic chamber intended to
simultaneously test FR1 and FR2 frequency combinations
using a combined CATR, spherical near-field (SNF) and
DFF test system with the only climatic foam enclosure
in the market for testing wireless OTA under both tem-
perature and humidity conditions (see Figure 6). Tem- s Fig. 7 ETS-Lindgren’s table top AMS-5700 OTA test
perature range from −40°C to 90°C with fluctuation of chamber.
about ±0.5°C and heating and cooling change rates of
2°C to 4.5°C per minute, and humidity range from 10 to Keysight Solutions
98 percent relative humidity with fluctuations of ±0.5 to Keysight offers a portfolio of OTA solutions based on
±3 percent relative humidity are available. the workflow from R&D to device acceptance. A typical
solution consists of measurement software, a network
ETS-Lindgren Solutions emulator to emulate a 5G gNB and a channel emulator
Labs with current ETS-Lindgren OTA systems or those to emulate the radio conditions. For FR2, these solutions
manufactured by others will be pleased to know that an include OTA measurement systems, typically adding RF
upgrade package for 5G testing in the sub-6 GHz, FR1 enclosures, probe and link antennas, different DUT posi-
band is available. This upgrade is economical and back- tioners and associated control software. Keysight’s offer-
ward compatible, providing a three generation OTA sys- ings address the different test approaches and the vary-
tem covering 5G, 4G and 3G, if so equipped. ing needs for modems, antennas, integrated devices and
For 5G FR2 mmWave OTA, ETS-Lindgren offers the base stations. OTA tests are required from R&D through
AMS-5700 series of OTA test chambers (see Figure 7). design validation, protocol and RF/RMM conformance
The AMS-5700 series is highly flexible, offering one sys- testing and device acceptance testing. Keysight supports
tem serving multiple projects and use cases. The 5700 the wide range of solutions shown in Table 2.
series offers direct and indirect far-field configurations Keysight has CATR solutions that offer IFF measure-
covering any array size up to 60 cm. The AMS-5703 is ments for RF, RF parametric testing and antenna pattern
designed with a large quiet zone and unique position- measurements, well suited for testing antennas, phones,
ing system to accommodate future CTIA phantom test phablets, tablets, laptops and small 5G gNBs. To test de-
requirements. vices under real world operating conditions, a solution
ETS-Lindgren also offers custom solutions: one recent needs to emulate different directions of arrival of the 5G
ETS-Lindgren project enabled end-to-end data throughput, signal, i.e., emulating the spatial characteristics of the en-
MIMO and beam steering performance to be measured on vironment. For this, Keysight models signal from the base
gNBs linked to moving UEs. Another complex automotive station (gNB) to the device. Their multi-probe anechoic
project provided vehicle to everything (V2X) measurement chamber solutions are good for understanding how a
and optimization results from dozens of antennas and sen- device operates in the spatial environment with multiple
sors integrated in an autonomous vehicle. simultaneous radiated beam angles (see Figure 8). This

21
solution utilizes the Keysight UXM 5G Wireless Testset, abling in-the-loop research and development activities
PROPSIM F64 channel emulator and performance net- (see Figure 9).
work analyzers for testing the device under real world When integrating antennas on larger electrical devices,
conditions for different key performance indicators like as is the case for the small arrays integrated on handheld
throughput, handover, etc. 5G devices, the coupling phenomenon between anten-
nas can significantly alter device performance. Testing in-
MVG Solutions cluding representative and standardized phantoms (hand,
MVG offers multi-probe systems based on rapid head, torso, etc.) are needed to understand the final de-
sampling, using probe arrays of the radiated near field vice performance. New measurement post processing fea-
in amplitude and phase on a closed surface around tures allow users to examine results and better understand
the device. The far-field performance of the device is the radiation properties of the device in these scenarios,
determined from near-field to far-field transformation. enabling research and development engineers to develop
The exact knowledge of the amplitude and phase of better products.
the radiating device gives access to important inves- Historically, CATRs have been the preferred solution
tigative features on the device behavior through post for testing high gain antennas such as base stations.
processing. The features of MVG systems are the high performance
As the electrical size of devices and systems at 5G fre- feeds, which are designed specifically to maintain high
quencies increase, the sampling required for exhaustive plane wave purity of the quiet zone over very wide
testing of the devices becomes a burden to the users, bandwidths. Another feature of the MVG systems is the
as the testing time increases. The multi-probe systems positioner, designed for minimum interference with the
from MVG enable much faster testing than traditional device, making it usable also for testing of smaller hand-
single probe systems allowing users to fully characterize held devices.
their devices within much more reasonable times, en- The plane wave synthesizer (PWS) array or plane
wave generator (PWG) array is an array of elements with
TABLE 2 suitably optimized complex coefficients, generating a
plane wave in close proximity to the array. The PWG
KEYSIGHT’S RANGE OTA TESTING SOLUTIONS
can achieve far-field testing conditions in a quiet zone
UE RF UE RF Protocol located in a region close to the array, similar to what
DEMOD RMM
Tx Rx Signaling
is achieved in a CATR but at shorter distance making
Direct Far-Field the system more compact and easier to use. The main
(DFF) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
features of the PWG systems from MVG are the ability
Simplified DFF ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ to cover the entire bandwidth for 5G testing in a single
Indirect Far- system. MVG offers large systems that can accommo-
Field (IFF) ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ date entire base stations, even vehicles (see Figure 10).
Near-Field with
Transformation
National Instruments Solutions
(NFTF) Whenever engineers discuss OTA test solutions, RF
Near-Field
chambers almost automatically appear as necessary
Without components of the solution. For design characterization,
Transformation ✔ validation, compliance and conformance tests, a proper
(NFWOT) RF chamber (anechoic, CATR or reverberation types)

Shielded Box or Environment Noise Chamber

OTA Probe Channel

Antennae Emulator
DUT

Base Station
Network Emulator

s Fig. 8 Keysight’s multiprobe anechoic chambers (MPAC) solution. s Fig. 9 MVG’s multi-probe system
testing a drone.
22

s Fig. 10 MVG’s SG3000F automotive test system.
provides a quiet RF envi-
ronment that ensures the
design meets all perfor-
mance and regulatory re-
quirements with sufficient
margin and repeatability.
However, for volume pro-
duction, traditional RF
chambers can take much of
the production floor space,
disrupt material handling
flows and multiply capital
expenses.
To tackle these prob-
s Fig. 11 NSI-MI’s SNF-FIX- lems, OTA-capable IC
1.0 SNF System. sockets—small RF enclo-
sures with an integrated
antenna—are becoming
commercially available,
enabling semiconductor
OTA test functionality in
a reduced form factor. Al-
though the measurement
antenna is a couple of
centimeters away from the
DUT IC, that is enough dis-
s Fig. 12 CAD drawing of
NSI-MI’s portable CATR system tance for far-field measure-
with 80 cm quiet zone. ments for each individual
antenna element. The rel-
atively small size of the socket also facilitates multi-site,
parallel tests to multiply test throughput, while minimiz-
ing signal power losses. On the other hand, the small
socket prevents making beamformed measurements for
the whole antenna array, which typically has a far-field dis-
tance of 10 cm or longer.
At 28 GHz, a 10 cm distance translates to over 20
dB of free space path loss, as opposed to just 1 dB on
an equal length coax cable. Considering a receiver IP3
measurement, OTA methods would require the test in-
strument to produce 20 dB higher output power at the
transmit antenna in order to achieve the same level of
received power at the DUT. This can be a challenge for RF
23
chamber-based OTA configurations; however, for OTA
socket-based solutions, at 1.5 cm away, it only requires 5
dB higher transmitted power.
With the inclusion of active beamformer electron-
ics, newer generation of 5G active antenna array de-
vices now have many nonlinear RF components, such as
digitally controlled PAs, LNAs, phase shifters and mix-
ers. New designs incorporate multi-channel configura-
tions in a single package. NI’s software-designed test
platform keeps pace with the latest 5G NR PHY layer
requirements and includes the measurement science
and instantaneous bandwidth necessary to test wide NR
component carriers or carrier-aggregated signals. NI’s
high bandwidth instrumentation also allows for lineariza-
tion of the DUTs using digital predistortion techniques.
The NI platform provides for phase-coherent and time-
aligned expansion into multi-channel measurement sys-
tems for comprehensive test coverage of the latest NR
semiconductor devices.
NSI-MI Solutions
NSI-MI Technologies products for 5G testing include
near-field and CATR systems. For near-field testing, NSI-
MI recommends pattern testing only with CW tones when
possible. The SNF-FIX-1.0 is a spherical near-field system
that rotates a probe to any position on a sphere up to θ
≤ 150° around a stationary DUT. It does this with a dual
rotary stage articulating arm. The advantage of this system
is its ability to sample near-field patterns without the need
for any type of rotation of the DUT. Figure 11 shows the
SNF test system. If DUT stationarity is not required, the
SNF-RAZ-0.7 roll-over-azimuth system may also be used
for SNF pattern testing.
For more general 5G testing, NSI-MI recommends a
CATR. The chambers designed by NSI-MI can handle
mmWave frequencies up to 110 GHz. The CATRs de-
signed for 5G testing are intended for mmWave testing,
as those frequencies are the primary driver for OTA test-
ing in 5G. But they can be modified for FR1 OTA test-
ing. They are designed for 30, 50, 80 and 100 cm quiet
zones (see Figure 12).
Rohde & Schwarz Solutions
It is difficult to heat up or cool down an entire OTA
chamber, more so since the absorber material used in
these chambers cannot withstand very high or low tem-
peratures. Neither can the motors in high accuracy posi-
tioners. The solution is the use of a relatively small enclo-
sure around the DUT inside the chamber, changing the
temperature only inside this enclosure rather than in the
entire chamber. Of course, the enclosure itself must have
only minimal influence on the radiation parameters or the
beam emitted by the DUT.
A typical CATR setup is mounted inside a shielded
chamber for RF conformance testing, typically together
with a positioner. However, a chamber takes up space
in a space limited R&D environment. R&S created a
product where a CATR setup can be put on an engi-
neer’s work bench or even inside a 19 in. rack taking up
minimal floor space inside the lab, while providing a big
and accurate quiet zone for RF and protocol R&D and
regression testing (see Figure 13).
 For testing antenna ar-
ray systems, typically a
chamber with 3D position-
er is required to measure
the 3D radiation pattern
of the array under test.
R&S offers the ATS1000
with a high precision coni-
cal cut positioner to ful-
fill these tasks in a very
compact size (see Figure
14). As an additional op-
tion, the ATS1000 can be
equipped with a “temper-
ature bubble” in which ex-
treme temperature condi-
tions between −40°C and
+85°C can be achieved
s Fig. 13 R&S ATS800R using an external ther-
compact test chamber.
mal stream. The bubble
creates a relatively small closed environment around
the DUT so the temperature changes can be achieved
quickly. Since the bubble is made out of RF transparent
material, the influence on the overall test results can be
neglected.
Boonton and Noisecom Solution
The equipment and testing techniques used for en-
gineering and quality assurance will be expensive and
time consuming compared to what will be needed on the
production line for 5G. Boonton and Noisecom has an
interesting approach for OTA testing using a Noisecom
calibrated noise source outside the chamber, connected
s Fig. 14 R&S ATS1000 test chamber.
Known Gain Antenna Total Path Loss
PRA
G PISO
PSG clSG-RA RA
Signal PISO = PRA + GRA
Generator PL = PRA + GRA – PTE
Path Loss Verification
for RF Chambers
s Fig. 15 Boonton and Noisecom’s OTA path loss measurement using noise.
to a transmit antenna inside the chamber. Receive anten-
nas inside the chamber are connected to test equipment
outside the chamber. The noise source can have one or
two known excess noise ratio (ENR) values with calibra-
tion data for the bandwidth of interest. The benefit of
having two ENR levels is the ability to determine Y factor
noise figure of the DUT for radiated measurements.
An advantage of the noise source is the calibration
points can normalize the equipment for power and fre-
quency response. Once the equipment is normalized,
the noise source is used to determine and verify the
path loss of the interconnects in the system. Since the
noise source is generating wide bandwidth OFDM-like
signals, with crest factors (CF) similar to those to and
from the DUT, it is straightforward to verify the system
response to see if anything has changed between tests,
perhaps caused by connector wear or operator error.
Boonton RTP5000 RF broadband RF power sensors
can be connected to multiple receive antennas inside
the chamber around the DUT (see Figure 15). The RF
peak power sensors are capable of measuring the aver-
age and peak power being transmitted from the DUT.
RF sensors can be synchronized to obtain composite av-
erage and peak power and determine CF. CF measure-
ments are a quick figure of merit in a production test
environment.
Noisecom noise sources are proven OFDM-like signal
generators at a fraction of the cost of expensive signal
generators and can be used for verification, calibration
and signal source to speed up production tests. Boonton
RTP5000 series RF peak power sensors offer a simple and
fast way to measure complex OFDM signals using CF as
a figure of merit to develop go, no-go testing.
SUMMARY
5G OTA testing will evolve quickly in 2019, as stan-
dards are defined and 5G products go into produc-
tion. There will certainly be several methods needed to
test and verify 5G components and systems, as noted
in this article. The primary tradeoffs for cost, accuracy
and throughput will need to be determined quickly
and the test methods standardized as 5G deployments
accelerate.n
Calibrated noise sources can be used to
create signals to verify path loss for
PMA RF enclosures in OTA testing.
clMA-TE
GMA PTE RF Absorber
clTE-RX PRX Material
DUT
Receiver Measurement
Antenna
Positioner
Fully Anechoic Chamber
24
 A New Approach
to 5G OTA Testing

Peak Power Sensor

Up to 40 GHz
195 MHz bandwidth
100k Readings per second
Multi-channel Crest Factor
Simple measurements

Noise Source Modules

Up to 110 GHz
Hz to GHz bandwidth
OFDM-like stimulation
Simple to operate

Faster. Simpler. More Affordable.

Peak power sensors and noise sources are an ideal alternative to expensive test equipment
for 5G OTA calibration, verification, and measurements.

To learn more visit, boonton.com/ota | noisecom.com/ota.

MVG mmWave OTA Test System
Provides Proof of Concept for 5G
Beamforming Solution
Microwave Vision Group
Paris, France

F
or system level architects and industry test en-
gineers, the availability of 5G has been long
awaited, allowing more data to be transferred at
faster speeds. Unlike previous generations of telecom-
munications standards, 5G NR mmWave uses dynami-
cally steerable beams which maximise connectivity by
directing as much of the signal directly to the device as
possible. These steerable beams are created by phased
array antennas and their associated electronics which
need to be calibrated and measured in a large number
of configurations through advanced Over the Air (OTA)
tests to ensure the connectivity is optimized.
Taiwanese technology business TMYTEK has de-
veloped BBox, which stands for Beamformer Box. It is
a development kit built for 5G NR mmWave antenna
designers and protocol/algorithm developers, it saves
time for research groups and product developers who
would otherwise need to build up complex circuit sys-
tems to achieve the same result.
Following a six-month development process that in- s Fig. 1 BBox being tested in StarLab 50 GHz.
cluded various testing at academic institutes around the
world, Ethan Lin, Vice President at TMYTEK and project industry test engineers, saving time and speeding up
lead, was introduced to the Microwave Vision Group’s product development. Because of the crucial nature
(MVG) StarLab 50 GHz test system by Dr. Sidina Wane, of its role in the development process we needed to
CEO & Founder of eV-Technologies (see Figure 1). ensure that it was as robust and effective as possible.
Dr. Wane discusses the importance of the technology Having worked with MVG on similar projects in the past
and why he directed the team towards the StarLab 50 I knew that through StarLab, TMYTEK could not only en-
GHz testing solution: “BBox is set to be a highly val- sure highly credible results, but that they could be deliv-
ued asset for designers, 5G system-level architects and ered in a timely and effective manner.”

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 0˚ H Cut
s Fig. 2 Radiation patterns for 0˚ and –15˚ on the horizontal polarization.
FASTER PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
PROFESSIONAL TESTING
For Mr. Lin, the speed and professionalism offered
by MVG was key to his decision to make use of StarLab
50 GHz. He says: “By the time Dr. Wane had introduced
us to MVG we had already done some simulation test-
ing as well as a number of collaborations with various
universities and research organisations. This was incred-
ibly useful at those early stages but in order to meet the
commercial requirement of a faster development cycle,
we needed a more efficient and stringent testing regime
to provide proof of concept.”
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–15˚ H Cut
Mr. Lin continues: “As a research and development
test tool, BBox needs to be calibrated precisely and
carefully for both conductivity and OTA testing. MVG
has been a leading company in OTA testing for a num-
ber of years now and StarLab proved the perfect tech-
nology for our needs.
“While the self-built chambers of universities and re-
search institutes do provide an effective testbed, equip-
ment setup and measurement can often be laborious
and time intensive, taking anywhere up to hours per
test. In the case of the MVG StarLab 50 GHz, the speed
of testing, flexibility and easy-to-use post-processing
software makes it one of the most attractive OTA testing BBOX – BUILT FOR ALL 5G DEVELOPERS
options on the market. Tests that were taking us up to
45 minutes to 1 hour to complete at research institutes Built for mmWave and Antenna Designers
were completed in 15 minutes or less. As a result, we TMYTEK’s BBox antenna can be easily detached and
completed 12 different phase and amplitude configura- replaced. This design is made to satisfy antenna design-
tions of our BBox within four hours, a feat that would be ers for beamforming tests with various antennas. Simi-
near impossible to achieve elsewhere. larly, mmWave components can also be replaced.
“The results revealed valuable insights into our prod- Built for Baseband Researchers
uct and sped up the development process significantly,
TMYTEK’s BBox and UD Box complete the RF front
to the point where we are now confirming orders for
end, providing IF frequency port for baseband research-
BBox with potential customers, something that we
ers. This give researchers the ease of testing baseband
wouldn’t have been able to do for a further 3 months
protocols without any hassle to delve into the RF do-
were it not for StarLab.”
main.
The measurement operation took
place in November 2018, at the MVG
measurement facility near Paris. A set of
measurements were performed to obtain
the radiation pattern of a 5G NR mmWave
phased array under pre-defined configu-
rations. The DUT (device under test) was a
model “BBox Lite” from TMYTEK. It con-
sisted of a 4 channel front-end system in
the 28 GHz band, including phase shift-
ers, amplifiers (Tx/Rx), and a 4x1 patch
antenna.
The beam forming capabilities were
verified by performing radiation pattern
measurements for different presets (0° /
±10° / ± 15°/ ± 25°). Pointing directions
and gain were processed using the MVG
WaveStudio software bench and the re-
sults confirmed the performances of the
BBox.
Figure 2 the results for the elevation
radiation pattern, on the main polarization
(Horizontal).
Beamsteering measurement results:
Given the volume of the data gener-
ated during the measurements, three fre-
quencies were selected to evaluate the
performance. This corresponds to the
centre frequency, and the lower/upper
limits of a 2 GHz band. It was also verified
that measured beams correspond to the
presets for the lower/upper limit frequen-
cies within a 3° error range (see Figure 3).
Nicolas Gross, Application Director
at MVG, worked closely with Dr. Wane
and Mr. Lin on the project. He comments:
“For MVG, testing innovative products
like the BBox is what we love the most.
Both of our organisations have a strong
belief in the ability of 5G to transform the
world around us and for those developing
5G, having both an effective beamform-
ing option and the ability to perform cred-
ible and effective testing is essential. We
wish both Dr. Wane and Mr. Lin success
with their new venture and look forward
to helping them test more 5G solutions in
the coming months and years.” s Fig. 3 Beamsteering data at 27, 28 and 29 GHz.

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Built for OTA Test Production Line
TMYTEK’s BBox can also play an important role in
production line testing such as beam profiling and beam
direction testing. With the electronic systems within
BBox, it can dramatically speed up the testing process
as compared to the traditional mechanical way.
StarLab Technology
Part of MVG’s ‘Little Big Lab’ range of compact and
portable testing equipment, StarLab is one of the most
comprehensively designed products of its kind having
undergone over 15 years of proactive regeneration in
order to continually meet the antenna testing and mea-
surement requirements of businesses just like Isotropic
Systems. Capable of performing both passive antenna
and OTA measurements to class-leading standards,
its measurement speed has improved with every new
model and its typical dynamic range has evolved to fully
support Wi-Fi, LTE and upcoming protocols.
Designed specifically for the telecom, aerospace and
defense markets, the third-generation model (StarLab
50 GHz), released in 2017, superseded its predecessor
in order to meet the measurement requirements of 5G
high-frequency and millimetre-wave antenna testing.
The second-generation model (StarLab 650 MHz -18
GHz) still proves popular for consumer electronics and
telecom industries and has, in recent years, been hailed
a revolution in R&D testing by leading manufacturers
looking for speed and accuracy in a compact footprint
suitable for use in a laboratory environment.
For more information on MVG’s StarLab
technology visit www.mvg-world.com/5g

Meeting the Testing Challenges of a

Fully Connected World!
At MVG, our ambition is to be at the leading edge of what the market needs in terms of 5G OTA testing.
MVG's unique multi-probe systems are based on rapid sampling of the radiated NF in amplitude and
phase on a closed surface around the device. This measurement technique also gives access to important
investigative features of the device behavior through post-processing. The turn-key MVG test systems
have proved their worth today at customer sites in the development of 5G enabled devices.

www.mvg-world.com/5g
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