Impact of Phase Curvature on Measuring 5G Millimeter Wave Devices

Wireless industry through 3GPP has standardized 5G in both FR1 (sub 6 GHz) and FR2 (24.25–52.6 GHz) frequency ranges. While FR1 will be using frequencies already in place for LTE-4G technology, FR2 is dealing with mmWave frequencies. Due to the high free space path loss (FSPL), 5G at mmWave would impose the use of directive antennas on both ends of the communication link, the User Equipment (UE) and the Base Station (BS). A black box approach (i.e. the location of the antenna within the device is unknown) has been agreed to be used for Over The Air (OTA) measurements. The physical center of the device must be aligned with the center of the measurement setup. Hence, the test antennas will likely be offset with respect to the center of the coordinate system. The measurement distance will be for most systems sufficient to minimize the amplitude error while will introduce a phase deviation between the actual spherical wave and the desired plane wave which may cause an effective phase shaping of the radiated beam of the small phased array under test. In this paper we will analyze the impact of the phase curvature on the beam antenna pattern and spherical coverage for the different testing environments. Specifically, simulation of a 5G terminal device with multiple beams will be considered and realistic spherical near field measurement at different finite distances will be emulated also taking into account different measurement antennas (probes).