Anritsu Corporation has enhanced its partnership with Bluetest AB of Sweden offering a new unified test solution for Over the Air (OTA) measurement of 5G mobile terminals. Anritsu and Bluetest have worked together previously on LTE/5G FR1 (Sub-6 GHz band) OTA measurements, but this enhanced partnership combines Bluetest's RTS65 OTA Reverberation Test System equipped with a new Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) option and Anritsu's MT8000A RF measurement test platform for 5G mobile terminals to implement new 5G FR2 (mmWave) OTA measurements.
Before this solution, a separate OTA chamber was required for each LTE/5G FR1 and 5G FR2 OTA measurement, but this unified solution facilitates both measurements using just one chamber, resulting in lower costs for LTE/5G terminal developers as well as for operator Communication Acceptance Tests (CAT) in an LTE/5G OTA test environment; the unified smaller system also saves valuable laboratory space.
This solution consists of the Anritsu MT8000A and MT8821C as well as the Bluetest RTS65; the MT8000A is a new test platform supporting 5G technologies including wideband signal processing and beamforming required by the enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) feature of 5G NR. In addition to protocol tests, it supports signaling RF measurements for each 5G NR band, covering the sub-6 GHz bands, such as the 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5-GHz bands, as well as the 28 and 39-GHz mmWave bands. The MT8821C facilitates RF TRx and maximum throughput measurements of 2G, 3G, and LTE mobile terminals using one instrument.
Bluetest has created a unique OTA Reverberation Test System in RTS65 by combining the reverberation chamber and a CATR into the same chamber. The CATR solution is enabled by a carefully designed dual-reflector system combined with a patented frequency-selective absorber system. The wide range of measurement antennas supports 5G measurements, including the 28 and 39-GHz mmWave bands, combined with multiple LTE, or 5G, carriers in the sub-6 GHz bands. Additionally, the built-in measurement computer improves R&D productivity with its easy-to-use touch-screen interface for measurement control and monitoring.
The Anritsu LTE solution based on MT8821C has shown stable performance for many years and it supports 4x4 MIMO and all available LTE carrier combinations up to 6 carriers. Bluetest and Anritsu’s original FR1 5G solution was introduced in October 2018. Anritsu was therefore the natural partner for Bluetest when taking the step into directional measurements for higher frequencies.
The strength and the versatility of the Anritsu communication tester portfolio show its advantage with Bluetest’s flexible OTA chamber solution. Using the MT8000A, MT8821C, and RTS65 to configure an efficient development environment with RF TRx tests, simulated base-station, and measurement-result monitoring functions facilitates cost-effective OTA measurements of LTE and 5G FR1/FR2 mobiles.
