Method, measurement environment and device under test

Abstract

A method for evaluating a device having at least one antenna array, the device being configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns using the antenna array, the method comprising: positioning the device in a measurement environment or moving / switching probe / link antennas in the measurement environment around the device adapted to measure the beam patterns; and controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns. The method includes measuring the predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment and / or the device. Selection diagram: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a device to be tested, for example in terms of its wireless operation, a measurement system and a method for testing the device. The present invention further relates to multi-beam switching / scanning and beam / beam pattern enumeration / identification, sometimes known as beam ID assignment. [Background technology]

[0002] The ISO Open Systems Interconnection standard, which incorporates the concept of a layered model, has been adapted for various computer and communications systems, including those loosely known as 4G, beyond 4G, 5G, and beyond 5G systems. Using this model, the circuitry required to implement the function of transmitting and receiving raw data over a physical medium (a radio transceiver and its associated antenna system) is the so-called physical layer (PHY). Thus, parameters used in the PHY layer control the manner in which the radio transceiver and its associated antenna system operate. During normal operation, these parameters are automatically controlled to ensure that the communications system operates according to the criteria determined by the so-called higher layers.

[0003] At the same time, devices need to be tested to take into account their operation in a wireless environment, and testing must be fast and accurate. Therefore, wireless testing needs to be strengthened. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] An object of the present invention is to enhance over-the-air testing and over-the-air measurement. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The inventors have found that, for testing equipment, it is advantageous to predefine one or more beam patterns formed by a device under test (DUT) and measure the formed beam patterns to enable evaluation of the equipment's behavior. By directly controlling the equipment to form a predetermined beam pattern, time may be saved for adjusting and / or moving the equipment, and / or for adjusting the equipment, controlling the equipment to (automatically) form its beam pattern toward a link antenna, fixing the beam, and then moving the equipment. Because the time for orienting or aligning the equipment and / or moving the equipment can be several orders of magnitude longer than the actual measurement time, the present invention allows for a significant reduction in measurement time and therefore enhanced measurement.

[0006] According to one embodiment, there is provided a method for evaluating a device having at least one antenna array, the device being configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns. Measuring the antenna array includes positioning the device in a measurement environment adapted to measure the beam patterns, controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns, and measuring the predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment. Controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern allows the predetermined beam pattern to be acquired in a short time, thus enabling high-speed measurement.

[0007] According to one embodiment, the predetermined beam pattern is a first beam pattern of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns, the plurality of predetermined beam patterns being a subset of the plurality of communication beam patterns. The method includes controlling the device to form a second predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns after measuring the first predetermined beam pattern. The method further includes measuring the second predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment. By sequentially forming and measuring the plurality of predetermined beam patterns, different beam patterns with different numbers of lobes and / or nulls, lobe sizes or directions, etc., may be measured one after the other, possibly along different directions, thus saving time between two measurements during which the device is moved.

[0008] According to one embodiment, the predetermined beam pattern is a first beam pattern of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns. The plurality of predetermined beam patterns is at least a subset of a plurality of communication beam patterns. The method includes controlling the DUT to form the predetermined beam pattern and a third predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns during the step of measuring the first predetermined beam pattern, i.e., to form at least the first predetermined beam pattern and the further predetermined beam pattern simultaneously. The method includes measuring the third predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment. This allows at least two predetermined beam patterns to be evaluated simultaneously, thereby further reducing measurement time.

[0009] According to one embodiment, a device is controlled to sequentially form multiple predefined beam patterns or measure each predefined beam pattern using a measurement environment. The method includes changing the relative position between the device and the measurement environment after measuring the multiple predefined beam patterns for a certain position / or orientation or while moving from one position to another. Changing the relative position may be accomplished by moving the device relative to one or more probe antennas and / or by moving one or more probe antennas relative to the device. The method includes repeatedly controlling the device to form and measure multiple beam patterns or additional predefined beam patterns. The additional beam patterns may include identical beam patterns or subsets of the first plurality of predefined beam patterns. Alternatively or additionally, one or more of the additional predefined beam patterns may be different from the first plurality of predefined beam patterns. That is, after sequentially forming and measuring some or all of the predefined beam patterns, the device may be moved, and then additional beam patterns may be formed. Reducing movement, or even without movement, by simply sampling the space using the device's measurement environment to time the time between forming and measuring the multiple predefined beam patterns, enables fast and accurate measurements.

[0010] Alternatively or in addition to changing the relative position between the measurement environment (probe antenna) and the device, embodiments relate to measuring beam patterns on a sphere (e.g., without movement), or in a cross section, e.g., initially along azimuth or elevation (e.g., movement in one axis only), or according to a 2D grid in azimuth and elevation using a certain number of sampling points in space.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the device is controlled to generate multiple predetermined beam patterns and / or postpone multiple predetermined beam patterns in a predetermined order. This allows for coordinated / synchronized operation during measurements, i.e., the measurement environment may explicitly wait for a specific beam pattern and the measured beam pattern may be evaluated against expectations. For example, in this way, the beam correspondence between the Tx and Rx beams of the device may be evaluated.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the method includes determining the predetermined beam pattern by selecting the predetermined beam pattern from a plurality of communication beam patterns, for example, the predetermined beam pattern may be selected from a list provided by a manufacturer to obtain a subset of communication beam patterns that allows for quick and / or accurate evaluation of the device.

[0013] According to one embodiment, a device or model or example thereof for forming a calibration beam pattern having a receive (Rx) beam and / or a transmit (Tx) beam, the calibration beam pattern being one of a plurality of communication beam patterns. The method further includes storing beam-related information in a memory indicative of the calibration beam pattern. Controlling the device may include direct control, such as gain parameters, or may include automatic control, such as enabling the device to form a beam pattern toward a link antenna. This allows for obtaining a predetermined beam pattern in the absence of, or in addition to, information provided by the manufacturer.

[0014] According to one embodiment, multiple calibration beam patterns are formed and corresponding multiple beam-related information is stored in memory to enable the multiple calibration beam patterns to be repeatedly and deterministically re-formed as predetermined beam patterns.

[0015] According to one embodiment, controlling the device or a model or example of the device to form a calibration beam pattern includes positioning the device or a device similar to the device, including its relative position with respect to the link antenna, such that the device forms the calibration beam pattern toward the link antenna. Parameters used by the device or a device similar to the device to form the beam pattern toward the link antenna may describe the calibration beam pattern and thus may be referred to as beam-related information. Alternatively, the beam-related information may be derived from the parameters. For example, different calibration beam patterns may be designated or classified using identifiers, etc., such that the parameters, e.g., in combination with additional information, form the beam-related information.

[0016] According to one embodiment, controlling a device or a device model or exemplary / equivalent device, i.e., a device such as device 14, to form a calibration beam pattern includes electronically switching or manipulating and positioning devices associated with the device to include relative positions relative to multiple link antennas in different relative positions such that the device sequentially forms calibration beam patterns toward the multiple link antennas. Parameters used by the device or devices similar to the device to form beam patterns toward the multiple link antennas may describe the calibration beam pattern and thus may be referred to as beam-related information. For example, the device may form beam patterns toward the multiple link antennas sequentially, one after the other, and / or simultaneously. Alternatively, the beam-related information may be derived from the parameters. For example, different calibration beam patterns may be designated or categorized using identifiers, etc., such that the parameters, combined with additional information, form the beam-related information.

[0017] According to one embodiment, controlling the device or equivalent device to form a calibration beam pattern includes, in addition to forming the calibration beam pattern, controlling the device to fix the beam pattern such that the device maintains the relative orientation of the beam pattern with respect to the surface of the device when changing the relative position of the device with respect to the link antenna or antennas, which may allow the formed calibration beam pattern to be initially evaluated before deciding whether to store beam-related information in memory.

[0018] According to one embodiment, the calibration beam pattern is a first calibration beam pattern. The beam-related information is first beam-related information. The method further includes changing a relative position between the device or a device similar to the device and the link antenna, such that, for example, when the beam pattern is re-directed to the link antenna, the device forms a second calibration beam pattern. The step of changing the relative position can be performed mechanically or by switching to another link antenna with a different angular position. The latter can also be performed by overlapping multiple link antennas to form links arriving from any direction between the overlapping multiple link antennas. The method includes storing second beam-related information in a memory, the second beam-related information indicating the second calibration beam pattern. Multiple calibration beam patterns may thereby be stored via their respective beam-related information, thereby defining a predetermined beam pattern.

[0019] According to one embodiment, the step of controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern includes the steps of reading the beam-related information from the memory and forming the predetermined beam pattern according to the beam-related information, which enables the beam pattern to be formed quickly.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the beam-related information includes at least one of the following: a beam identifier; information indicating one or more beam-related parameters of the transmit beam and / or receive beam, such as gain, power, absolute or relative phase, applied to the antenna array and / or associated baseband signals communicated, i.e., transmitted and / or received, using the antenna array; beam polarization; carrier frequency of the beam pattern; a beam correspondence flag indicating beam correspondence between the receive beam and the transmit beam; a beam correspondence ID, such as a beam / beam sweep identifier for the corresponding receive beam and / or transmit beam / beam sweep. Such information is interpreted by the device to form beams accordingly. This allows the beam patterns to be characterized according to the needs of the measurement environment.

[0021] According to one embodiment, controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern of a plurality of communication beam patterns includes transmitting a signal to the device via the measurement environment, the signal including information indicating at least one of the following: the duration of the predetermined beam pattern; the duration of a beam sweep including the predetermined beam pattern; the time in the device or measurement environment to enable time synchronization; and / or the order of the predetermined beam patterns formed by the device; a Tx-Rx flag to identify whether a receive beam pattern (Rx) or a transmit beam pattern (Tx) is being measured; and a beam identifier, e.g., to ensure that the Tx power is off when measuring Rx, e.g., in half duplex. Used, for example, when the device signals that a beam correspondence exists between Tx and Rx. Such information may be stored in a memory or indicated, for example, by indicating an entry in a codebook, i.e., by using an identifier. The codebook may include a set of identifiable directions / radiation patterns covering part or all of the angular space used for communication (transmission and / or reception). Alternatively or additionally, at least one of the parameters may be indicated in the signal transmitted to the device to enable flexible adaptation of the measurement, e.g., with respect to the time set to form and maintain the predetermined beam pattern.

[0022] According to one embodiment, the beam-related information is stored in a memory of the device, and the signal indicates the beam-related information, which allows the communication load to be kept low, since the respective required information is already stored in the device.

[0023] According to one embodiment, controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern includes transmitting a signal from the measurement environment to the device, the signal including information that specifically indicates a beam pattern or a sequence of multiple predetermined beam patterns to be formed by the device, thereby enabling the behavior of the device to be measured and evaluated relative to a desired or target state identified by the signal.

[0024] According to one embodiment, the step of measuring the predetermined beam pattern includes at least one of measuring the total radiated power of the beam pattern, measuring the equivalent isotropic radiated power, measuring the effective isotropic sensitivity, measuring the combined radiation pattern of Rx and / or Tx in amplitude and phase, measuring the combined radiation pattern of Rx and / or Tx in relative amplitude and relative phase, measuring the direction of the beam pattern relative to the device, and measuring the spherical coverage, the grid density of the covered spherical beams, the specific beam patterns of all activated beams in the set of beams, the side lobes of at least one of the main beams / beam patterns, the scalability / linearity / hysteresis of beam pattern changing / switching / expansion / contraction, spurious emissions / adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) possibly including spatial resolution, the capability and accuracy of null steering and multi-beam steering, the beam correspondence, i.e., accuracy between Tx beams and Rx beams, and the calibration of the antenna array / panel, etc. This allows for an accurate evaluation of the formed beam pattern.

[0025] According to one embodiment, the step of measuring the predetermined beam pattern comprises measuring the in-band emissions of the communications band used by the device, which makes it possible to assess the in-band behavior of the device.

[0026] According to one embodiment, the step of measuring the predetermined beam pattern further comprises measuring out-of-band emissions of the communication band, which makes it possible to characterize the interference behavior of the device.

[0027] According to one embodiment, the device is adapted to use at least a first beam and a second beam in superposition to form a combined beam in a predetermined beam pattern. The individual beams may or may not be distinguishable relative to the measurement environment. The beams may be distinguishable, for example, by using different reference pilots or reference symbols that may be evaluated using the measurement environment, while the single beams may remain indistinguishable when evaluating only the transmit power. This may allow for the acquisition of a measurable degree of information.

[0028] According to one embodiment, the predetermined beam pattern is one of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns. The device is controlled to sequentially form each of the plurality of beam patterns, and the plurality of predetermined beam patterns are arranged according to a pattern in the measurement environment. The pattern may be a regular or irregular pattern, a pattern in which multiple beams are arranged equidistantly, and / or a pattern covering the azimuth and / or elevation range of the device, and / or a pattern including one or a superposition of polarization components. Furthermore, by selecting the plurality of predetermined beams according to the predetermined pattern in the measurement environment, high accuracy can be achieved during measurement. According to one embodiment, when controlling the device, the predetermined beam pattern is formed independently of the link antenna. This allows for a simple measurement environment and / or low interference during measurement.

[0029] According to one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium stores a computer program having program code for performing a method according to one embodiment when the computer program is executed on a computer.

[0030] According to one embodiment, an apparatus includes at least one antenna array. The apparatus is configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns using the antenna array. The apparatus includes a memory having stored therein beam-related information that clearly indicates at least one of the plurality of communication beam patterns as a predetermined beam pattern. The apparatus includes an interface configured to receive a signal indicating a request to form the predetermined beam pattern. The apparatus is configured to form the predetermined beam pattern in response to the signal using the beam-related information. For example, when measuring a receive beam, the apparatus may: a unique beam configuration identifier, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), For example, the power for any test signal: amplitude and phase at a defined frequency, relative amplitude and relative phase at defined frequencies, Beam direction such as angle of arrival The measurement results may be fed back, including one or more of:

[0031] According to one embodiment, the non-transitory storage medium stores a beam identification signal indicating a request to the device to form a predetermined beam pattern.

[0032] According to one embodiment, the measurement environment comprises a holding unit configured to hold the device and a control unit adapted to execute instructions, the instructions being configured to cause the measurement environment or the device to execute a method according to the method described in this embodiment.

[0033] Further embodiments are set forth in the further dependent claims.

[0034] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0035] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a measurement system including a measurement environment according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment that may be used as an apparatus in the measurement environment of FIG. 1; [Figure 3] 1 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] 1 is a schematic flow chart of a method according to an embodiment in which measurements are repeated. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the relationship between a communication beam pattern and a predetermined beam pattern used in an embodiment. [Figure 6] 5 is a schematic flowchart of a method according to one embodiment that may be performed to obtain a set of predetermined beam patterns for use in the method of FIG. 3 or FIG. 4. [Figure 7a] 1 is a schematic block diagram of a calibration environment according to one embodiment, the calibration environment including a link antenna; [Figure 7b] FIG. 7b is a schematic block diagram of the calibration environment of FIG. 7a, with the device moved relative to its position with respect to the link antenna; [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a portion of the apparatus in the measurement environment of FIG. 1; [Figure 9] 2 is a schematic block diagram of the predetermined beam pattern of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment, illustrating further details regarding the predetermined beam pattern. FIG. [Figure 10a] 1 shows a device in a measurement environment forming different predetermined beam patterns; [Figure 10b] 1 shows a device in a measurement environment forming different predetermined beam patterns; [Figure 10c] 1 illustrates a device in a measurement environment forming different predetermined beam patterns; [Figure 11a] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary table presenting pseudocode for a known measurement procedure. [Figure 11b] FIG. 10 is an exemplary table presenting pseudocode of a method according to an embodiment. [Figure 12a] 1 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical position used in a known method; [Figure 12b] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a mechanical position used in a method according to one embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of an exemplary beam pattern that is spatially dithered or jittered, according to one embodiment. [Figure 14a] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating beam sweeping according to one embodiment. [Figure 14b] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a configuration of different paths including exemplary four waypoints interconnected by a trajectory according to one embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0036] Equivalent elements, or elements containing equal or equivalent functionality, are designated in the following description with equal or equivalent reference numerals, even if they appear in different figures.

[0037] Embodiments described herein may relate to an apparatus, which may be located, used, and / or controlled in relation to a measurement or testing environment.

[0038] The apparatus may therefore be referred to as a device under test (DUT) as being tested or at least dedicated to testing, i.e., even if not currently being tested, the apparatus may still be referred to as a DUT without limiting the scope of the embodiments described herein.

[0039] The embodiments described herein may relate to an antenna array used to form a beam pattern. The antenna array may include at least one antenna element and be configured within the scope of the described embodiments to form transmit (Tx) and / or receive (Rx) beams, i.e., communication beams, with various directions / radiation patterns. Thus, the antenna array may be configured with one or many radio wave radiating / receiving (antenna) elements, which allows, for example, adaptively changing the radiating / receiving beam pattern by, for example, changing parasitic capacitances or using some antenna elements with different phases and / or amplitudes.

[0040] Therefore, the antenna array according to this embodiment may be referred to as an array antenna, an antenna panel, or multiple antennas / antenna arrays operated in concert. For example, a single antenna element may include a radiating element configured for omnidirectional or directional radiation, such as a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a patch antenna, or a horn antenna. According to one embodiment, a parasitic element, such as a capacitive element, may be activated by a PIN (positive intrinsic negative) diode and arranged to be active with respect to the radiating element in at least one of an inactive state and an active state. By being active, at least a portion of the radiated energy (beam) may be directed, or preferably, radiation from which a signal may be received may be adjusted. Instead of or in addition to a parasitic element, at least a second radiating element may be arranged in the antenna array to influence or control the transmission and / or reception direction by adapting the power and / or phase of at least one radiating element.

[0041] The embodiments described herein may relate to one or more beam patterns formed by an apparatus. A beam pattern may include one or more beams. A beam may be understood as a spatially directional characteristic of an antenna array for transmitting and / or receiving purposes, representing a specific antenna beam pattern formed by utilizing the superposition of antenna patterns of individual antenna elements to form phase and amplitude coefficients between the antenna array and the beam. That is, a transmission / transmission and / or reception capability in a specific direction, which does not exclude the formation of a beam as an omnidirectional lobe. That is, each beam pattern may be a single-beam pattern or a multi-beam pattern. A beam may include one or more main lobes. In addition to the beam, a beam pattern may include one or more side lobes. Nulls may be located between the beam and the lobes and / or between the lobes. A lobe may be understood as a spatial region along which or from which a signal is transmitted / received with higher quality compared to other regions. A beam pattern may include nulls, for example, between the first and second lobes or at different locations. A null may be understood as a spatial region along or from which a small amount of transmit power is transmitted or where signals are received with reduced quality compared to the lobe region. For example, compared to the center of the lobe, the transmit power at the null may be at least 20 dB, at least 40 dB, or at least 60 dB or more lower. In other words, forming a “null” may be understood as a formed beam pattern being spatially structured so that little, or ideally no, power is transmitted or received in a particular direction or spatial area. Such a “null” may be important, for example, when another communication device A communicates with another communication device B using the same time-frequency resource to avoid causing interference in a particular direction. In other words, a beam may include one or more lobes and may include nulls between lobes. A beam may be formed for transmission purposes, i.e., as a transmit beam, which may be understood as directing transmit power to transmit a wireless signal in a particular direction relative to a device.Alternatively or additionally, beams may be formed for reception purposes, i.e., as receive beams, i.e., the antenna gain is adjusted or controlled to produce a preferred direction of reception of the radio signal. Beams may be used to transmit and / or receive signals at radio frequencies that include regular or irregular spatial patterns that can be used for beamforming.

[0042] The embodiments described herein refer to communications beam patterns, calibration beam patterns, and predetermined beam patterns. A beamforming-capable device may be configured to form one or more beams during normal operation, with each beam configured for transmission and / or reception. Such beams are referred to as communications beam patterns. A calibration beam pattern may be a subset of communications beam patterns and may be obtained, for example, by controlling the device or a similar device, i.e., a model or reference device of the same series, to form beams of multiple communications beam patterns. One or more parameters associated with a calibration beam pattern may be stored in and / or read from memory and applied to the device to control the device to form a beam pattern indicated by the parameters. Thus, by at least one parameter, the formed beam is predefined, such that a predetermined beam pattern may be referred to as a recovered or restored version of a calibration beam pattern.

[0043] The embodiments described herein may relate to an expanded beam pattern. An expanded beam pattern may be understood as a single beam pattern or a superposition of at least a first beam pattern and a second beam pattern, and such a superposition may be obtained for two or more transmit beams or beam patterns, two or more receive beams or beam patterns, and / or at least one transmit beam or beam pattern and at least one receive beam or beam pattern. That is, when performing pattern fixing according to the embodiments, this may relate to beam fixing and / or null fixing. Beam fixing may relate to fixing one or more beams and / or lobes of a beam pattern, and null fixing may relate to fixing at least one null. Thus, pattern fixing may also relate to fixing elements of different beams or one or more complete beams, and / or a combination of beam fixing and null fixing. In other words, transmission includes transmitting / sending a signal and receiving a signal. Communication parameters may relate to parameters that at least affect receiver characteristics and / or transmitter characteristics. Thus, the embodiments relate to transmission and / or reception, and are not limited to uplink and downlink.

[0044] The embodiments described herein refer to fixing at least a portion of the beam characteristics and / or beam pattern. Fixing in the context of this specification may be understood as controlling the respective elements or parameters to include an unchanging state or at least a small amount of change, e.g., less than 10%, less than 5%, or less than 1%. Such fixing may be performed, for example, during normal operation, where the beam pattern or at least a portion and / or parameter thereof is adapted, changed, or controlled to comply with the operational requirements. Based on the fixing of the beam, a portion or parameter thereof may be fixed, i.e., saved, deactivated, or kept constant, possibly within the above-mentioned tolerance range, so that the beam pattern and / or communication parameters remain intact even if a change in device orientation or position, for example, causes such a change during normal operation, as may occur when changing the relative position with respect to a link antenna. A relative position in the context of the embodiments described herein may relate to a vector in 3D space and / or to an orientation from one object to another, such that changing the orientation of one or both objects having the relative orientation causes the relative position to also change. When referring to unlocking, the beam pattern, portions thereof and / or communication parameters may be released so that adaptation may occur according to the current operating mode.

[0045] Although only one link antenna may be sufficient for measurements, embodiments provide a measurement environment with multiple or a set of link antennas. According to one example, multiple link antennas 161-16 15 may be positioned to cover an elevation angle α and / or an azimuth angle β relative to the device 14 .

[0046] The embodiments relate to fixing specific radiation pattern characteristics for transmitting signals, measuring antennas used for transmitter antennas or transmitting antennas, and for receiving signals, measuring antennas used for receiver antennas or receiving antennas. Thus, embodiments referring to communication parameters cover both transmission and reception. The embodiments encompass, without loss of generality, beam pattern characteristics including time characteristics, frequency characteristics, spatial characteristics, and coding characteristics such as space-time codes, space-frequency codes, and space-time-frequency codes.

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a measurement system 10, which includes a measurement environment 12 and a device 14. The measurement environment 12 may include one or more sensors 161-166, and several sensors may be at least one of any number required. The sensors 161-166 may be configured singly and / or in combination to evaluate a beam pattern 18 formed by the device 14. That is, the measurement environment may be configured to measure the beam pattern. Alternatively or additionally, the measurement environment may measure, evaluate, or determine beam correspondence between a transmit (Tx) beam pattern and a receive (Rx) beam pattern. For evaluation, the measurement environment 12 may include a control unit 22 configured to receive information from the sensors 161-166. The sensors 161-166 may be arranged in any number according to any pattern, and the sensors 161-166 may be arranged to partially or completely fill a volume. Each of the sensors 161-166 may be a power sensor configured to measure the phase and / or amplitude of the measured beam pattern.

[0048] Although shown using a "+" symbol to form a combined signal, embodiments are not limited herein and also relate to separate measurements with separate signal lines to the control unit 22, or a switching configuration for sequential use of one or more sensors.

[0049] The control unit 22 may be configured to transmit signals 24 to the device 14 using a wired or wireless interface and to instruct the device 14 to form the beam pattern 18 .

[0050] The device 14 may optionally be configured to transmit a signal 25 to the measurement environment 12, e.g., the controller 22. The signal 25 may include information indicative of results, parameters, or other information determined by the device 14. For example, the device 14 may measure or evaluate an Rx beam with respect to reception quality, beam accuracy, and / or other characteristics. The respective results may be reported to the measurement environment 12 using the signal 25 to enable the measurement environment 12 to evaluate the results. Examples of information of interest that may be reported to the measurement environment 12 include a unique beam setting identifier indicative of the beam pattern formed by the device, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and, for any test signals, power, frequency setting, amplitude and phase at defined frequencies, relative amplitude and relative phase at defined frequencies, and / or beam direction, such as angle of arrival. That is, in the case of an Rx beam measurement, the measurement results may be fed back to the measurement environment by using the signal 25.

[0051] Measurement environment 12 further includes a holding unit 26 configured to hold device 14. Holding unit 26 may comprise, for example, a table, a chuck, a jig, or an actuated fixture. Further examples include a positioning means, a rotating table, a manipulator, a fixture, an assembly, a transporter, a frame, a holder, a grip, a conveyor, a track, an arm, a user, and an electromagnetic phantom. The actuated fixture can move device 14 along at least one, two, three, four, five, or six directions in response to an optional signal 28 sent from control unit 22 to holding unit 26 using a wired or wireless interface.

[0052] 2 shows a schematic block diagram of device 20, which may be used, for example, as device 14, or as a model, example, or reference for device 14. Device 20 may include several, at least one, antenna arrays 321-325, each of which may be located inside, on, or outside a housing 34 of device 20. Each of antenna arrays 321-325 may be configured to form one or more beam communications beam patterns 361-366, each communications beam pattern 361-366 including one or more lobes and / or nulls formed for receiving and / or transmitting signals.

[0053] Communications, then, may refer to beam patterns that may be formed by device 20 for communications, for example, during normal operation of device 20. Communications beam patterns 361-366 thus define a set of beam patterns formable using device 20, at least a subset of which, i.e., one or more of communications beam patterns 361-366, may be selected, defined, or classified as predetermined beam patterns. During normal operation, device 20 may be configured to select respective antenna arrays or antenna panels 321-325 that enable it to form communications beam patterns 361-366 toward link antennas or base stations. To measure or evaluate device 20, it may be sufficient to evaluate only a subset of those beams, and one or more predetermined beam patterns may serve as a broad basis for such measurements.

[0054] Referring again to FIG. 1, device 14 may be configured to generate one or more predetermined beam patterns responsive to signal 24 independently of the link antenna.

[0055] For example, device 14 may store beam-related information in memory that enables the formation of beams. The beam-related information may include one or more beam identifiers, information indicative of one or more parameters applied to the antenna array and / or associated baseband signals communicated using the antenna array, information indicative of the respective antenna array, beam polarization, carrier frequency of the beam pattern, etc. In one embodiment, the beam-related information may have a structure according to a table in which each beam is structured and specified or classified with the beam identifier, such that upon receiving a signal 24 containing the respective beam identifier, a requested beam is formed using device 14 by reading the beam-related information associated with the beam identifier according to a codebook. Thus, the beam-related information may indicate characteristics of the beam pattern. Such an indication may be direct, such as "set power to 0 dB(m)," but may alternatively or additionally be indirectly coded and / or interpreted in terms of characteristics, such as "set power to level 2."

[0056] Apparatus 20 may comprise memory 37 configured to store beam-related information that clearly identifies at least one of a plurality of communication beam patterns 361-366 as a predetermined beam pattern. When apparatus 20 is used as apparatus 14, memory 37 includes the respective beam-related information. According to one example, signal 24 including information enabling identification of a predetermined beam may be stored in a non-transitory storage medium, such that signal 24 may be referred to as a beam identification signal indicating a request to apparatus 14 to form a predetermined beam pattern.

[0057] The beam-related information may be referred to as a beam setting or beam parameter setting, i.e., a parameter or set of parameters that preferably unambiguously describes a beam pattern formed by the device. A set of beam settings may also be referred to as a beam configuration, which may include a parameter or set of parameters and / or a beam setting identifier associated with the beam setting identified thereby.

[0058] According to an embodiment, device 20 and / or device 14 may be configured to operate in response to instructions received from a measurement environment, such as measurement environment 12. The following description refers to the behavior of device 14 / device 20. Thus, descriptions given in relation to the reception of a signal by device 14 / device 20 also refer to the respective signal transmitted by the measurement environment, and vice versa.

[0059] A device, such as device 14 and / or device 20, may include at least one antenna array, such as antenna array 32, that enables the device to form multiple communication beam patterns using the antenna array. The antenna array may be adapted as a transmitter to form transmit beams and / or as a receiver to form receive beams, or both configurations may be implemented in parallel. Thus, embodiments described with reference to a transmitter do not exclude the configuration of the antenna array as a transceiver or receiver.

[0060] The device may be configured to signal the beam configuration of the formed communication beam pattern to the measurement environment, i.e., the device may inform the measurement environment about the beam pattern that has been formed, is currently being formed, or will be formed. The signaled beam configurations valid for Tx and / or Rx may be: a unique beam configuration identifier, Beam power, beam gain, Beam directivity, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, Beam usage A list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beamforming, Beam correspondence flag (if beam correspondence exists between Rx and Tx beams), Beam Correspondence ID (Beam / Beam Sweep Identifier of the corresponding Rx or Tx beam / beam sweep) may include at least one of:

[0061] As described, measurements may be performed on Tx and Rx beam patterns. According to an embodiment, the measurement environment may be configured to receive results from a device or DUT related to at least one receive beam measurement associated with a unique beam identifier that includes multiple measurement results and parameters. This includes: a unique beam configuration identifier, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), For example, the power for any test signal: Frequency setting, amplitude and phase at a defined frequency, Relative amplitude and relative phase at a defined frequency, and Beam direction such as angle of arrival It may include one or more of the following, but may include at least one of the following:

[0062] Thus, devices according to the present embodiment, such as device 14 and / or device 20, include multiple measurements and parameters, such as: a unique beam configuration identifier, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), For example, the power for any test signal: Frequency setting, amplitude and phase at a defined frequency, relative amplitude and relative phase at defined frequencies, Beam direction such as angle of arrival The receiver is configured to feed back received beam measurements associated with a unique beam identifier including at least one of:

[0063] According to one embodiment, the measurement environment may be configured to signal a trigger signal to the device to initiate the described, i.e., feedback of received beam measurements associated with a unique beam identifier. Such measurements may include, among others, received power / RSRP / RSSI or any metrics related to received power or received amplitude and phase of the received signal. Such a trigger signal may be at least part of the respective training signal used during training or measurement of the device.

[0064] The above-described apparatus may be configured to receive a trigger signal from the measurement environment and initiate feedback of received beam measurements associated with the unique beam identifier.

[0065] The measurement environment and / or device may receive or transmit received beam measurement results of a sequence of beam setting identifiers in response to a trigger signal.

[0066] That is, the device may make measurements on the Rx beam pattern and thus assess reception quality. The device may transmit to the measurement environment and, optionally, may respond to a trigger signal that may receive such measurements from the measurement environment.

[0067] There may be certain scenarios where one beam is constructed for a first purpose, such as for communication purposes, while another beam is used for a different purpose, such as for reference purposes. These beams may differ in at least one of carrier frequency, polarization, and / or direction. Furthermore, these beams have different purposes that may be indicated by their respective information.

[0068] The device may be a communication device, such as a UE (e.g., a smartphone), a tablet computer, a base station, or an antenna / communication module mounted on a vehicle. The antenna array may be adapted as a transmitter. The device may be configured to receive a signal from the measurement environment that includes a beam setting identifier, the beam setting identifier being associated with a beam setting of the beam configuration. To receive the signal, the device may use a transceiver that is a dedicated element or is available as an operating mode of the antenna array. For example, signal 24 may be used to transmit such information.

[0069] The device may include a controller, which may be a processor, microcontroller, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc., configured to control the device to form a communication beam pattern of a plurality of communication beam patterns according to a beam setting using the transmitter. That is, the device may follow environmental instructions to form a predetermined beam pattern or a sequence thereof. For such purposes, parameters to be applied (beam setting) may be transmitted to the device, and / or an identifier identifying such parameters (beam setting identifier, ID) may be transmitted.

[0070] When obtaining signaled beam settings from the measurement environment, the effective beam configuration for Tx and / or Rx is: a unique beam configuration identifier, Beam power, beam gain, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, A list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beamforming, A Tx-Rx flag to identify whether the Rx beam or the Tx beam is being measured, e.g., used if the DUT signals that there is a beam correspondence between Tx and Rx, e.g., in half duplex, to ensure that the Tx power is off when measuring Rx; Rx triggers to measure e.g. received power / RSRP / RSSI or any metric related to received power or received amplitude and phase of a signal, and Beam usage may include one or more of:

[0071] Such signaling of the beam configuration may include transmitting a signal to the device, the signal including information indicative of the respective setting or parameter, i.e., reference to signaling information or signaling of the configuration may include transmitting a signal including the respective information.

[0072] The controller may be configured to apply the beam settings to form a predetermined beam pattern, which is one of a plurality of communication beam patterns, for transmission and reception at the device.

[0073] The beam setting and / or beam setting identifier may be one of multiple beam settings and / or beam setting identifiers, i.e., a sequence of beam settings and / or beam setting identifiers may be signaled from the measurement environment 12 to the device, for example, using signal 24. The sequence may transmit information about multiple beams requested to be formed and / or information about the order in which they are formed. The measurement environment may further transmit trigger signals to the device. Receiving a respective trigger signal may instruct the device to form the next predetermined beam pattern indicated in the sequence. Each beam setting identifier in the sequence may be associated with a beam setting of the device's beam configuration, i.e., may clearly indicate one of the multiple communications beam patterns. The controller may be configured to apply a first beam setting to form a first predetermined beam pattern of the multiple communications beam patterns with the transmitter in response to the first trigger signal, and to apply a second beam setting indicated in the sequence to form a second predetermined beam pattern of the multiple communications beam patterns with the transmitter in response to the second trigger signal. This allows the device to first be configured by transmitting a signal, and then to perform rapid switching by transmitting a trigger signal, which may be short due to the small amount of information. For example, "next sequence" information may be sufficient.

[0074] According to one embodiment, when measuring the receive beam, the device performs the following: a unique beam configuration identifier, the applied frequency and / or frequency band; Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), For example, the power for any test signal: amplitude and phase at a defined frequency, Relative amplitude and relative phase at a defined frequency, and Beam direction such as angle of arrival The measurement results may be fed back, including one or more of:

[0075] Such feedback may be done immediately after measuring each beam or by storing in the device and feeding back after some or all beams / all sequences of beams have been measured.

[0076] According to one embodiment, to apply considered variations in the generated beam pattern, so-called beam sweeping may alternatively or additionally be performed, where a series of spatially adjacent / close beams are addressed to create a spatial sweep that moves the light beam through space, i.e., the beam changes so as to continuously or discontinuously change its direction while remaining active. Considering such beam sweeping, each beam sweep may be addressed / ID'd like the static beam described above.

[0077] Thus, beam sweeping may involve changing or modifying parameters of a predetermined beam pattern, i.e., parameters of the beam configuration, such as the direction, focusing of one or more lobes, polarization, transmit power, etc. When applying one or more beam sweeps, the power of a particular segment of the beam sweep may be modified / changed over time during such beam sweep. Such power modification, which may be associated with a defined duration, may be part of the beam (sweep) configuration. The modification / change may be performed, for example, while the beam pattern remains active. The device may be controlled, for example, by an embedded controller, to form a predetermined beam pattern, which is a beam sweep, based on changes in the communication beam pattern over time.

[0078] Similarly, a series of beam sweeps may be used during the measurement process. Accordingly, embodiments relate to defining a predetermined beam pattern as a beam sweep. Accordingly, a beam sweep identifier may be used or generated by assigning an ID to the predetermined beam pattern.

[0079] When associating a predetermined beam pattern with an identifier or the like, one or more identifiers may be associated with a beam sweep and / or one or more identifiers may be associated with a predetermined beam pattern that is possibly static. Compared to a static predetermined beam pattern, the parameters describing a beam sweep may include additional information such as polarization change, power change, direction and / or focus change, rate of change, start and / or end values, time information, etc. that may be stored and / or recalled. A beam setting identifier may thereby still unambiguously identify a static predetermined beam pattern and / or beam sweep.

[0080] Alternatively or additionally, the duration used to keep the predetermined beam pattern fixed may be transmitted, for example, along with the sequence or as a separate signal. Such information may be referred to as a duration indicator. The controller may be configured to individually sequentially apply the beam settings indicated by the sequence in response to a trigger signal, and the device may be configured to form the indicated predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns for each beam setting using the transmitter. The controller may be configured to keep the formed predetermined beam pattern fixed for the duration indicated by the duration indicator. Thereafter, the controller may deactivate the beam and / or form the next beam or wait for a subsequent trigger signal.

[0081] According to one embodiment, the device may be configured to transmit beamformed training signals in response to signals received from the measurement environment. Such training signals may be, for example, a single continuous wave signal, a multisine signal, a sounding reference signal, a demodulation reference signal, and / or a physical random access sequence signal. Such training signals may be incorporated into one or more beams or beam patterns to enable beam identification.

[0082] According to one embodiment, the device according to any one of the claims may be configured to receive a signal indicating a beam configuration measurement request from the measurement environment. This may be a request instructing the device to report the capabilities of the device, i.e. to inform the measurement environment about the communication beam patterns and / or predetermined beam patterns that the device may generate. The measurement environment may evaluate the beam configuration capabilities during the measurement procedure. Thereby, the device may be configured to report to the measurement environment a beam configuration capability indicating the total number of supported beam configurations of the device's beam configuration.

[0083] The controller may be configured to generate the beam settings as part of a beam configuration for the device, and the controller may be further configured to apply the beam settings to form a beam pattern toward a link antenna, which may be part of the measurement environment, using a transmitter. The controller may store the generated beam settings in a memory, i.e., may store the beam settings used to obtain a direction toward the link antenna. The controller may control the device to report the beam settings to the measurement environment in response to a beam setting measurement request. Based on this, the measurement environment may evaluate or request a particular beam that has been generated or will be generated using the transmitter.

[0084] FIG. 3 shows a schematic flowchart of a method 300 according to one embodiment. A device, e.g., device 14, may be evaluated by performing method 300. The device includes at least one antenna array and is configured to form multiple communication beam patterns using the at least one antenna array. Step 310 includes positioning the device or changing the relative position of a probe antenna / antennas in the measurement environment, e.g., by moving / switching the probe antenna in the measurement environment around the device in a measurement environment, such as measurement environment 12, adapted to measure the beam patterns. Step 320 includes controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern of the multiple communication beam patterns. For example, signal 24 may be transmitted to the device requesting the device to form one or more beam patterns shown in signal 24. Step 330 includes measuring the predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment for measuring Tx beams and, according to another embodiment, requesting Rx beam measurements (e.g., RSRP, etc.) from the device if the Tx-Rx flag is set to Rx.

[0085] The measurement beam and / or training measurement beam associated with the embodiments described herein may involve changing the relative position of the device / DUT. A first possibility is to use a single link antenna with a first polarization and a second polarization, for example, in conjunction with mechanical movement of the DUT and / or antenna. A second possibility is to use multiple link antennas used for sequential and / or parallel measurements in conjunction with mechanical movement. A third possibility is to measure all points / areas of the grid using the above multiple link antennas for sequential and / or parallel movement in the absence of mechanical movement of the DUT.

[0086] FIG. 4 shows a schematic flowchart of a method 400 according to one embodiment, in which steps 410, 420, and 430 correspond to steps 310, 320, and 330 described in connection with FIG. 3 . Furthermore, in step 440, at least a second predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns is formed, and step 450 includes measuring the second predetermined beam pattern using a measurement environment and / or a device for measuring receive beams. The second predetermined beam pattern may be formed after measuring the first predetermined beam pattern and / or may be measured simultaneously. Optionally, additional predetermined beam patterns may be measured. This allows multiple predetermined beam patterns in the Tx and / or Rx to be measured simultaneously and / or sequentially. Given a measured sequence, the sequence, i.e., the order of the predetermined beam patterns, may also be predefined and indicated in signal 24. For example, signal 24 may include instructions indicating the use of an identified sequence, such as sequence 1, sequence 2, sequence 3, ..., sequence x, and / or information indicating the sequence by including a sequence of identifiers, each identifier associated with a predetermined beam pattern. Alternatively or additionally, the signal 24 may be repeatedly transmitted to repeatedly control the device to form each predetermined beam pattern.

[0087] When controlling the device to sequentially form multiple predetermined beam patterns, the device may switch between the formed beams after measuring each formed beam pattern. This allows the device's relative position in the measurement environment to be maintained, significantly saving time, since changing the position can take a long time. Thus, at a specific position, target beam patterns, i.e., predetermined beam patterns, may be sequentially formed and measured, after which the device may be changed relative to its relative position in the measurement environment, e.g., the device may be moved again and / or the probe antenna around the device may be moved or switched to another position. After changing the device's relative position, the device may be controlled to form a further sequence of predetermined beam patterns, i.e., multiple predetermined beam patterns. The multiple beam patterns or the sequence thereof may be formed repeatedly, i.e., in a second iteration.

[0088] Method 300 and / or method 400 may be performed using a measurement environment, such as measurement environment 12, for evaluating a device, such as device 14. Accurate measurement or evaluation results are obtained when the device and the measurement environment cooperate. Thus, steps involving control of the device, such as step 310, step 410, or step 440, and / or steps for instructing the measurement environment to perform measurements, such as step 330, step 430, or step 450, may be controlled by a dedicated or virtual / distributed controller, i.e., an element that coordinates the necessary components. The controller may be implemented at least partially as part of the measurement environment, e.g., as control unit 22, or as a separate element, at least partially in the device. It may also be possible to communicate a predetermined test procedure to the measurement environment and thereby control its behavior, thereby heteronomously instructing the measurement environment to form a predetermined beam pattern after the device has been set, e.g., in a test mode, etc.

[0089] Such a controller may be configured to use the beam-related information to control a device, such as device 14 or device 20, by, for example, providing the device with a beam ID, other beam parameters, and / or their sequence. Furthermore, the controller may inform or instruct the measurement environment to operate according to a measurement procedure performed by the device, i.e., control the measurement environment, so that the measurement environment and the device cooperate. That is, the beam-related information is also used to control the measurement environment. The controller may have access to information about the capabilities of the device and the measurement environment. For example, such information may include information about the grid of sensors in the measurement environment and the granularity of beam patterns formable by the device. The controller may select a test procedure, i.e., one or more predetermined beam patterns, according to such information.

[0090] 5 shows a schematic diagram illustrating the relationship between communication beam patterns and predetermined beam patterns. Set 38 includes sets of parameters P1 to P X Each set of parameters P1 to P X describes at least a portion of a beam pattern that may be formed using an apparatus, such as apparatus 20 or apparatus 14. Such a set of parameters may be referred to as a beam configuration. At least a subset of sets 38 may be combined into set 42 that describes multiple predetermined beam patterns. Set 42 may be formed and measured using, for example, method 300 or method 400.

[0091] After measuring set 42 and after changing the relative orientation of the device, a set 44 of predetermined beam patterns may be formed and measured using the device, and set 44 may correspond to set 42, may be a subset of set 42, and / or may include parameters P that are not included in set 42. i may include:

[0092] The device may be controlled to form a plurality of predetermined beam patterns of set 42 and / or a plurality of predetermined beam patterns 44 in a predetermined order. This order may be explicitly or implicitly indicated in signal 24, the order may be included in signal 24, or may be stored in a memory accessed by the device such that the order may be derived from information included in signal 24. When forming and measuring a plurality of beam patterns, a resulting predetermined sequence of predetermined beam patterns may be generated and measured using a measurement environment.

[0093] 6 shows a schematic flowchart of a method 600 that may be performed to obtain a set of predetermined beam patterns, which may be performed in part before performing methods 300 and / or 400. Method 600 includes step 610, in which at least a subset of the communication beam patterns are selected as the predetermined beam patterns. Determining the predetermined beam patterns by selection may be advantageous when the beam characteristics are communicated by a manufacturer. Step 620, e.g., in methods 300 and / or 400, includes controlling an apparatus to form at least a subset of the predetermined beam patterns, e.g., sets 42 and / or 44, for measurement.

[0094] FIG. 7a shows a schematic block diagram of a calibration environment 70, which includes a link antenna 46 capable of simulating the behavior of a base station to cause the device 20 to form a communications beam pattern, such as communications beam pattern 361 directed toward the link antenna 46. The parameters used by the device 20 to form communications beam pattern 361 may be stored in the device 20 or another storage medium, possibly along with further information or derived information such as a beam identifier. Thus, communications beam pattern 361 may be referred to as a calibration beam pattern. For example, the validity of the calibration beam pattern may be limited based on signaled information such as a Tx-Rx flag. For example, the flag may indicate whether the calibration beam pattern is valid for Tx or Rx measurements, or whether the Tx-Rx flag is set for Tx and Rx, thus indicating validity in both cases.

[0095] FIG. 7b shows a schematic block diagram of a calibration environment 70 in which the device 20 has been altered relative to the link antenna 46 such that the device 20 forms a different communications beam pattern 362 toward the link antenna 46. The change in relative position relative to the link antenna may be achieved by rotating the DUT and / or selecting a differently positioned link antenna. Accordingly, the communications beam pattern 361 may be changed or deactivated. Alternatively, the device 20 may be configured to fix the beam pattern 361. Beam fixing may be understood as maintaining the communications beam pattern 361, possibly for normal operation, such that the relative position of the communications beam pattern 361 to the device 20 does not change, even if the relative position of the device 20 to the link antenna 46 changes while the link antenna 46 is active. Again, the parameters of the device 20 used to generate the communications beam pattern 362 may be stored in memory. As described in connection with FIG. 5, the memory may store beam-related information.

[0096] The beam-related information may be stored in memory of device 20 and / or device 14. For example, one of the series of samples may be used for device 20 for a calibration procedure, and each of the other devices may be loaded with derived data, i.e., beam-related information, such that device 14 has access to the beam-related information even if it has not yet been calibrated. Alternatively or additionally, device 20 itself may be used as device 14. In either case, controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern includes reading the beam-related information from the memory and forming the predetermined beam pattern in accordance with the beam-related information.

[0097] FIG. 8 shows a schematic block diagram of a portion of device 14 in measurement environment 12. Using signal 24 and, if applicable, signal 25, device 14 may be controlled to form predetermined beam pattern 18. Signal 24 may include an identifier for identifying predetermined beam pattern 18 or a sequence of predetermined beam patterns. Alternatively or additionally, signal 24 may include information indicating the duration for forming the predetermined beam pattern and / or the duration of a beam sweep including the predetermined beam pattern, i.e., the sequence for forming the predetermined beam pattern, time synchronization, and / or the time in the device or measurement environment to enable the order of the predetermined beam patterns formed by the device. Device 14 may access a memory in which beam-related information, such as parameters, is stored. Signal 24 may indicate beam-related information to indicate to device 14 the beam-related information to be used.

[0098] Preferably, signal 24 clearly indicates the predetermined beam pattern or sequence of predetermined beam patterns to be formed by the device, which may allow for reliable evaluation of measured beam patterns against expected results, i.e., may prevent device 14 from forming beams other than those requested.

[0099] According to one embodiment, the device 14 is controlled to generate a sequence of predetermined beam patterns. The sequence may include or consist of predetermined beam patterns arranged according to a pattern in the measurement environment. The pattern may be a regular or irregular pattern. According to one example, the plurality of predetermined beam patterns are arranged in one or more planes, e.g., sensors 161-16. 15 , and are equidistantly positioned in a plane containing the polarization components. Alternatively or additionally, the pattern may cover at least a particular portion of the angles α and / or β, i.e., at least a portion of the azimuth and / or elevation range of the device 14. Alternatively or additionally, the plurality of predetermined beam patterns may form a pattern comprising one or a superposition of polarization components.

[0100] Measurement environment: Sensor or probe 161-16 15 According to one example, the sensors 161 to 16 15may be positioned to cover an elevation angle α and / or an azimuth angle β relative to the device 14. Measuring the predetermined beam pattern may include one or more of measuring the total radiated power (TRP) of the beam pattern, measuring the equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), measuring the direction of the predetermined beam pattern relative to the device 14, e.g., spherical coverage along the angles α and β, grid density of the covered spherical beams, specific beam patterns of all activated predetermined beam patterns of the set of predetermined beam patterns, side lobes of at least one of the main beam / predetermined beam patterns, scalability / linearity / hysteresis of beam pattern changing / switching / expansion / contraction, spurious emissions and / or adjacent channel leakage power ratio (ACLR) possibly including spatial resolution, null steering and multi-beam steering capability and accuracy of the device 14, beam correspondence, i.e., accuracy of comparison of actual generated beams compared to expected beams, and / or calibration of the antenna array / panel, and / or measuring correspondence between Rx beams and Tx beams. For example, if a pair of Tx / Rx beam patterns may be uniquely identified, it may be sufficient to identify only one of both.

[0101] When measuring the predetermined beam pattern, e.g., in steps 330, 430, and / or 450, in-band emissions of the communications band utilized by device 14 to form predetermined beam pattern 18 may be measured and / or evaluated. Additionally, measurement environment 12 may be configured to measure out-of-band emissions of the communications band. In-band emissions may be of primary interest, as it may be preferable to evaluate the position, shape, and / or direction when using in-band emissions to evaluate the beam. As shown in FIG. 8, the predetermined beam pattern may include at least one beam.

[0102] FIG. 9 shows a schematic block diagram of predetermined beam pattern 18 according to one embodiment and provides further details regarding predetermined beam pattern 18. By way of example, predetermined beam pattern 18 includes the superposition of first beam / lobe 481 and second beam / lobe 482 to form combined beam 52, at least in the far field. Thus, the radiated power of beams 481 and 482 may be combined, and each of beams 481 and 482 may be generated using different antenna arrays / panels or different antenna elements of the same antenna array. Beams 481 and 482 may or may not be distinguishable to the measurement environment or system. As described in connection with the training signals, for example, beams 481 and 482 may be formed using distinguishable pilot elements or pilot signals so that the measurement environment, when evaluating the pilots, can distinguish both beams and therefore evaluate both partial beams 481 and 482 and combined beam 52. Alternatively, the measurement environment may be configured to evaluate the beam power while ignoring the pilot information, such that the measurement environment is unable to distinguish between beams 481 and 482, but recognizes beam 52.

[0103] The predetermined beam pattern 18 may be a static beam pattern or a time-varying beam pattern. That is, the direction of the beam 52 may be changed, for example, by adapting the transmit power of the beams 481 and 482. Thus, a change in the formed predetermined beam pattern may be obtained by switching on or off one or more beams or beam patterns, which may also be changed by adapting the beams themselves. By using the signal 24, the predetermined beam pattern may be formed independently of the link antenna. Furthermore, the predetermined beam pattern may be repeatedly and deterministically formable.

[0104] Furthermore, distinguishable beams may not necessarily overlap. Distinguishable beams may also allow for the use of at least a first beam pattern and a second beam pattern in parallel, where the beams may be distinguished by pilot signals / symbols, such as sounding reference signals (SRS), and by parallel evaluation. Such differences may be considered at least partially distinguishable, for example, when using orthogonal pilots in an OFDM system on only a subset of pilot carriers. Signaling may be performed to enable the concept of closed-loop requests and acknowledgements. If necessary, the device may be rotated or moved after forming the sequence of beams, although such movements may be infrequent to save measurement time. In other words, measurements of the total radiated power (TRP) and equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) and / or effective isotropic sensitivity (EIS) must be performed so that a sufficient number of beams formed by the device can be measured and the emitted power and / or received power or pattern of each beam can be measured. For every beam (especially when the beam direction and its pattern are not known a priori due to black-box or gray-box approaches), all or part of the sphere needs to be scanned / measured, which can be a significant effort in measurement time. Embodiments significantly reduce measurement time, for example, for TRP, EIS, and EIRP measurements.

[0105] In other words, beam superposition refers to the fact that the electromagnetic fields associated with each transmitted / received beam are superposed not only at the antennas used to transmit / receive the communication signals but also at locations in space. Depending on the structure of the signals / symbols modulated onto the RF carriers used for wireless communication, e.g., in current LTE, WiFi, and future 5G systems, complex QAM symbols are mapped onto OFDM carriers in a time / frequency manner, and these complex QAM symbols represent data symbols for transferring information / data from the transmitter to the receiver, known reference symbols for estimating the wireless channel based on such known pilots, and for equalizing the wireless channel after channel estimation and reconstructing the transmitted data symbols.

[0106] Considering such mechanisms, reference symbols (RSs) are often used to make beams identifiable. Therefore, when multiple beams are identifiable by different RSs or data symbols, an appropriate measurement system / equipment can distinguish between different beams or portions of beams, while portions of the signals transmitted through the beams are indistinguishable. From the receiver's perspective, the beam appears to be equivalent to a beam jointly created from two beams using the principle of superposition. Furthermore, even if the beams differ in the RSs used, data payloads, or even allocated frequency resources, the measurement system may be adapted to use sensors only for energy detection to ensure that the beams are indistinguishable. According to one embodiment, the device is configured and / or controlled to generate at least a first beam pattern and a second beam pattern, i.e., a measurement beam set, while the beam patterns are at least partially identifiable. The measurement environment may be adapted to measure multiple beam patterns, i.e., measurement beams set in parallel to reduce measurement time, using information regarding identifiability.

[0107] 10a shows a schematic perspective view of a surface of the device 14 directed towards a grid 54 of a sensor 161 in the measurement environment 12, where a first predetermined beam pattern 181 is formed having a first direction relative to the grid 54. The predetermined beam pattern 181 may include a main lobe 55 having a first direction directed, for example, along a reference direction 56 in the measurement environment 12.

[0108] FIG. 10b shows a schematic perspective view of the surface of the device 14 forming a second predetermined beam pattern 182, with the main lobe 55 inclined at an angle γ1 with respect to the reference direction 56.

[0109] FIG. 10c shows a schematic perspective view of the surface of the device 14 forming a third predetermined beam pattern 183, with the main lobe 55 inclined at an angle γ2 with respect to the reference direction 56.

[0110] Each of the predetermined beam patterns may be formed without moving the device 14 and / or while simultaneously moving the device in a predetermined manner. Alternatively or in addition to one or more of the predetermined beam patterns 181-183, one or more beam sweeps may be performed such that the predetermined beam patterns 181-183 may also be considered to be different states of a sweep.

[0111] Although some aspects of the invention are directed to forming a sequence of static and / or sweeping predetermined beam patterns followed by changing the position / orientation of the device, possibly followed by further sequences of predetermined beam patterns, the invention is not limited herein but also defines embodiments in which the device is moved in a predetermined manner while forming the predetermined beam pattern or sequence thereof. Thus, the device may have a static or changing position / orientation while forming the predetermined beam pattern or sequence thereof.

[0112] The basic objective of this embodiment is to identify beam ID, polarization, and / or carrier frequency, and map beams to the antenna ports of the device, i.e., parameterize the generated beams. Different beam patterns may include different beams, including different numbers of beams, split beam patterns, etc. The embodiment is directed to characterizing multiple beam patterns while avoiding multiple repositioning of the device. Signaling may be done by individual ID commands, possibly with acknowledgements, or by broadcasting to multiple devices. Preferably, a predetermined beam sequence and / or duration is used, which is communicated to the device or pre-stored in the device.

[0113] In the specification of devices and antenna arrays, which require forming beams and measuring the TRP and EIRP of these beams, compared to over-the-air (OTA) measurements for TRP and EIRP, known methods use the concept of measuring EIRP / TRP by using one or more power sensors distributed around the device under test and moving / rotating the device relative to the measurement system. This may be done by mounting the device in a 3D position and rotating it stepwise or continuously so that spherical coverage of the measurement is achieved. To obtain TRP and / or EIRP / TRP, when used for various / different beams that are repeatedly formed by the device, many or all beams that may be formed by the device must be measured. In contrast, the embodiments are based on the objective of enabling an end-to-end measurement procedure, including associated signaling.

[0114] 1. Define or require a set of supported beams, e.g., such that these beams provide sufficiently good spherical coverage over the portion of the sphere to be covered, including well-distributed beam directions, i.e., define a predetermined beam pattern. Alternatively, other suitable metrics, e.g., TRP and / or EIS, EIRP, can be selected / defined. The set of beams may include different polarizations transmitted in the same direction or with the same beam shape (beam pattern). In particular, this means that if a particular beam is defined, candidates associated with complementary polarizations may be defined as well (this includes linear polarization, circular polarization, etc.). To support this feature, the link antenna and / or probe / measurement antenna may be capable of distinguishing between polarizations or may be reconfigurable to measure / detect different polarization states. 2. Numbering the beams (IDing) so that the instrument and measurement system recognizes which beams of a set of beams are activated during a particular measurement step. 3. A defined set of beams is obtained, and the beams in the set are numbered / marked by IDs that coordinate the measurement of, for example, TRP and / or EIS, EIRP, so that the devices and measurement processes know and synchronize the beam IDs that are active and measured at a particular time instance / period. 4. If the device is attached to a positioning means, the following is done for every position / angle measured: a. Move to position / angle α1, β1, θ1 b. Initiate beam switching procedure c. Request that beams be automatically switched in a known order, or request individually selected beams i. For each beam, perform the required target measurements, e.g., TRP, EIRP, EIS, etc., between the given relative instrument sensor / probe positions. ii. For each beam in the case of receive beam measurement, the DUT feeds back the measurement results (e.g., RSRP, see other embodiments) d. Once all beams in the set have been measured, move to positions / angles α2, β2, and θ2 5. Measurements of all beams at each position may be subject to further processing such as averaging, determining a maximum value or other operations. 6. The feedback between the DUT and the measurement environment in 4.c.ii above may also be done at the end of the measurement routine in 4 above (last measured angle) for all beam IDs and angles. This may be necessary because a connection between the measurement environment and the DUT is not always available.

[0115] The beam switching can be done very fast, typically within microseconds, allowing the system to measure all beams under investigation at one position before moving to the next position.

[0116] To initiate and perform such coordinated and switched measurements between multiple beams emitted from the active antenna array, an interface (IF) for signaling and / or synchronization must be defined between the device and the measurement system / measurement environment. Such an interface may include the following functions supported:

[0117] 1. Time synchronization between a. Beam switching / beam selection and measurement procedures depending on the measurement environment, e.g., length of pilot sequence used in the measurement, required averaging, etc. b. Beam switching / beam selection and measurement procedures initiated by the measurement environment and measured by the DUT in the case of receive beam measurements, e.g., length of pilot sequence used in the measurement, required averaging, Rx trigger, Rx measurement timing, etc. c. Beam switching / beam selection and relative position between the device and the measurement environment, e.g. including guard intervals between repositioning steps or retransmission after each step 2. Definition of beam sets by equipment and / or measurement environment, taking into account the equipment beam adjustment range, measurement method of the measurement environment, and functions such as DUT in receive beam measurement. 3. Numbering and / or addressing beam sets and / or beams within a set of beams a. Exchange of information about a set of predetermined beams defined / selected by the device, and / or b. Exchanging information about the set of beams required by the measurement environment according to the specific features of the measurement environment or other factors. c. Use the following procedure: i. The device is placed at position A1, including its relative position to the link antenna. Then, the device selects an appropriate beam toward the link antenna. Then, a fixed beam command is sent and executed, followed by "storing n percent of ID beam parameters" to recall the same beam setting parameters ID-A1 in a later procedure. Note that in the case of beam correspondence between Tx and Rx, the setting may include information for setting Tx and Rx. In other cases, the setting may include, for example, only Rx information or only Tx information. ii. The device is placed at position A2 and all the following steps described for position A1 are performed and the beam parameters set at ID-A2 are stored. iii. Once the entire set of beams has been defined by the above procedure, parameters describing the beam set or e.g. number of beams are then exchanged between the device and the measurement environment to invoke addressing or batching during the fast beam switching procedure to effect the measurement. 4. Signaling to support discrete or sequential (automated) steps to initiate, execute, and confirm step-by-step operation of the measurement procedure, including signals for beam lock, beam release, power lock, Tx-Rx flags, etc.

[0118] Currently, beamforming using active antenna arrays and associated OTA conformance and performance testing is very new and is being discussed, for example, in 3GPP WG RAN4.

[0119] Procedures for measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) such as TRP, EIS (effective isotropic sensitivity), and EIRP can be applied in a variety of ways, although they are defined so that equivalent or different methods are required with respect to measurement uncertainty. These potential measurements include single-probe / sensor and multi-probe / sensor measurement environments, and scanning a sphere measured by moving the instrument, the sensor, or both.

[0120] For various measurements, the overall measurement time required can be hours to days, as specific KPIs must be measured for each or at least some of the possible beams formed with the antenna array. Embodiments significantly reduce this measurement time and provide advantages in the following ways:

[0121] 1. The entire set of beams can be measured with an OTA for any relative position of the device and the surrounding measurement system / environment. 2. Beam switching can be performed very quickly, on the order of microseconds, while changing the relative position of the device and the measurement system takes on the order of seconds due to the associated structures. 3. The lack of a beam switching sequence allows for batch and switching processes with minimal signal transfer between the instrument and the measurement system. 4. Synchronization of beam switching processes, measurement processes for specific KPIs, and changes in the relative angle between the instrument and MS allows fully automated measurements over long periods of time with minimal signal transfer between the instrument and MS. 5. Knowledge of the beam set and numbering makes it possible to request that beams be specifically selected to be activated, while other beams are not activated during certain stages / periods of the overall measurement. This further reduces measurement times and allows for improvements in measurements that depend on, for example, the angle or beam direction. 6. The combination of a selective measurement grid (relative position of the device to the MS) and differential selection of a beam set or beams from a set of beams allows further reduction of the measurement process. 7. In the case of synchronized and batched measurement procedures where there is little or no signaling between the device and the MS, the measurement process can be performed even if the RRC (Radio Resource Control) connected device-MS link or the test interface control link is interrupted. This may enable a more stable measurement procedure, which is robust against disturbances during the measurement process or certain improper measurement shapes. Furthermore, any measurements that can be continued without reception due to temporary reduced signaling contribute significantly to shortening the measurement time. 8. Instead of using positioning means for all locations, specific link probe distributions over part or the entire angular range of interest are used, and these probes can all be switched to function normally, or base station reference symbols, e.g. CSI-RS, are used to excite the link antennas in parallel. This can be applied in a mixed mode, where positioning means and multiple link probe antennas are used to cover the entire angular range of interest.

[0122] The above-described embodiments enable, among other things, short-duration measurements for evaluating a device or DUT in an over-the-air (OTA) measurement environment. The OTA measurements and associated measurement grid definitions address the need to shorten test times and reduce the number of measurement points, enable a combination of coarse and fine measurement grids, detail further studies of measurement grids and their impact on TRP statistics, apply knowledge of Rx scans to Tx scan optimization, and aim to optimize Rx scans.

[0123] Two general observations can be made within this subject. Observation 1: Issue to be addressed - Reducing measurement uncertainty Observation 2: Issue to be addressed - Reducing measurement time

[0124] With regard to the concept of training beams that are invoked during measurements, as will be shown below, significant measurement time savings may be achieved when compared to measurements in which the device is mechanically repositioned after each beam is formed.

[0125] The step of taking the measurements is performed by the mechanical arrangement T pos , link establishment T est-link , beam fixed T lock and measurement time T meas It may be rewritten in the form of algorithmic pseudocode with annotations added to identify the duration of the steps, etc. Two additional variables are introduced: M represents the number of link angles (beams) and N represents the number of measurement angles (measurement grid points).

[0126] Figure 11a shows an exemplary table presenting pseudocode for a known measurement procedure, hereafter referred to as the mechanical relocation method or "Case A." Figure 11a shows a loop within a loop or a so-called nested loop.

[0127] 11b shows an exemplary table presenting pseudocode for a method according to an embodiment, i.e., an alternative to the method shown in FIG. 11a. As mentioned above, the mechanical arrangement T pos , link establishment T est-link , beam fixed T lock , measurement time T meas , memory location and beam state information T store , and call location and beam status information T recall Annotations are added to identify the duration of the steps, etc. Figure 11b presents pseudocode for an alternative measurement procedure, hereafter referred to as mechanical repositioning with electron beam indexing method or "Case B."

[0128] Compared to FIG. 11a, the method according to FIG. 11b involves one loop followed by another loop, while the method according to FIG. 11a involves so-called nested loops.

[0129] In practice, 3D scanning may be performed on the surface of a virtual sphere, but for convenience, a two-dimensional simplified image can be used to visualize the measurement method described above. Figure 12a shows a schematic 2D diagram of the known method of mechanical repositioning measurement according to Figure 11a, i.e., Case A. Figure 12b shows a schematic 2D diagram of Case B for mechanical repositioning using electron beam indexing measurement.

[0130] In Figure 12a (mechanical repositioning measurement method), there are clearly more mechanical positions required to complete the measurement procedure than shown in Figure 12b (mechanical repositioning using electron beam indexing measurement method). Note that in a real measurement system, the mechanical rotation of the device under test (DUT) takes time to accelerate, decelerate, and set before reaching the desired orientation. In the tables shown in Figures 11a and 11b, respectively, all three of these mechanically related positioning delays are summed to form the parameter T pos Up until now, improvements in measurement time have mainly focused on reducing the number of measurement points. For measurement grids with a constant step size, this is determined by the angular spacing between spatial sampling points, while for grids with a constant density, the number of grid points is the determining factor. A reduction in the number of measurement points is usually associated with an increase in measurement uncertainty.

[0131] Although both the current and alternative measurement procedures require mechanical positioning, the pictorial representations in Figures 12a and 12b show that the total number of mechanical positions can be reduced to N + M instead of N × M without reducing the number of measurement angles (and therefore without affecting the measurement uncertainty). An algebraic analysis of the two measurement procedures may be performed to quantify the potential savings in test time.

[0132] Observation 3: The total number of mechanical positions can be reduced without reducing the number of measured angles (thus not affecting the measurement uncertainty).

[0133] <Algebraic analysis> Referring to the duration parameters listed in Figure 11a for Case A and Figure 11b for Case B, the total time required to perform measurements consisting of M link angles and N measurement angles is expressed in Equation (1) and Equation (2), respectively. Case A: Mechanical repositioning measurement method T A (M,N)=M[T pos +T est-link +T lock +T meas +N(T pos +T meas )] =M(T pos +T est-link +T lock +T meas )+NM(T pos +T meas ) (1) Case B: Mechanical repositioning with electron beam indexing measurement method T B (M,N)=M[T pos +T est-link +T lock +T store ]+N[T pos +M(T recall +T meas )] =M[T pos +T est-link +T lock +T store ]+NT pos +NM(T recall +T meas ) (2)

[0134] <Reduction of measurement time> The time saving factor is the ratio of the duration of case A to the duration of case B, in other words, the quotient of equation (1) and equation (2). TIFF0007731672000001.tif13150(3)

[0135] Equation (3) is T posThis can be simplified by assuming that the mechanically related positioning delay, given by , dominates all other factors shown in equation (4). Assumption:T pos ≫{T est-link ,T meas, T store ,T recall ,T meas} (4)

[0136] Therefore, it is as follows: TIFF0007731672000002.tif31111

[0137] <Special conditions> After simplifying the equation to the form shown in equation (5), three special conditions are considered.

[0138] In the first use case, the number of link angles M is much larger than the number of measurement angles N. Although this scenario is somewhat unrealistic, equation (6) shows that the new method reduces measurement time by a factor of approximately (1+N). 1. TIFF0007731672000003.tif19153(6)

[0139] Observation 4: When the number of link angles, M, is much larger than the number of measured angles, N, the new method, Case B, reduces the measurement time by a factor of approximately (1+N).

[0140] In the second use case, the number of measured angles N is much larger than the number of link angles M, and therefore represents a typical and realistic scenario. Here, the new method reduces measurement time by a factor of approximately M compared to the old method. 2. TIFF0007731672000004.tif21153(7)

[0141] Observation 5: When the number of measured angles, N, is much larger than the number of link angles, M, the new method reduces the measurement time by a factor of about M.

[0142] In the third use case, the number of measurement angles N is approximately equal to the number of link angles M. In this scenario, the new method promises a potential reduction in measurement time equal to (1+M) / 2 times that of the old method. 3. TIFF0007731672000005.tif21153(8)

[0143] Observation 6: When the number of measured angles N is approximately equal to the number of link angles M, the new method reduces the measurement time by a factor of approximately (1+M) / 2.

[0144] All three conditions show a reduction in measurement time. In particular, when the number of measurement angles, N, is much larger than the number of link angles, M, the new method offers a potential improvement of about M times over the old method.

[0145] Observation 7: The new method results in a reduction in measurement time regardless of the number of measurement angles and link angles.

[0146] In other words, the measurement scheme according to the embodiment aims to significantly reduce the measurement time, including measuring, for example, TRP (Total Radiated Power), EIRP (Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power), TRS (Total Radiant Sensitivity), EIS (Effective Isotropic Sensitivity), and composite beam radiation patterns.

[0147] To further enhance measurements, embodiments relate to reducing measurement uncertainty. For example, such uncertainty may be due to a small number of sensor elements forming a coarse grid in the measurement environment. Embodiments relate to incorporating some form of dithering or jittering into the measurement. That is, dithering or jittering of the communication beam pattern generated by the device is generated during the measurement, for example, by implementing one or more of the following: movement of the beam pattern relative to the device, and relative movement between the device and the measurement environment, particularly relative to the sensor elements and / or one or more link antennas. The movement of the communication beam pattern may be obtained by controlling the devices individually. Alternatively, the relative position / orientation of the device with respect to the link antenna may be changed by moving / rotating at least one of them to adapt the beam direction to the device. In the case of finer steps, possibly with analog or quantized control, jittering may be controlled directly. In the case of coarser quantized steps, jittering may be implemented, for example, by adjusting the switch point at which the device switches from one beam pattern to another based on a changed relative position with respect to the link antenna, possibly in conjunction with relative movement. That is, jittering may be applied during step 320, step 420, and / or during measurement, for example during step 620.

[0148] Jittering may be understood as the superposition of intentional movement (including stopping) and further movement (jittering or dithering) of the beam pattern, i.e., the ideal sweep or position may be falsified. Superimposed jittering, i.e., jittering, may include, but is not limited to, movement along a single direction, back and forth, with constant or varying spatial amplitude. Movement may be along any number of directions, and for example, a zigzag movement, an elliptical movement, a circular movement, a spiral or vortex movement, a cross-shaped movement, or a movement along a polygon such as a triangle may be implemented.

[0149] The jittering movement may be deterministic, e.g., deterministically controlling the sweep to move accordingly, or may be non-deterministic or random. For example, in connection with random movement, lower and upper bounds on the movement may be set, e.g., the position of the beam pattern may vary by up to ±5°, ±3°, or ±1°, and / or the amplitude of the beam pattern may vary by up to ±10%, ±5%, or ±1%, and the resulting movement may be random within the bounds such that the statistical properties of the position and / or amplitude are known.

[0150] As explained, jittering or dithering may also be applied during training. positioning a device (14) in a measurement environment (12) or varying the relative position of one or more probe antennas in the measurement environment adapted to measure beam patterns and / or beam correspondence between receive and transmit beam patterns; causing the device to form a communications beam pattern as a jittering beam pattern; measuring a communication beam pattern to obtain a measurement result; storing the communication beam pattern as a predetermined beam pattern for subsequent testing in response to the measurement results; Includes:

[0151] The beam-related information may indicate whether the beam pattern has been or will be jittered.

[0152] Causing a device to form a jittered beam pattern may include controlling a device suitable for such implementation to apply jitter to a signal used to excite an antenna structure or antenna array to generate the jittered beam pattern. The signal may be an excitation signal, a control signal, etc. Alternatively or additionally, the jittering may be implemented by a change in relative position, such that the device implements the jittering in response to tracking of the link antenna.

[0153] That is, controlling jittering may be transparent, deterministic, or direct, by instructing the device to cause the beam pattern to jitter in a known manner, even if this method is selected using random variables. Alternatively or additionally, jittering may be obtained at least in part by unplanned or indirect measurements that lead to unknown effects. One example of such unplanned measurements is varying parameters among multiple parameters used in beamforming, such as amplitude and / or phase values ​​applied to a beamforming network that combines multiple amplitude and phase values. One, a subset, or all of the values ​​may be varied deterministically or randomly to achieve unseen or unknown effects in the beam pattern.

[0154] The jittering may be performed such that the main structure of the beam pattern may remain essentially unchanged, for example one or more of the main lobe position, side lobe nulls, their sizes and / or their number or relative positions may remain unchanged or may be changed within certain bounds so as to maintain the beam pattern identifiable.

[0155] 13 shows a schematic top view of an exemplary beam pattern 18a that is spatially dithered or jittered, according to one embodiment. Beam pattern 18a may be varied to have different directions, lobe sizes, etc., to sequentially operate as dithered beam patterns 18b, 18c, 18d, and 18e, which are slightly different when compared to the non-dithered / non-jittered beam pattern 18a. For example, the parameter variation may be up to 50%, or up to 40%, or up to 30%, e.g., up to 10% of the parameter variation required to activate a different beam 18f. For example, the directional offset O caused by dithering may be 0.01. Dmay lie within these boundaries, i.e., the directional offset O to obtain different beams. B O D By dithering the beam, the maximum of the beam pattern, possibly offset relative to the sensor element / probe or link antenna, varies in space, thereby increasing the probability that the maximum will reach or resolve the sensor element and link antenna, respectively, so that the characteristics of the beam pattern can be evaluated with high accuracy.

[0156] For example, by implementing a jittering factor that effectively represents angular change or steradian during measurement of a transmit beam pattern, fluctuating portions of the beam pattern may reach or account for the sensor in the measurement environment, thereby increasing the probability of measuring the maximum level of the beam's power, etc., i.e., identifying its maximum value. Alternatively or additionally, measurement uncertainty obtained by quantizing the device's beam pattern may be at least partially compensated. For example, as described in connection with FIG. 2, when selecting only a subset of the beam patterns for measurement, gaps or uncovered spaces may exist in the spherical surface surrounding the device. These gaps may be at least partially reduced. The direction of movement of the communication beam pattern may be selected according to a predetermined pattern, or may be selected randomly.

[0157] That is, the use of spatial dithering / jittering of specific amplitudes, such as linear, circular (spiral), zigzag, alternating, etc., is described to create a known pointing blur to avoid sparse subsampling when performing beam sweeping or beam switching / selection, improving measurement resolution with a fixed number of sensors in a specific grid, and / or effectively obtaining noise reduction in the measurement with more samples.

[0158] Embodiments relate to beam sweeping, i.e., having continuous / analogized or discontinuous / digitized or quantized movement of the communication beam pattern and / or the calibration beam pattern. For example, in one reasonable implementation, the positioning means of the measurement environment is controlled to constantly move while the beams are switched / swept, allowing the measurement environment to perform accurate measurements (spatial scanning) due to the deterministic nature of the positioning means movement. This is a superposition of known beam sweeps (when each beam ID was active) and known movement of the positioning means.

[0159] As shown in FIG. 14a, a sweep may be obtained by selecting or determining one or more waypoints. A device may begin a beam sweep by forming a first beam toward a first waypoint 581, labeled "A," and then direct that beam starting from waypoint 581 toward a second waypoint 582, labeled "B." Because waypoints 581 and 582 may be spaced apart by a distance 62, a device, such as device 14 or 20, may form a communications beam pattern at one or more intermediate positions / directions 641-649, with the number of such intermediate positions 64 being arbitrary and / or dependent on the capabilities of the device. The regions in which such beams are formed may overlap with adjacent regions, as shown by intermediate positions 641-643, or may be spaced apart from one another, as shown by intermediate positions 647 and 648. For example, nonlinear interpolation between waypoints 581 and 582 may enable the formation of non-equidistant beams; in contrast, linear interpolation may result in equidistant beams. Such beam sweeping may be trained to the device, for example when defining a test procedure, and / or may be performed by the device by gaining knowledge of waypoints.

[0160] Although only two waypoints are shown, any number of waypoints may be implemented, which may form an open or closed path, such as a polygon.

[0161] Different sweeps performed by the device may be implemented differently in subsequent iterations and / or device positions / or orientations. Differences may be implemented, for example, in the sequence in which waypoints are addressed, e.g., A → B or B → A, and / or in the speed for moving with the beam pattern from the first waypoint to the second waypoint, and / or within a complete sweep. For example, when defining a predetermined beam pattern during a training sequence, the device may be tested by performing a sweep and evaluating the results reported by the device (Rx beam) or measured by sensor 16 (Tx beam). For example, intermediate beam patterns formed by the device may be observed to determine the device's beamforming capabilities. This may allow for the definition of a specific test procedure for the device, preventing, for example, 100 beams from being requested during measurement when the device can only form a small number of beams, e.g., 16 beams. This may allow for the measurement time to be reduced to the required level. Alternatively or additionally, the tracking capability of the device may be evaluated when changing the relative position between the device and the link antenna, for example, by moving / rotating one or both of the device and the link antenna and / or by switching to a different or additional link antenna, which may cause the device to form a beam that changes as it sweeps.

[0162] Figure 14b shows the orbit 66i i,j 5 shows a schematic block diagram of a configuration having four exemplary waypoints 581-584 interconnected by a trajectory 66, where i represents the number of sweeps among a plurality of sweeps and j represents the number of trajectories within sweep i. For example, a first sweep may be configured to move between waypoints 581, 582, 583, and 584 to form a pattern ABCAD. 1,1 , 66 1,2 , 66 1,3 , 66 1,4 and 66 1,5The second sweep along the second path may include some or all of the first sweep, and optionally additional waypoints. 2,1 , 66 2,2 , 66 2,3 and 66 2,4 Along the way, waypoints 581, 583, 584, and 582 and 581 may be reached or resolved according to the pattern ACDBA by such a sweep. Both sweeps may together provide wide coverage and detailed measurements.

[0163] An advantageous embodiment relates to a combination of beam sweeping and beam jittering. For example, during training, a subset of predetermined beam patterns may be selected, and the selected subset may be used to define a beam sweep. The beam sweeping may include linear or nonlinear interpolation between two relative angles associated with or directed at a waypoint. The sweeping may further include, for example, defining a trajectory using the waypoints and defining a shortest path between them. The sequence of connections between the paths may be periodically or randomly changed to obtain a large number of beams formed between waypoints throughout the test procedure. When using individual beams, a large number or the maximum number of possible beams that can be formed may be generated while following the trajectory, allowing for high reproducibility. The beam selection may be adapted or changed in one or more further steps or iterations. En route from one waypoint to another and / or at each waypoint, each beam pattern may be jittered / dithered, allowing for a large amount of space to be covered by the beam pattern.

[0164] That is, the method according to the embodiment may be implemented such that during training and / or testing, a path of the beam sweep is determined to include a plurality of waypoints in space, and the adapted measurement environment and / or device are controlled accordingly. Furthermore, a sequence of waypoints is determined, the sequence forming points along the path of movement of the beam pattern. At least one trajectory is determined between at least two waypoints, particularly between each pair of subsequent waypoints, and optionally between the last waypoint and the first waypoint. Each waypoint may occur frequently, one or more times within the path. The trajectory may interconnect multiple waypoints. The device may be controlled to form a beam sweep such that the beam pattern moves according to the path of the beam sweep.

[0165] The trajectory may represent the shortest path between two waypoints. The beam sweep may be a first beam sweep having a first path. At the same or changed relative positions, a corresponding method may include determining a second beam sweep having a second path, where the second beam sweep and / or more beam sweeps may be performed such that the second path at least partially includes the same waypoints as the first path but has an altered sequence of waypoints when compared to the first path.

[0166] While some aspects have been described in the context of an apparatus, it will be apparent that these aspects also represent descriptions of corresponding methods, with blocks or devices corresponding to method steps or features of method steps. Similarly, aspects described in the context of a method step also represent descriptions of a corresponding block or item or feature of a corresponding apparatus.

[0167] Depending on particular implementation requirements, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware or software. Implementation can be performed using a digital storage medium, such as a floppy disk, DVD, CD, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM or flash memory, on which electronically readable control signals are stored and which cooperate (or are capable of cooperating) with a programmable computer system to perform the respective method.

[0168] Some embodiments according to the present invention include a data carrier having electronically readable control signals cooperable with a programmable computer system to perform one of the methods described herein.

[0169] Generally, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented in part as a computer program product including program code that is operable to perform one of the methods when the computer program product is run on a computer, which program code may for example be stored on a machine-readable carrier.

[0170] Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, stored on a machine readable carrier.

[0171] In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing one of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

[0172] A further embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a data carrier (or digital storage medium, or computer readable medium) having recorded thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0173] A further embodiment of the inventive methods is therefore a data stream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein, the data stream or sequence of signals may be adapted to be transferred via a data communication connection, for example the Internet.

[0174] A further embodiment comprises a processing means, for example a computer or a programmable logic device, configured to or adapted to perform one of the methods described herein.

[0175] A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0176] In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (e.g., a field programmable gate array) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor to perform one of the methods described herein. In general, the methods are preferably performed by any hardware apparatus.

[0177] The above-described embodiments merely illustrate the principles of the present invention. It is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and details described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and not by the specific details presented as descriptions and explanations of the embodiments herein.

Claims

1. A method (300, 400) for evaluating a device (14) having at least one antenna array (32), comprising: the device (14) is configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns (36) using the antenna array (32); The method comprises: positioning the device (14) in a measurement environment (12) or changing the relative position (310, 410) of one or more probe antennas in the measurement environment adapted to measure beam patterns and / or beam correspondence between transmit and receive beam patterns; controlling (320, 420) the device to form a predetermined beam pattern (18) of the plurality of communication beam patterns (36) by assigning beam-related information (Pi) indicating a beam identifier to the device so that the device and the measurement environment (12) know which beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns (36) is activated during the measurement step; measuring (330, 430) the predetermined beam pattern (18) using the measurement environment and / or the device; The method further comprises controlling the device (14) to form the predetermined beam pattern (18) of the plurality of communication beam patterns using the beam-related information (Pi) stored in a memory; The method further includes controlling the device (14) to fix the predetermined beam pattern (18) when the relative position of the device (14) with respect to a link antenna (46) is changed, such that the device (14) maintains a relative orientation of the beam pattern with respect to a surface of the device (14). Method (300,400).

2. the predetermined beam pattern (18) is a first predetermined beam pattern of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns (18), the plurality of predetermined beam patterns being a subset of the plurality of communications beam patterns; The method comprises: After measuring the first predetermined beam pattern, controlling (440) the device (14) to form a second predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns (18); measuring (450) the second predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment (12) and / or the device; The method of claim 1 further comprising:

3. the predetermined beam pattern (18) is a first predetermined beam pattern of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42, 44), the plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42, 44) being a subset of the plurality of communications beam patterns (36); The method comprises: During the step of measuring the first predetermined beam pattern, controlling the device (14) to form a third predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42, 44); measuring the third predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment (12) and / or the device; 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

4. the device (14) is controlled to sequentially form the plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42, 44), and each predetermined beam pattern is measured; The method comprises: changing the relative position between the device (14) and the measurement environment (12) after measuring the plurality of predetermined beam patterns; repeating the control of the device to form and measure a plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42) or a further plurality of predetermined beam patterns (44); The method of claim 3 further comprising:

5. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the device (14) is controlled to form the plurality of predetermined beam patterns (42) and / or a further plurality of predetermined beam patterns (44) in a predetermined sequence.

6. the predetermined beam pattern (18) is a first predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns; The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the method is performed such that a predetermined sequence of predetermined beam patterns is generated by the device (14) and measured in the measurement environment (12) and / or with the device.

7. determining said predetermined beam pattern by selecting (610) said predetermined beam pattern from said plurality of communication beam patterns (36); The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

8. controlling the device (14) to form a calibration beam pattern, the calibration beam pattern being one of the plurality of communication beam patterns (36); The beam-related information (P ｉ ) in said memory; The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising:

9. A plurality of calibration beam patterns are formed, and a plurality of beam-related information (P) indicative of the plurality of calibration beam patterns is provided. ｉ 9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

10. controlling the device (14) to form a calibration beam pattern (36), 10. The method of claim 8 or 9, comprising the step of positioning the device (14) to include a relative position with respect to a link antenna (46), or the step of holding the device in position and changing the relative position of the link antenna (46) by moving or switching to another link antenna such that the device (14) or the device forms a calibrated beam pattern towards the link antenna (46).

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calibration beam pattern is a first calibration beam pattern, the beam-related information (P i ) is first beam-related information, and The method comprises: changing the relative position between the device (14) and the link antenna (46) so that the device (14, 20) forms a second calibration beam pattern; storing second beam-related information (P i ) indicative of the second calibration beam pattern in the memory; The method of claim 10, comprising:

12. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the step of controlling the device (14) to form the predetermined beam pattern includes a step of reading the beam-related information (Pi) from the memory and forming the predetermined beam pattern according to the beam-related information (Pi).

13. The beam-related information (P i ) is one of the following: beam / beam sweep identifier, information indicative of one or more beam-related parameters of transmit and / or receive beams applied to the antenna array and / or associated baseband signals communicated using the antenna array; beam polarization, Beam pattern carrier frequency, Beam-enabled flag, and Beam compatible ID The method according to any one of claims 1 to 12, comprising at least one of:

14. The step of controlling the device (14) to form the predetermined beam pattern (18) of the plurality of communication beam patterns (36) comprises transmitting a component signal (24) to the device by the measurement environment (12), the component signal (24) comprising: an activation time and / or duration of said predetermined beam pattern; an activation time and / or duration of a beam sweep comprising said predetermined beam pattern; the time in the device or the measurement environment to enable time synchronization; a sequence of predetermined beam patterns formed by the device; and Tx-Rx flag The method according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising information indicative of at least one of:

15. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a configuration signal from the measurement environment, Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said beam-related information (P i ) is stored in a memory of said device, and said configuration signal (24) is indicative of said beam-related information (P i ).

16. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the step of controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern (18) includes a step of transmitting a configuration signal (24) from the measurement environment (12) to the device, the configuration signal (24) including information that clearly indicates the predetermined beam pattern (18) or a sequence of multiple predetermined beam patterns formed by the device.

17. The step of measuring the predetermined beam pattern (330, 430) comprising: measuring the total radiated power of the beam pattern; measuring the equivalent isotropic radiated power; measuring the effective isotropic sensitivity; measuring the combined radiation pattern of the Rx and / or Tx in amplitude and phase; measuring the combined radiation pattern of the Rx and / or Tx in relative amplitude and relative phase; measuring the direction of the beam pattern relative to the device; and, spherical coverage, Grid density of the covered spherical beam, the particular beam patterns of all activated beams in the set of beams; At least one side lobe of the main beam / beam pattern; Beam pattern change / switching / expansion / contraction scalability / linearity / hysteresis, Spurious emissions / ACLR, including spatial resolution Null steering and multi-beam steering capability and accuracy, Beam-compatible accuracy, and Antenna array / panel calibration Steps to measure The method according to any one of claims 1 to 16, comprising at least one of:

18. A method described in any one of claims 1 to 17, wherein the step (330, 430) of measuring the predetermined beam pattern includes a step of measuring in-band emissions of a communications band utilized by the device.

19. The method described in claim 18, wherein the step (330, 430) of measuring the predetermined beam pattern further includes a step of measuring out-of-band emissions of the communication band.

20. A method described in any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the predetermined beam pattern (18) includes at least one beam (48).

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is adapted to use at least one beam (48 1 ) to overlap with another beam (48 2 ) to form a combined beam (57).

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the beam (48 1 ) and the further beam (48 2 ) are distinguishable with respect to the measurement environment (12).

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the predetermined beam pattern is a first predetermined beam pattern; the device is controlled to simultaneously form and at least partially distinguish the first predetermined beam pattern and at least a second predetermined beam pattern; The method of any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein the method comprises evaluating the first predetermined beam pattern and the second predetermined beam pattern.

24. A method described in any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the predetermined beam pattern (18) is a first predetermined beam pattern of a plurality of predetermined beam patterns, the method includes a step of controlling the device to form each of the plurality of predetermined beam patterns sequentially, and the plurality of predetermined beam patterns are arranged according to an ordered pattern in the measurement environment (12).

25. The pattern of the sequence: Regular or irregular patterns, a pattern in which the plurality of predetermined beam patterns are arranged equidistantly; a pattern covering a range of azimuth and / or elevation angles of the device; and / or Patterns containing one, two or a superposition of polarization components 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the at least one of

26. A method described in any one of claims 1 to 25, wherein the predetermined beam pattern is a static beam pattern or a time-varying beam pattern.

27. ​​A method according to any one of claims 1 to 26, wherein the predetermined beam pattern (18) describes a static beam pattern or a beam sweep.

28. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 27, wherein when controlling the device (14), the predetermined beam pattern is formed independently of a link antenna.

29. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 28, wherein the predetermined beam pattern can be formed repeatedly and deterministically.

30. The step (320, 420) of controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern, causing the device to form the predetermined beam pattern as a jittering beam pattern.

30. The method of any one of claims 1 to 29, comprising:

31. A method for evaluating a device (14) having at least one antenna array (32), comprising: the device (14) is configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns (36) using the antenna array (32); The method comprises: Relatively positioning the device (14) in a measurement environment (12) adapted to measure a beam pattern; controlling the device to form a predetermined beam pattern, which is a beam sweep based on a change in the communication beam patterns (36) over time, by assigning beam-related information (Pi) indicating a beam identifier to the device so that the device knows which beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns (36) should be activated during the measurement step; measuring the predetermined beam pattern using the measurement environment and / or the device; determining a path of the beam sweep to include a plurality of waypoints in space, a sequence of waypoints, and at least one trajectory between two subsequent waypoints to interconnect the plurality of waypoints with a trajectory; controlling the apparatus to form the beam sweep such that a beam pattern moves along a path of the beam sweep; A method comprising:

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the trajectory represents the shortest path between two waypoints.

33. The beam sweep is a first beam sweep having a first path; The method comprises:

33. The method of claim 31 or 32, further comprising determining a second beam sweep having a second path, the second path including at least some of the same waypoints as the first path and having an altered sequence of waypoints when compared to the first path.

34. The step of controlling the device to form the predetermined beam pattern, causing the device to form the predetermined beam pattern as a jittering beam pattern.

34. The method of claim 33, comprising:

35. A measurement environment (12), a holding unit (26) configured to hold the device (14); a control unit (22) adapted to execute instructions, the instructions being configured to cause the measurement environment (12) and / or the device (14) to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 34, The measurement environment responds to a trigger signal sent to the device by: a unique beam configuration identifier, Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), beam power, Frequency setting, amplitude and phase at a defined frequency, Relative amplitude and relative phase at a defined frequency, and Beam direction, configured to receive from the device receive beam measurements associated with a unique beam identifier including a plurality of measurements and parameters including at least one of: or the measurement environment is configured to cause the device to form the predetermined beam pattern as a jittered beam pattern, and the measurement environment is configured to perform jittering by applying jitter to a relative position between the device and a sensor and / or a link antenna of the measurement environment. Measurement environment (12).

36. The measurement environment is configured to receive from the device a beam configuration associated with the communication beam pattern, the beam configuration including a plurality of beam settings; Each beam setting is a unique beam configuration identifier, Beam power, beam gain, Beam directivity, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, Beam usage a list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beam forming; Beam-enabled flag, Beam compatible ID 36. The measurement environment of claim 35, comprising at least one of:

37. The measurement environment described in claim 35, wherein the measurement environment is configured to transmit a trigger signal to the device to initiate feedback of the received beam measurement results associated with a unique beam setting identifier.

38. A measurement environment described in any one of claims 35 to 37, configured to receive received beam measurement results of a sequence of beam setting identifiers in response to a trigger signal.

39. An apparatus (14, 20), comprising: at least one antenna array (32); the device (14, 20) is configured to form a plurality of communication beam patterns (36) using the antenna array (32); the device is configured to transmit a beam configuration associated with the communication beam pattern, the beam configuration including a plurality of beam settings, each beam setting including at least a unique beam setting identifier; the device is a communications device and the antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver; the apparatus comprising: a transceiver configured to receive a signal from a measurement environment including a beam setting identifier, the beam setting identifier being associated with a beam setting of the beam configuration; and a controller configured to control the apparatus to use the transmitter to form a communication beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns in response to the beam setting; the antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, the device is configured to receive from the measurement environment a sequence of a beam setting identifier, a trigger signal and a duration identifier, each beam setting identifier of the sequence being associated with a beam setting of the beam configuration of the device, the device comprises a controller configured to apply the beam settings indicated by the sequence individually and sequentially in response to the trigger signal, the device is configured to form a predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communication beam patterns for each beam setting using the transmitter and / or the receiver, and to keep the formed predetermined beam pattern fixed for a duration indicated by the duration identifier, or The device (14, 20) is configured to report to the measurement environment a beam configuration capability indicating a total number of supported beam settings of the beam configuration of the device.

40. The apparatus is a communications device, the antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, and the apparatus comprises: Beam power, beam gain, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, Beam usage, a list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beam forming; a Tx-Rx flag that identifies whether an Rx or Tx beam is being measured; and an Rx trigger indicating a request for the device to measure a receive beam pattern and transmit associated measurement results to the measurement environment; a transceiver configured to receive a signal from the measurement environment including information indicative of a configuration including a beam setting including at least one of:

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the apparatus comprises a controller configured to apply the beam settings to form a predetermined beam pattern, the predetermined beam pattern being one of the plurality of communication beam patterns, using the transmitter and / or the receiver.

41. The antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver; the device is configured to receive a sequence of beam setting identifiers from the measurement environment, the sequence including a plurality of beam setting identifiers, and to receive at least a first trigger signal and a second trigger signal, each beam setting identifier of the sequence being associated with a beam setting of a beam configuration of the device; 41. The apparatus of claim 39 or 40, wherein the apparatus comprises a controller configured to apply a first beam setting to form a first predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communications beam patterns using the transmitter and / or the receiver in response to the first trigger signal, and to apply a second beam setting indicated by the sequence to form a second predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communications beam patterns using the transmitter and / or the receiver in response to the second trigger signal.

42. An apparatus as described in any one of claims 39 to 41, wherein the apparatus is configured to transmit beamformed training signals in response to signals received from the measurement environment.

43. An apparatus described in any one of claims 39 to 42, wherein the apparatus is configured to receive at least one training signal from the measurement environment to perform receive beam measurements.

44. The apparatus configured to receive a signal from the measurement environment indicating a beam configuration measurement request; The device, generating a beam setting as part of the beam configuration of the device; applying the beam configuration to form a beam pattern toward a link antenna using the transmitter; Save the generated beam settings to memory, and 44. The apparatus of any one of claims 39 to 43, comprising a controller configured to control the apparatus to report the beam settings to the measurement environment in response to the beam setting measurement request.

45. An apparatus described in any one of claims 39 to 44, wherein the apparatus is configured to form the communication beam pattern as a jittering beam pattern.

46. A measurement environment (12), a holding unit (26) configured to hold a device (14), said device comprising at least one antenna array (32); a holding unit (26) configured to cause the device (14) to form a plurality of communication beam patterns (36) using the antenna array (32); the measurement environment comprising: a control unit (22) adapted to execute instructions to adapt the device to form the plurality of communication beam patterns (36) using the antenna array (32) and to instruct the device to transmit beam configurations of the formed communication beam patterns, the beam configurations including unique beam setting identifiers; The device is a communication device, the antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, and the measurement environment is Beam power, beam gain, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, a list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beam forming; a Tx-Rx flag that identifies whether an Rx or Tx beam is being measured; and an Rx trigger indicating a request for the device to measure a receive beam pattern and transmit associated measurement results to the measurement environment; transmitting a signal to the device including a beam configuration including at least one of: configured to instruct a device to apply the beam configuration to form a predetermined beam pattern, the predetermined beam pattern being one of the plurality of communication beam patterns, using the transmitter; the antenna array of the device is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, and the measurement environment is configured to transmit a sequence of beam setting identifiers, trigger signals, and duration identifiers to the device, each beam setting identifier of the sequence being associated with a beam setting of the beam configuration of the device; instructing the device to individually sequentially apply the beam settings indicated by the sequence in response to the trigger signal, and using the transmitter and / or the receiver to form one of the plurality of communication beam patterns for each beam setting, and holding the formed predetermined beam pattern fixed for the duration indicated by the duration identifier; or the antenna array of the device is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, the measurement environment is configured to transmit a sequence of beam setting identifiers to the device, the sequence including a plurality of beam setting identifiers, and to transmit at least a first trigger signal and a second trigger signal to the device, each beam setting identifier of the sequence being associated with a beam setting of a beam configuration of the device; instructing the device to apply a first beam setting to form a first predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communications beam patterns using the transmitter and / or the receiver in response to the first trigger signal, and to apply a second beam setting indicated by the sequence to form a second predetermined beam pattern of the plurality of communications beam patterns using the transmitter and / or the receiver in response to the second trigger signal; the antenna array of the device is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver, and the measurement environment is configured to transmit a sequence of beam setting identifiers, trigger signals, and duration identifiers to the device, each beam setting identifier of the sequence being associated with a beam setting of the beam configuration of the device; instructing the device to individually sequentially apply the beam settings indicated by the sequence in response to the trigger signal, and using the transmitter and / or the receiver to form one of the plurality of communication beam patterns for each beam setting, and holding the formed predetermined beam pattern fixed for the duration indicated by the duration identifier; or A measurement environment (12), wherein the measurement environment is configured to receive a beam configuration capability report from the device indicating a total number of supported beam settings of the beam configuration of the device and to evaluate the beam configuration capability during a measurement procedure.

47. The apparatus is a communications device, and the antenna array is adapted as a transmitter and / or a receiver; the measurement environment is configured to transmit a signal including a beam setting identifier to the device, associating the beam setting identifier with a beam setting of the beam configuration, and instructing the device to form, using the transmitter, a communication beam pattern among the plurality of communication beam patterns according to the beam setting; The beam configuration includes the plurality of beam settings, each beam setting having: Beam power, beam gain, beam carrier frequency, beam polarization, Beam direction, beam bandwidth portion, and Beam usage, a list of values ​​containing the corresponding settings of the Tx and / or Rx antenna arrays for beam forming; a Tx-Rx flag that identifies whether an Rx or Tx beam is being measured; and an Rx trigger indicating a request for the device to measure a receive beam pattern and transmit associated measurement results to the measurement environment; 47. The measurement environment of claim 46, comprising at least one of:

48. A measurement environment as described in claim 46 or 47, wherein the measurement environment is configured to transmit a signal to the device to instruct the device to transmit a beamformed training signal.

49. The measurement environment transmits a signal indicating a beam setting measurement request to the device, and the device: generating a beam setting as part of the beam configuration of the device; applying the beam configuration to form a beam pattern towards a link antenna; Save the generated beam settings to memory, and and controlling the device to report the beam setting to the measurement environment in response to the beam setting measurement request. Measurement environment according to any one of claims 46 to 48, configured to instruct.

50. A measurement environment described in any one of claims 46 to 49, wherein the measurement environment is configured to cause the device to form the predetermined beam pattern as a jittering beam pattern.

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