Keynote at AMTA 2020 virtual symposium from 2 – 5 November 2020

Plane-wave synthesis (PWS) is a near-field focusing technique for antenna measurements that utilizes a phased antenna array to generate a close to planar wavefront in a target region.

PWS presents two major features, giving it a unique benefit:

• it allows a true emulation of a far-field condition, as perceived from the device under test (DUT)
• it reduces the necessary range length by a factor of 2 or more compared to a compact antenna test range (CATR) with similar quiet zone performance.

With these advantages in mind, our group set out to create the first turnkey solution implementing this method, the R&S® PWC200, with a specific focus on 3GPP over-the-air (OTA) conformance testing of 5GNR active antenna system (AAS) base stations (BS).

Barriers were however much higher than expected and multiple inventive steps were required to turn this attractive concept into an accurate measurement system.

Watch this keynote to learn more about our bumpy engineering path, with a highlight on the main technical and scientific challenges (array calibration, phase shifter imperfections, high power handling, broadband frequency dispersion, etc…) and novel solutions which finally enabled the technology to an adequate level.