Mass production of non-cellular devices that support technologies such as WLAN 802.11a/b/g/n/p/ac/ax, Bluetooth® classic (BT/EDR) and low energy (LE), ZigBee and LR-WPAN requires optimized test setups in production lines in order to detect manufacturing defects and ensure the expected quality of a wireless device. This can be achieved by testing the devices in non-signaling mode, where the sequencer software communicates with the chipset directly over different physical interfaces offered by the non-cellular device.
Non-cellular device manufacturing
Test setup for testing devices with different physical interfaces
Test setup for testing devices with different physical interfaces
Open LightboxR&S®CMWrun supports testing of such devices with different physical interfaces such as USB, PCIe, Serial, ADB, SDIO and Telnet. R&S®CMWrun combined with the R&S®CMW100 multiport communications manufacturing test set is a compact and cost effective turnkey test solution for quickly verifying TX and RX characteristics on the production line.
Switched MIMO test setup for IEEE 802.11ac 4x4 MIMO access point with R&S®CMW100
Switched MIMO test setup for IEEE 802.11ac 4x4 MIMO access point with R&S®CMW100
Open LightboxHigh performance and accurate higher order MIMO testing
Non-cellular devices such as access points, routers, CPE and TV set-top boxes supporting IEEE 802.11n/ac often apply multiple antenna schemes like 2x2 MIMO, 3x3 MIMO or even higher order MIMO. This offers additional challenges in a production line where the goal is to use as few test and measurement resources as possible to measure signal characteristics on all multiple antenna streams.
The R&S®CMW100 multiport tester is ideal for MIMO testing. Each DUT antenna port is connected to an individual RF port on the tester. In “switched MIMO” mode, each antenna port is measured separately providing, for example, the modulation quality for each stream. The test setup can also be easily scaled up to test multiple DUTs.
Multi-DUT testing for MIMO and TX beamforming using R&S®CMW100 and R&S®CMWrun
Multi-DUT testing for MIMO and TX beamforming using R&S®CMW100 and R&S®CMWrun
Open LightboxIn addition to switched MIMO, the R&S®CMW100 supports other MIMO variants such as composite MIMO, TX beamforming calibration and verification (required for devices that support implicit beamforming). This solution offers the best accuracy for higher order MIMO measurements.
Go/no-go test solution using the R&S®NRP power sensor and R&S®OSP switching unit
Go/no-go test solution using the R&S®NRP power sensor and R&S®OSP switching unit
Cost-effective go/no-go test solution for final testing
After final assembly, it is necessary to test the proper functioning of the non-cellular device. This calls for a cost-effective solution to perform simple RF power measurements to verify the DUT’s transmitter.
The R&S®NRP power sensors are ideal for measuring the output power transmitted from any non-cellular device such as an access point or router.
The R&S®OSP open switch and control platform is a speed-optimized solution that ensures fastest switching between different antenna ports, enabling simultaneous testing of multiple DUTs. Combining realtime power measurements with the fast switching capabilities of the R&S®OSP yields a cost-effective and simple test setup for verifying the proper functioning of non-cellular devices.
