Smartphone test platform in reduced footprint

A test system that claims to revolutionize the waymulti-radio devices such as smartphones and USB dongles are designed, tested,and verified has been developed by OctoScope.

The octoBox provides accurate over-the-air (OTA) testing ofconventional and MIMO wireless devices in a customizable refrigerator sizedanechoic (non-echoing) enclosure.

An OTA test setup has to couple a 3-dimensionalelectromagnetic energy field into the test instrumentation, which isconsiderably more challenging to do in a controlled and repeatable manner.

A single unit enables simultaneous parallel testing of eightor more fully assembled smartphones through their antennas.

It also enables seamless RF technology validation duringdevelopment cycles and production and provides stable far-field conditions withadvantages for OTA measurement accuracy, sensitivity, and repeatability. Itsdual-chamber architecture, allows test instrumentation and the DUT to reside inthe same enclosure, as a complete self-contained test station isolated from theinterference of neighboring stations.

In addition to measuring a DUT's 3D antenna pattern, octoBoxcan integrate test equipment, including a MIMO channel emulator, interferencegenerators, RF sensors, data monitors, and other instruments.

It supports a frequency range from 700 MHz to 6 GHz and canbe used for testing multi-radio smartphones, with radios that include cellular,3G/4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, all operating in different regions of thespectrum.

The top chamber typically houses test equipment or a partnerdevice transmitting to and receiving from the DUT. The DUT chamber houses theDUT and the test antennas and features:

- Far-field coupling between the DUT antennas and the testantennas

-  Uniform antennafield between the DUT antennas and the test antennas

Optimizing the octoBox for the antenna patterns of each DUTis a natural extension of octoScope's RF and wireless consulting services. Inaddition to measuring and accommodating the DUT's 3D antenna pattern, octoScopecan integrate test equipment, including multipath fading channel emulation,interference generators, RF sensors, data monitors and other instrumentation.

The octoBox is available from $29,800.

This story was originally posted by EE Times.

Smartphone test platform in reduced footprint