The R&S TS8991 from Rohde & Schwarz is an OTA Conformance Test System with a frequency range from 400 MHz to 18 GHz. It is designed to conduct OTA measurements according to CTIA and 3GPP specifications, allowing customizations with improved test speeds for R&D purposes. This test system can be flexibly configured to meet user-specific requirements and allows users to upgrade its flexible hardware and software, which helps reduce system downtime, complexity, and cost. It supports OTA measurements for a wide variety of wireless technologies including cellular (LTE-FDD, TD-LTE, LTE-U, LTE carrier aggregation 2/3/4 DL CA with single UL), WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, WLAN, Bluetooth, and non-cellular (A-GNSS, A-GPS, A-GLONASS) standards.
The R&S TS8991 consists of an anechoic chamber, Device Under Test (DUT) positioning equipment, test instruments, and automated measurement software. It uses the R&S CMW500 communication tester that supports all relevant mobile and wireless standards in one instrument. This system can measure OTA-related parameters, including total radiated power, total isotropic sensitivity, radiated sensitivity, antenna efficiency, 2D/3D radiation patterns, envelope correlation coefficients, and error rate measurements. It includes R&S OSP open switch platform for RF switching of equipment pots to the respective antenna ports inside the anechoic chamber.
The R&S TS8991 has a compact RF diagnostic chamber that provides entry-level diagnostic measurements with fast and reliable estimation of OTA parameters in a small space. It offers short measurement cycles and high repeatability of test results with a fast, accurate, and reliable positioning system, and supports a second elevation positioned for MIMO and TRP estimations. This system integrates an optional test sequencer function that enables sequential execution of test samples with little to no user interaction.
This OTA conformance test system uses the R&S AMS32 measurement software to obtain automated, fast, and accurate results by constantly communicating with the positioning system and the test and measurement equipment. It provides a streamlined process flow, in-line graphical result displays, and a comprehensive report tool. The full version of the software can be installed on any Windows PC without the need for a license key/smart card and allows measurement data to be visualized, manipulated, and exported into various formats and reports.
The R&S TS8991 provides a positioning accuracy of better than 0.5°, has an azimuth range of 360°, and an elevation range of ±165°. It includes LAN, GPIB (IEEE 488.2), and USB 2.0 interfaces that provide remote communication, monitoring, and control. This conformance test system requires a three-phase AC supply of 380-400 V (CCP positioned) and 100-240 V (system rack) and consumes 2.5 kVA of power. This system is available in a rack-mount enclosure that measures 600 x 1965 x 900 mm.
