Mobile terminal test device and mobile terminal test method

The mobile terminal testing device efficiently reduces measurement time by stopping when a set number of Fail results are reached during spherical coverage testing, using a positioner with controlled axes and automatic re-measurement.

JP7798933B2Active Publication Date: 2026-01-14ANRITSU CORP
View PDF 5 Cites 0 Cited by

Patent Information

Application Number
JP2024017861
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2024-02-08
Publication Date
2026-01-14
Estimated Expiration
2044-02-08

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional mobile terminal testing devices require significant time for measurements due to the need to complete the entire circumference measurement before identifying a Fail result, leading to inefficiencies in the measurement process.

Method used

A mobile terminal testing device that includes a positioner with an azimuth and roll axis, controlled by drive motors, to rotate the device under test to face multiple angle sample points, with a control unit stopping measurement when a preset number of Fail results are reached, and automatically initiating re-measurement.

Benefits of technology

This configuration reduces the time required for measurement by stopping when a predetermined number of Fail results are detected, and automatically restarting the process to save time and resources.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

Smart Images

  • Figure 0007798933000001
    Figure 0007798933000001
  • Figure 0007798933000002
    Figure 0007798933000002
  • Figure 0007798933000003
    Figure 0007798933000003
Patent Text Reader

Abstract

To provide a mobile terminal testing device that can reduce the time required for measurement.SOLUTION: An EarlyFail control unit 18 comprises: a Fail condition setting unit 18a that sets a condition for determining whether a measurement result is Fail; a Failpoint management unit 18b that manages information on a Fail point that is a measurement position determined to be Fail because a measured level is less than a prescribed level; and an EarlyFail determination unit 18c that determines whether the result is Fail even if the measurement is continued, on the basis of the information on the Fail point managed by the Failpoint management unit 18b. When performing measurement of the Spherical coverage of 5G NR, the EarlyFail control unit determines whether Early Fail occurs in which the result is Fail even if the measurement is continued, and when determining that Early Fail occurs, stops the measurement.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3
Need to check novelty before this filing date? Find Prior Art

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a mobile terminal testing device that tests a mobile terminal by exchanging signals while changing the angle of a positioner on which the mobile terminal is installed in an OTA (Over The Air) environment. [Background technology]

[0002] For wireless terminals that transmit and receive wireless signals compatible with IEEE802.11ad and 5G cellular, which use wideband signals in the millimeter wave band and have been developed in recent years, performance tests are conducted on the wireless communication antennas equipped on the wireless terminals to measure the output level and receiving sensitivity of the transmitted radio waves specified for each communication standard and determine whether they meet the specified standards.

[0003] For example, in a performance test using a wireless terminal (hereinafter referred to as a "5G wireless terminal") for the New Radio System (NR) of the fifth generation mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as "5G") as the device under test (DUT), an OTA test is conducted using an anechoic box (OTA chamber) called a Compact Antenna Test Range (hereinafter referred to as "CATR"), which is not affected by the surrounding radio wave environment.

[0004] One example of a conventional wireless terminal measurement device capable of performing OTA testing is one that rotates the wireless terminal around a reference point within a measurement space such as an anechoic box or anechoic chamber, receives radio waves transmitted from the wireless terminal with a measurement antenna, and determines the radiated power characteristics of the wireless terminal (equivalent isotropic radiated power (EIRP), equivalent isotropic sensitivity (EIS), total radiated power (TRP), etc.) from the received signal.

[0005] Patent Document 1 describes a technique for displaying the progress of measurement at each measurement position when measuring a DUT that is rotated so as to face all directions of a spherical coordinate system in an OTA environment. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7227198 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The Tx or Rx spherical coverage defined in the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) NR standard is measured at each position and a Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) or Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function (CCDF) graph is created as the measurement result.

[0008] The position of the X%-tile on the created graph is checked to see if it is above a specified level, and a pass or fail result is determined.

[0009] However, since the entire circumference measurement itself takes time, if a Fail is confirmed after the measurement is completed and re-measurement is required, a large amount of time is lost.If a Fail judgment is found midway, there is a demand to stop the measurement at that point and start a re-measurement to save time.

[0010] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a mobile terminal test device that can reduce the time required for measurement by stopping the measurement if it is determined that the result would be Fail even if the measurement were continued. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The mobile terminal testing device of the present invention includes: a positioner (56) that is provided in an internal space (51) of an anechoic box (50), has an azimuth axis and a roll axis that can be rotated by drive motors (56f, 56g), and rotates the device under test so that the device sequentially faces a plurality of preset angle sample points of a spherical coordinate system, with the center of the spherical coordinate system as a reference point; a simulation measurement device (20) connected to a test antenna (5) in the internal space; an integrated control device (10) that controls the simulation measurement device to perform measurement operations at measurement positions corresponding to the plurality of angle sample points, the measurement operations transmitting test signals from the test antenna to the mobile terminal (100) under test, causing the test antenna to receive measured signals transmitted from the mobile terminal that has received the test signals, and measuring specific measurement items related to the mobile terminal based on the received measured signals; and a control unit (11) that stops the measurement when the number of measurement points at which the measurement results indicate "Fail" during measurement of 5G NR spherical coverage reaches or exceeds a preset number.

[0012] With this configuration, if the number of measurement points that result in a Fail during 5G NR Spherical Coverage measurement reaches or exceeds a preset number, the measurement is stopped, thereby reducing the time required for measurement.

[0013] In the mobile terminal test device of the present invention, the control unit automatically executes re-measurement after halting measurement.

[0014] With this configuration, after the measurement is stopped, the measurement is automatically restarted, which further reduces the time required for the measurement.

[0015] The mobile terminal testing method of the present invention is a mobile terminal testing method for a mobile terminal testing device including: a positioner (56) provided in an internal space (51) of an anechoic box (50), having an azimuth axis and a roll axis that can be rotated by drive motors (56f, 56g), and rotating a test subject so that the test subject sequentially faces a plurality of preset angle sample points of a spherical coordinate system with the center of the spherical coordinate system as a reference point; a dummy measurement device (20) connected to a test antenna (5) in the internal space; and an integrated control device (10) that controls the dummy measurement device to perform a measurement operation at each measurement position corresponding to each of the plurality of angle sample points, the measurement operation transmitting a test signal from the test antenna to the mobile terminal (100) that is the test subject, causing the test antenna to receive a measured signal transmitted from the mobile terminal that has received the test signal, and measuring a specific measurement item related to the mobile terminal based on the received measured signal, the mobile terminal testing method comprising: The method includes a step of accumulating the number of measurement points for which the measurement result is Fail during coverage measurement, and a step of halting the measurement when the number of measurement points for which the measurement result is Fail reaches a predetermined number or more.

[0016] With this configuration, if the number of measurement points that result in a Fail during 5G NR Spherical Coverage measurement reaches or exceeds a preset number, the measurement is stopped, thereby reducing the time required for measurement. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] The present invention can provide a mobile terminal test device that can reduce the time required for measurement. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a measurement device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an integrated control device and its controlled system elements of a measurement device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of an NR system simulator in a measurement device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 shows a full spherical scan image of a DUT in an OTA chamber of a measurement device according to one embodiment of the present invention, where (a) shows the arrangement of the DUT relative to the center of a spherical coordinate system, and (b) shows the distribution of angle sample points PS in the spherical coordinate system. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of the test antenna 5 in the OTA chamber of the measurement device according to one embodiment of the present invention, using the spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ) shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an image of rotational drive around the azimuth axis and roll axis of a two-axis positioner for full spherical scanning of a DUT in a measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the measurement control operation of the measurement device according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] Hereinafter, a measurement device serving as a mobile terminal test device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0020] First, the configuration of a measurement device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 4. The measurement device 1 constitutes a mobile terminal test device of the present invention. The measurement device 1 according to this embodiment has an overall external structure as shown in Fig. 1, and is composed of functional blocks as shown in Fig. 2. Figs. 1 and 2 show the arrangement of each component of an OTA chamber 50 as seen through from the side.

[0021] The measurement device 1 is operated, for example, in a state in which the above-mentioned components are mounted on each rack 90a of a rack structure 90 having the structure shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 shows an example in which an integrated control device 10, an NR system simulator 20, and an OTA chamber 50 are mounted on each rack 90a of the rack structure 90.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 2, the measurement device 1 includes an integrated control device 10, an NR system simulator 20, a signal processing unit 23, and an OTA chamber 50.

[0023] These components will be described starting with the OTA chamber 50. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the OTA chamber 50 is configured, for example, by a metal housing main body 52 having a rectangular parallelepiped internal space 51, and the internal space 51 accommodates a DUT 100 having an antenna 110, a test antenna 5, a reflector 7, and a DUT scanning mechanism 56.

[0024] A radio wave absorber 55 is attached to the entire inner surface of the OTA chamber 50, that is, the entire bottom surface 52a, side surfaces 52b, and top surface 52c of the housing main body 52. ​​This strengthens the function of the OTA chamber 50 to restrict the intrusion of radio waves from the outside and the emission of radio waves to the outside of each element (DUT 100, test antenna 5, reflector 7, DUT scanning mechanism 56) arranged in the internal space 51. In this way, the OTA chamber 50 realizes an anechoic type anechoic box having an internal space 51 that is not affected by the surrounding radio wave environment. The anechoic type anechoic box used in this embodiment is, for example, an anechoic type.

[0025] Among the components accommodated in the internal space 51 of the OTA chamber 50, the DUT 100 is a wireless terminal such as a smartphone. Communication standards for the DUT 100 include cellular (LTE, LTE-A, W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, 1xEV-DO, TD-SCDMA, etc.), wireless LAN (IEEE802.11b / g / a / n / ac / ad, etc.), Bluetooth (registered trademark), GNSS (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, etc.), FM, and digital broadcasting (DVB-H, ISDB-T, etc.). The DUT 100 may also be a wireless terminal that transmits and receives millimeter-wave band wireless signals compatible with IEEE802.11ad, 5G cellular, etc.

[0026] In this embodiment, the antenna 110 of the DUT 100 uses a radio signal in a specified frequency band that complies with, for example, the LTE or 5G NR communication standard. The DUT 100 constitutes a mobile terminal under test in the present invention.

[0027] In the internal space 51 of the OTA chamber 50, the DUT 100 is held by a part of the DUT scanning mechanism 56. The DUT scanning mechanism 56 is provided extending in the vertical direction on the bottom surface 52a of the housing main body 52 in the internal space 51 of the OTA chamber 50. The DUT scanning mechanism 56 holds the DUT 100 for which a performance test is to be performed, and performs a full spherical scan (see FIGS. 5 and 6) of the DUT 100, which will be described later.

[0028] 1, the DUT scanning mechanism 56 has a turntable 56a, a support member 56b, a DUT mounting section 56c, and a drive section 56e. The turntable 56a is made up of a disk-shaped plate member and is configured to rotate around an azimuth axis (a rotation axis in the vertical direction) (see FIGS. 3 and 7). The support member 56b is made up of a columnar member arranged so as to extend vertically on the plate surface of the turntable 56a.

[0029] The DUT placement section 56c is disposed parallel to the turntable 56a near the upper end of the support member 56b, and has a placement tray 56d on which the DUT 100 is placed. The DUT placement section 56c has a configuration (see FIGS. 3 and 7) that allows it to rotate around a roll axis (a horizontal rotation axis).

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3, the drive unit 56e includes a drive motor 56f that rotates the azimuth axis and a drive motor 56g that rotates the roll axis. The drive unit 56e is configured as a two-axis positioner equipped with a mechanism that rotates the azimuth axis and the roll axis around their respective axes using the drive motors 56f and 56g. In this way, the drive unit 56e can rotate the DUT 100 placed on the loading tray 56d along two axes (the azimuth axis and the roll axis) together with the loading tray 56d. Hereinafter, the entire DUT scanning mechanism 56 including the drive unit 56e may be referred to as a two-axis positioner (see FIG. 3).

[0031] The DUT scanning mechanism (two-axis positioner) 56 performs full spherical scanning by sequentially changing the attitude of the DUT 100 so that the antenna 110 faces all directions (a plurality of preset directions) on the surface of the sphere, assuming that the DUT 100 placed (held) on the placement tray 56d is placed at the center O1 of the sphere (see sphere B in FIG. 5). The DUT scanning by the DUT scanning mechanism 56 is controlled by a DUT scanning control unit 16, which will be described later. The DUT scanning mechanism 56 constitutes the positioner of the present invention.

[0032] The test antenna 5 is attached to a required position on the bottom surface 52a of the housing main body 52 of the OTA chamber 50 using an appropriate holder (not shown). The attachment position of the test antenna 5 is such that it can be seen through the reflector 7 via an opening 67a provided in the bottom surface 52a. The test antenna 5 uses a radio signal in the same specified frequency band (NR standard) as the antenna 110 of the DUT 100.

[0033] When performing measurements related to the NR of the DUT 100 in the OTA chamber 50, the test antenna 5 transmits a test signal from the NR system simulator 20 to the DUT 100 and receives a signal under test transmitted from the DUT 100 that has received the test signal. The test antenna 5 is positioned so that its light-receiving surface is at the focal position F of the reflector 7. Note that if the test antenna 5 can be positioned so that its light-receiving surface faces the DUT 100 and can receive light appropriately, the reflector 7 is not necessarily required.

[0034] The reflector 7 is attached to a required position on the side surface 52b of the OTA chamber 50 using a reflector holder 58. The reflector 7 provides a radio wave path that returns the radio signals (test signal and signal under measurement) transmitted and received by the antenna 110 of the DUT 100 to the light-receiving surface of the test antenna 5.

[0035] Next, the configurations of the integrated control device 10 and the NR system simulator 20 will be described. 2, the integrated control device 10 is connected to the NR system simulator 20 via a network 19 such as Ethernet (registered trademark) so that they can communicate with each other. The integrated control device 10 is also connected via the network 19 to controlled elements in the OTA chamber 50, such as the DUT scan control unit 16.

[0036] The integrated control device 10 controls the NR system simulator 20 and the DUT scan control unit 16 in an integrated manner via a network 19, and is configured, for example, by a personal computer (PC). The DUT scan control unit 16 may be provided independently in association with the OTA chamber 50 (see FIG. 2), or may be provided in the integrated control device 10 as shown in FIG. 3. In the following description, the integrated control device 10 will be described as having the configuration shown in FIG. 3.

[0037] 3, the integrated control device 10 has a control unit 11, an operation unit 12, and a display unit 13. The control unit 11 is configured by, for example, a computer device. This computer device has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11a that performs predetermined information processing to realize the functions of the measurement device 1 and overall control of the NR system simulator 20 and the DUT scan control unit 16, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 11b that stores an OS (Operating System) for starting up the CPU 11a, other programs, and control parameters, etc., a RAM (Random Access Memory) 11c that stores the OS and application execution code and data used by the CPU 11a for operation, an external I / F unit 11d, an input / output port (not shown), etc.

[0038] The external I / F unit 11d is communicably connected to the NR system simulator 20 and the drive unit 56e of the DUT scanning mechanism (two-axis positioner) 56 via a network 19. The input / output port is connected to an operation unit 12 and a display unit 13. The operation unit 12 is a functional unit for inputting various information such as commands, and the display unit 13 is a functional unit for displaying various information such as an input screen for the above various information and measurement results.

[0039] The computer device described above functions as the control unit 11 when the CPU 11a executes a program stored in the ROM 11b using the RAM 11c as a work area. As shown in Fig. 3, the control unit 11 has a call connection control unit 14, a signal transmission / reception control unit 15, a DUT scanning control unit 16, a signal analysis control unit 17, an EarlyFail control unit 18, a UE control unit 18d, a reconnection control unit 18e, a measurement return control unit 18f, and a measurement status display control unit 18g. The call connection control unit 14, the signal transmission / reception control unit 15, the DUT scanning control unit 16, the signal analysis control unit 17, the EarlyFail control unit 18, the UE control unit 18d, the reconnection control unit 18e, the measurement return control unit 18f, and the measurement status display control unit 18g are also realized when the CPU 11a executes a predetermined program stored in the ROM 11b using the work area of ​​the RAM 11c.

[0040] The call connection control unit 14 controls the establishment of a call (a state in which radio signals can be sent and received) between the NR system simulator 20 and the DUT 100 by driving the test antenna 5 via the NR system simulator 20 and the signal processing unit 23 to send and receive control signals (radio signals) between the NR system simulator 20 and the DUT 100.

[0041] The signal transmission / reception control unit 15 monitors user operations on the operation unit 12, and when the user performs a predetermined measurement start operation for measuring the transmission and reception characteristics of the DUT 100, it sends a signal transmission command to the NR system simulator 20 after the call is established by call connection control, controlling the NR system simulator 20 to transmit a test signal via the test antenna 5, and sends a signal reception command to control the NR system simulator 20 to receive the measured signal via the test antenna 5.

[0042] The DUT scanning control section 16 controls the driving of the drive motors 56f and 56g of the DUT scanning mechanism 56, thereby causing full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 placed on the placement tray 56d of the DUT placement section 56c.

[0043] Here, the full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. Generally, two methods are known for measuring the power of a signal radiated by the DUT 100 (radiated power measurement): measuring the equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) and measuring the total radiated power (TRP). The EIRP is, for example, a power value measured at each measurement point (θ, φ) in the spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ) shown in FIG. 5(a). In contrast, the TRP is the sum of the EIRP measured in all directions of the spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ), i.e., at a number of predetermined angular sample points PS (see FIG. 5(b)) on the spherical surface equidistant from the center O1 (hereinafter referred to as the reference point) of the full spherical scanning of the DUT 100.

[0044] Regarding receiver sensitivity measurement, it is known to measure EIS (equivalent isotropic sensitivity). EIS is the receiver sensitivity value measured at each measurement point (θ, φ) in the spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ) shown in Figure 5(a).

[0045] Full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 refers to a control operation in which the attitude of the DUT 100 placed on the loading tray 56d is sequentially changed, for example, with the center O1 of the sphere B (see Figure 5) as the reference (center), so that the antenna 110 faces all directions on the surface of the sphere B, i.e., the angle sampling point PS.

[0046] In order to measure the EIRP or EIS at each angle sample point PS in accordance with the full spherical scan of the DUT 100, as shown in FIG. 6, a test antenna 5 for receiving a signal radiated by the DUT 100 is placed at the position of a specific angle sample point PS (one point) in the spherical coordinate system (r, θ, φ), as shown in FIG. 6.

[0047] In the full spherical scan, the DUT 100 is driven (scanned) so that the antenna surface of the antenna 110 is sequentially directed toward the light receiving surface of the test antenna 5. This enables the test antenna 5 to transmit and receive signals for TRP measurement between the antenna 110 of the DUT 100 undergoing the full spherical scan. The signals transmitted and received here are a test signal transmitted from the NR system simulator 20 via the test antenna 5 and a signal transmitted from the antenna 110 by the DUT 100 that has received the test signal, which is a signal under test received via the test antenna 5.

[0048] Full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 is achieved by rotationally driving the azimuth axis and the roll axis using drive motors 56f and 56g that constitute the DUT scanning mechanism 56. An image of rotational drive around the azimuth axis and the roll axis of the DUT scanning mechanism (two-axis positioner) 56 involved in full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 in the measurement apparatus 1 is shown in FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 7, the DUT scanning mechanism 56 of the measurement apparatus 1 according to this embodiment moves the azimuth axis around its center in an angular direction of φ within a range of, for example, 180 degrees, while moving the roll axis around its center in an angular direction of θ within a range of, for example, 360 degrees, thereby enabling full spherical scanning (see FIGS. 5 and 6) in which the DUT 100 rotates in all directions around its center O1.

[0049] In Figure 7, φ0 indicates a unit movement angle within the total movement angle (180 degrees) in the rotation direction of the azimuth axis (angle direction of φ), and θ0 indicates a unit movement angle (hereinafter referred to as step angle) within the total movement angle (360 degrees) in the rotation direction of the roll axis (angle direction of θ). φ0 and θ0 can be selectively set to desired step angles, for example, from among a plurality of different step angle values ​​defined in advance. The set φ0 and θ0 define the angle between adjacent angle sample points PS shown in Figure 5(b), and as a result, define the number of angle sample points PS, i.e., measurement positions.

[0050] In order to realize the control of the full spherical scan of the DUT 100 by the DUT scan control unit 16, for example, a DUT scan control table 16a is prepared in advance in the ROM 11b. The DUT scan control table 16a stores, for example, the coordinates of each angle sample point PS (see FIG. 5(b)) in a spherical coordinate system (see FIG. 5(a)) related to the full spherical scan of the DUT 100, drive data of the drive motors 56f and 56g associated with the coordinates of each angle sample point PS, and control data associating the stop time (measurement time) at each angle sample point PS. If the drive motors 56f and 56g are, for example, stepping motors, the number of drive pulses, for example, is stored as the drive data.

[0051] The DUT scan control unit 16 loads the DUT scan control table 16a into the working area of ​​the RAM 11c, and drives and controls the drive motors 56f and 56g of the DUT scanning mechanism 56 based on the control data stored in the DUT scan control table 16a. This allows full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 placed on the DUT placement unit 56c. In full spherical scanning, the antenna face of the antenna 110 of the DUT 100 faces each angle sample point PS in the spherical coordinate system, stops for a specified time (the above-mentioned stopping time), and then moves to the next angle sample point PS (scanning of the DUT 100). This operation is performed sequentially for all angle sample points PS.

[0052] The signal analysis control unit 17 captures the NR-related radio signals received by the test antenna 5 during full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 via the NR system simulator 20 and analyzes (measures) them as signals for specific measurement items.

[0053] For example, when measuring the spherical coverage of Tx or Rx, the EarlyFail control unit 18 determines whether the result is an Early Fail, which means that continuing the measurement will result in a Fail, and if it determines that the result is an Early Fail, it stops the measurement.

[0054] For this reason, the EarlyFail control unit 18 includes a Fail condition setting unit 18a, a Failpoint management unit 18b, and an EarlyFail determination unit 18c.

[0055] The fail condition setting unit 18a sets the value of X in the X%-tile and a specified level, which are conditions for determining whether or not a test is fail.

[0056] The fail point management unit 18b manages information on fail points, which are measurement positions where the measured level does not reach a specified level and is judged to be fail.

[0057] The EarlyFail determining unit 18c determines whether or not the result will be Fail even if the measurement is continued, based on the information on the Fail point managed by the Failpoint managing unit 18b.

[0058] The EarlyFail control unit 18 determines that the measurement is an Early Fail and stops the measurement, and then automatically performs re-measurement. When performing re-measurement, there is a concern that the DUT 100 may malfunction and performing re-measurement in this state may result in a Fail, so the re-measurement is performed after performing one or more of the following measures: restarting the DUT 100, turning the airplane mode on and off, reconnecting the call, etc.

[0059] In this way, it is possible to recover from an unintended malfunction of the DUT 100. Note that the determination of whether or not there is an Early Fail and the re-measurement can be performed multiple times.

[0060] The UE control unit 18d controls the DUT 100 as UE (User Equipment) to perform operations such as rebooting the DUT 100, turning on or off the air-plane mode, and reconnecting a call.

[0061] The reconnection control unit 18e controls reconnection with the DUT 100 during remeasurement after the measurement has been stopped due to an Early Fail determination.

[0062] After the measurement is determined to be an Early Fail and the measurement is stopped, the measurement recovery control unit 18f prepares for re-measurement by moving the antenna plane of the antenna 110 of the DUT 100 so that it faces the first angle sampling point PS and initializing the measurement data.

[0063] The measurement status display control unit 18g causes the display unit 13 to display the progress of the measurement, the state of the measurement, and the like.

[0064] 4, the NR system simulator 20 includes a signal generating unit 21a, a signal measuring unit 21b, a transmitting / receiving unit 21c, a control unit 21d, an operation unit 21e, and a display unit 21f. The NR system simulator 20 constitutes a simulation measurement device of the present invention.

[0065] The signal generating unit 21a generates a signal (baseband signal) that is the source of the test signal. The transmitting / receiving unit 21c generates a test signal corresponding to the frequency of each communication standard from the signal generated by the signal generating unit 21a and sends it to the signal processing unit 23, and also functions as an RF unit that restores a baseband signal from the signal under measurement sent from the signal processing unit 23. The signal measuring unit 21b performs measurement processing of the signal under measurement based on the baseband signal restored by the transmitting / receiving unit 21c.

[0066] The control unit 21d comprehensively controls the functional units, namely, the signal generating unit 21a, the signal measuring unit 21b, the transmitting / receiving unit 21c, the operation unit 21e, and the display unit 21f. The operation unit 21e is a functional unit for inputting various information such as commands, and the display unit 21f is a functional unit for displaying various information such as input screens for various information and measurement results.

[0067] In the measurement device 1 having the above-described configuration, the DUT 100 is placed on the loading tray 56d of the DUT scanning mechanism (two-axis positioner) 56 within the internal space 51 of the OTA chamber 50, and the DUT 100 is moved (rotated) along the loading tray 56d in two axial directions (azimuth axis and roll axis) by a predetermined step angle, thereby making it possible to measure specific measurement items such as EIRP and EIS at each measurement position and TRP across all measurement positions.

[0068] The measurement control operation when measuring the spherical coverage of Tx or Rx by the integrated control device 10, which is performed in conjunction with full spherical scanning of the DUT 100 in the OTA chamber 50 of such a measurement device 1, will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 8.

[0069] In step S1, when a measurement start operation is performed by operating the operation unit 12, the control unit 11 sets the measurement parameters and the like set by operating the operation unit 12. After executing the process of step S1, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S2.

[0070] In step S2, the control unit 11 starts the measurement. After executing the process of step S2, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S3.

[0071] In step S3, the control unit 11 changes the position of the DUT 100 to a specified position. After executing the process of step S3, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S4.

[0072] In step S4, the control unit 11 performs measurement at the set position. After executing the process of step S4, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S5.

[0073] In step S5, the control unit 11 determines whether the measurement result is Fail or not. If the measurement result is determined to be Fail, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S6. If the measurement result is determined to be Not Fail, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S8.

[0074] In step S6, the control unit 11 calculates the fail point by adding 1 to the fail point. After executing the process of step S6, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S7.

[0075] In step S7, the control unit 11 determines whether the number of fail points is less than the number of X%-tiles, where the number of X%-tiles is the number of measurement points that corresponds to X% of the total measurement points.

[0076] If it is determined that the number of fail points is less than the number of X%-tiles, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S8. If it is determined that the number of fail points is not less than the number of X%-tiles, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S9.

[0077] In step S8, the control unit 11 determines whether or not there are any remaining positions that have not been measured.

[0078] If it is determined that there are any remaining positions that have not been measured, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S3. If it is determined that there are no remaining positions that have not been measured, the control unit 11 ends the measurement control operation.

[0079] In step S9, the control unit 11 determines that the result is Early Fail. After executing the process of step S9, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S10.

[0080] In step S10, the control unit 11 determines whether or not to perform a retest based on the number of retests that have already been performed.

[0081] If it is determined that a retest is to be performed, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S11. If it is determined that a retest is not to be performed, the control unit 11 ends the measurement control operation.

[0082] In step S11, the control unit 11 executes a return process to start a retest. After executing the process of step S11, the control unit 11 executes the process of step S2.

[0083] In this way, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 11 stops the measurement when the number of measurement points for which the measurement result is Fail during the measurement of spherical coverage reaches or exceeds X% of the total number of measurement points.

[0084] This allows the measurement to be stopped when it is determined that the result would be Fail even if the measurement was continued, thereby reducing the time required for measurement.

[0085] Furthermore, when an Early Fail occurs, the control unit 11 automatically performs the recovery process for the DUT 100 and the re-measurement.

[0086] This allows automatic re-measurement in the event of an Early Fail, further reducing the time required for measurement.

[0087] While an embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention, and it is intended that all such modifications and equivalents be included in the following claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0088] 1. Measuring equipment (mobile terminal test equipment) 5 Test antenna 10 Integrated control device 16 DUT scanning control section 18 EarlyFail control section 18a Fail condition setting section 18b Failpoint Management Department 18c EarlyFail judgment part 18d UE control unit 18e Reconnection control section 18f Measurement return control section 18g Measurement status display control section 20 NR system simulator (simulated measurement device) 50 OTA chamber (electromagnetic anechoic box) 51 Interior Space 56 DUT scanning mechanism (positioner) 56f, 56g drive motor 100 DUTs (Mobile Terminals)

Claims

1. a positioner (56) provided in the internal space (51) of the anechoic box (50), having an azimuth axis and a roll axis that can be rotated by drive motors (56f, 56g), and rotating the test object so that the test object faces a plurality of preset angular sample points of a spherical coordinate system, with the center of the spherical coordinate system as a reference point; a simulation measurement device (20) connected to a test antenna (5) in the interior space; an integrated control device (10) that controls the simulation measurement device to transmit a test signal from the test antenna to the mobile terminal (100) under test, cause the test antenna to receive a measurement signal transmitted from the mobile terminal that has received the test signal, and measure specific measurement items related to the mobile terminal based on the received measurement signal, at each measurement position corresponding to each of the plurality of angle sample points; A mobile terminal test device comprising: a control unit (11) that stops measurement when the number of measurement points at which the measurement result is Fail during measurement of 5G NR spherical coverage becomes equal to or exceeds a predetermined number.

2. 2. The mobile terminal test device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit automatically executes re-measurement after stopping the measurement.

3. a positioner (56) provided in the internal space (51) of the anechoic box (50), having an azimuth axis and a roll axis that can be rotated by drive motors (56f, 56g), and rotating the test object so that the test object faces a plurality of preset angular sample points of a spherical coordinate system, with the center of the spherical coordinate system as a reference point; a simulation measurement device (20) connected to a test antenna (5) in the interior space; and an integrated control device (10) that controls the simulating measurement device to perform a measurement operation at each measurement position corresponding to each of the plurality of angle sampling points, the operation transmitting a test signal from the test antenna to the mobile terminal (100) that is the test subject, causing the test antenna to receive a measurement signal transmitted from the mobile terminal that has received the test signal, and measuring a specific measurement item related to the mobile terminal based on the received measurement signal, A step of accumulating the number of measurement points where the measurement result is Fail during measurement of 5G NR spherical coverage; and stopping the measurement when the number of measurement points at which the measurement result is Fail reaches or exceeds a preset number.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Test device for memory with redundant circuit

    JP1988239696A

  • Test method for semiconductor memory, and test device for semiconductor memory

    JP2002032997A

  • Receiving device and testing device

    JP2006134963A

  • Mobile terminal test device and mobile terminal test method

    JP7227198B2

  • JPP7227198B