Over-the-air testing apparatus and over-the-air testing method

Abstract

Embodiments of the present application relate to the technical field of communications. Disclosed are an over-the-air testing apparatus and an over-the-air testing method. The over-the-air testing apparatus comprises: a test module, which comprises an anechoic chamber used for providing a test environment for a device under test; an integrated thermal insulation and turntable module, which is disposed inside the anechoic chamber and comprises an adjustable cover structure, the adjustable cover structure being used for maintaining the environmental state of said device; and an environmental control module, which is disposed outside the anechoic chamber, is connected to the integrated thermal insulation and turntable module by means of a thermal insulation pipe to form a triaxial structure, and is used for working in conjunction with the integrated thermal insulation and turntable module to adjust the test environment of said device.

Description

Air interface test device and air interface test method

[0001] Related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Chinese patent application No. 202311055927.0 filed on August 21, 2023, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of electronic technology, and in particular to an air interface testing device and an air interface testing method. Background Art

[0004] Environmental adaptability testing is a crucial step in the R&D and production of communications electronics products. By simulating various extreme operating environments and testing product performance under these conditions, it plays a crucial role in improving product quality. The introduction of OTA (Over the Air) testing has posed new challenges to environmental adaptability testing for 5G base station equipment.

[0005] Therefore, how to control the working environment conditions of the device under test in a microwave anechoic chamber has become an urgent problem to be solved in related technologies. In order to solve this problem, various system solutions have been proposed in related technologies, but these solutions all have technical defects such as limited test scenarios.

[0006] Summary of the Invention

[0007] The main purpose of the embodiments of the present application is to provide an air interface testing device and an air interface testing method, aiming to improve the test freedom, expand the test scenarios, and thus realize the testing of the device to be tested under multiple environmental conditions.

[0008] To achieve the above objectives, an embodiment of the present application provides an air interface test device, the air interface test device comprising:

[0009] The test module includes a microwave darkroom, which is used to provide a test environment for the device under test;

[0010] An integrated heat preservation turntable module is arranged inside the microwave darkroom and includes an adjustable cover structure, wherein the cover structure is used to maintain the environmental state of the device under test;

[0011] The environment control module is arranged outside the microwave darkroom and is connected to the integrated insulation turntable module through an insulation pipe to form a three-axis structure, and is used to cooperate with the integrated insulation turntable module to adjust the test environment of the device under test.

[0012] In addition, to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, an embodiment of the present application further provides an air interface testing method, which is applied to the air interface testing device described above, including:

[0013] Initialize the configuration of the test environment;

[0014] Generate a data correction model based on preset standard data and theoretical models;

[0015] Perform air interface testing on the device to be tested based on the air interface test device to obtain test data;

[0016] The test data is corrected based on the data correction model and a test result is output. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or related technologies, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or related technical descriptions. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the structures shown in these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0018] FIG1 is a schematic structural diagram of an OTA test system in the related art;

[0019] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another OTA test system in the related art;

[0020] FIG3 is a schematic structural diagram of an air interface test device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0021] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of the detailed structure of an air interface test device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0022] FIG5 is a schematic structural diagram of a turntable in an air interface test device according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a cover structure in an air interface testing device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0024] FIG7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the left and right panels of an air interface test device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0025] FIG8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the front and rear panels of an air interface test device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0026] FIG9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the upper and lower panels of an air interface test device provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0027] FIG10 is a flow chart of an air interface testing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] FIG11 is a flow chart of an application example of an air interface testing method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0029] FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a spherical coordinate system involved in an application example of an air interface testing method provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0030] The realization of the objectives, functional features and advantages of the embodiments of the present application will be further explained in conjunction with the embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of the embodiments of this application.

[0032] All directional indications in the embodiments of the present application (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.) are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement status, etc. between the various components under a certain specific posture (as shown in the accompanying drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indication will also change accordingly.

[0033] In addition, in the embodiments of the present application, descriptions such as "first", "second", etc. are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or suggesting their relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. In the description of the embodiments of the present application, the meaning of "multiple" is at least two, such as two, three, etc., unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined. In addition, the meaning of "and / or" appearing throughout the text is to include three parallel schemes. Taking "A and / or B" as an example, it includes scheme A, or scheme B, or a scheme in which both A and B are satisfied.

[0034] In the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise specified or limited, the terms "connection" and "fixation" should be understood in a broad sense. For example, "fixation" can mean a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can mean a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can mean a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can mean the internal connection between two elements or the interaction between two elements, unless otherwise specified. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the embodiments of the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0035] It should also be understood that references to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" described in the description of the embodiments of the present application mean that one or more embodiments of the embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. Thus, the phrases "in one embodiment," "in some embodiments," "in some other embodiments," "in some other embodiments," etc. that appear in different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but rather mean "one or more but not all embodiments," unless otherwise specifically emphasized. The terms "including," "comprising," "having," and their variations all mean "including but not limited to," unless otherwise specifically emphasized.

[0036] Environmental adaptability testing is an important part of the entire R&D and production process of communication electronic products. It simulates various extreme working environments and tests the performance of products under extreme environmental conditions, which is of great significance to improving product quality.

[0037] In traditional 2G, 3G, and 4G base station equipment, the base station's transceiver (RRU, Remote Radio Unit) and antenna are separate; when conducting environmental adaptability tests on such base station equipment, the RRU and antenna are tested and evaluated separately. The environmental adaptability test of the RRU is to place the RRU in an environmental test chamber and lead the RF signal out of the chamber through an RF line to monitor the RRU's RF performance indicators under different temperature and humidity environments; the environmental adaptability test of the antenna is to place the antenna in an environmental test chamber, place it under various environmental stress conditions for a period of time, then take it out and test the antenna's electrical performance to evaluate the impact of environmental factors on antenna performance. This form of environmental adaptability testing is currently the most commonly used testing method, but it cannot conduct a holistic evaluation of the base station equipment system performance, and for passive components such as antennas, it is impossible to monitor their electrical performance during the experiment, which has certain defects.

[0038] With the development of communication technology, 5G base stations have emerged. Compared with traditional 2G, 3G, and 4G base station equipment, the transceiver and antenna of 5G base stations adopt an integrated design, presenting a new physical form, called AAU (active antenna processing unit). As the operating frequency band of 5G base station equipment has gradually extended to the millimeter wave band, it is becoming increasingly difficult to use traditional conduction methods to test the port RF performance. Therefore, the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) agreement introduced the OTA test method into the RF performance test of 5G base stations.

[0039] The introduction of OTA testing has posed new challenges for environmental adaptability testing of 5G base station equipment. Controlling the operating environment of the device under test within a microwave anechoic chamber has become a new topic in the industry, and several system solutions have been proposed to address this issue.

[0040] One type of solution is shown in Figure 1. The test system of this solution consists of an incubator 11, a shielding box 12 and a wave-transparent window 13. The incubator 11 and the shielding box 12 are all covered with absorbing materials on all sides to simulate a microwave darkroom. The incubator 11 is used to place the device under test and has the function of simulating various extreme working environments. The shielding box 12 is used to place test auxiliary equipment. Both the incubator 11 and the shielding box 12 have a window on one side of the box. When the two boxes are combined, a wave-transparent window 13 is used to connect the two boxes. The function of the wave-transparent window 13 is to ensure the airtightness and temperature of the incubator 11, and at the same time transmit the radio frequency signal of the device to the shielding box 12. Both the device under test and the detection equipment can be moved horizontally to meet the far-field test conditions. As can be seen from Figure 1, this solution has obvious defects. First, the device under test is limited, and for far-field conditions (where L is the distance between the DUT and the receiving horn, D is the equivalent aperture of the DUT, and λ is the wavelength of the corresponding frequency). When testing low-frequency devices, the need to meet far-field test conditions will make the cabinet size abnormally large. The larger cabinet will increase the difficulty of temperature control in the incubator, and higher energy consumption is required to achieve the preset temperature. Secondly, the accuracy of the test results is limited. Controlling the temperature and humidity of the entire cabinet containing the DUT will seriously affect the performance of the surrounding absorbing materials, thereby affecting the accuracy of the test results. Thirdly, the test indicators are limited. Due to the lack of a turntable system, this solution can only test the normal full-temperature EIRP (Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power) indicator of the DUT, and cannot perform more directional EIRP, TRP (Total Radiate Power), and directivity pattern tests.

[0041] Another type of solution is shown in Figure 2. This solution is based on the modification of a microwave darkroom with OTA testing conditions. The system consists of a microwave darkroom 21, a detection antenna 22, a detection instrument 23, a wave-transmitting thermal insulation box 24, and a temperature control device 25. The device under test is placed in the wave-transmitting thermal insulation box 24. The wave-transmitting thermal insulation box 24 only requires the side of the base station device facing the detection antenna 22 to be a wave-transmitting shell. The wave-transmitting thermal insulation box 24 is connected to the temperature control device 25 outside the microwave darkroom 21 through an air duct, and the temperature and humidity environment inside the wave-transmitting thermal insulation box 24 is controlled by the temperature control device 25. The detection antenna 22 is connected to the detection instrument 23 outside the microwave darkroom 21 through an RF cable, and the received air interface signal is transmitted to the instrument. To use this system for OTA testing, you only need to follow the normal temperature OTA test steps, replace the device under test with a standard gain antenna, determine the corresponding field insertion loss, and then you can perform the test.

[0042] This solution can relatively well meet the requirements for environmental adaptability OTA testing, but it also has some shortcomings. First, the wave-transmitting insulated box in this solution only requires a wave-transmitting shell on the side facing the base station's transceiver path. This design means that the detection antenna can only receive signals from the front of the base station, while the signals radiated from the base station to the surrounding area are shielded by the shell, which will affect the base station's active radiation pattern performance test. Second, the wave-transmitting insulated box in this system solution is fixed, which cannot meet the requirements for testing in multiple scenarios. Third, the temperature control system and the turntable system in this solution are designed independently. The temperature of the insulated box is controlled by two ventilation ducts extending from the temperature control device into the insulated box. The presence of these two ventilation ducts significantly affects the rotational freedom of the turntable, thereby limiting the items that can be tested by the system. Fourth, the system tested using this solution only considers the impact of the wave-transmitting shell of the insulated box on the base station's radiation energy intensity, but does not consider the comprehensive impact of the insulated box on the base station's radiation field shape. The results obtained fail to eliminate the influence of the wave-transmitting insulated box.

[0043] Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides an air interface test device and an air interface test method, which overcome the defects in the related art. The air interface test device highly integrates the environmental control module with the integrated insulation turntable module, reduces the volume and complexity of the air interface test device while ensuring the functions of each module, and designs the cover structure as a flat shell that is detachable and adjustable, which can fully ensure the flexibility of the cover structure, can adapt to devices under test of different sizes, improve the degree of freedom of testing, and expand the use scenarios of the air interface test device; the air interface test method is implemented based on the air interface test device, and by constructing a test data correction model, it can realize multi-dimensional and all-round correction of test data such as power and angle, so that the test results can reflect the actual air interface performance of the device under test under multiple environmental conditions.

[0044] The air interface testing device and air interface testing method provided in the embodiments of the present application are specifically described through the following embodiments. First, the air interface testing device in the embodiments of the present application is described.

[0045] The present application provides an air interface test device. Referring to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an air interface test device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The air interface test device includes:

[0046] The test module 100 includes a microwave darkroom 31 for providing a test environment for the device under test;

[0047] The integrated heat preservation turntable module 200 is arranged inside the microwave darkroom 31 and includes an adjustable cover structure 35, wherein the cover structure 35 is used to maintain the environmental state of the device under test;

[0048] The environment control module 300 is arranged outside the microwave darkroom 31 and is connected to the integrated insulation turntable module 200 through the insulation pipe 38 to form a three-axis structure for coordinating with the integrated insulation turntable module 200 to adjust the test environment of the device under test.

[0049] The air interface test device provided in this embodiment is mainly used to solve the OTA test problem under multiple environmental conditions. Using the air interface test device in this embodiment, not only can OTA testing be realized under normal temperature and pressure conditions, but also OTA testing under high temperature, low temperature, high and low temperature cycle, high temperature and high humidity, low pressure and other environmental conditions can be realized.

[0050] In this embodiment, the test environment for the device under test is a microwave darkroom environment. A microwave darkroom is a shielded room designed to function as a darkroom, where radio-absorbing materials are laid on the inner walls to minimize wall reflections. This creates a nearly echo-free, "free space" region within the shielded room. In this embodiment, the integrated thermal insulation turntable module 200 and the environmental control module 300 are highly integrated. The environmental control module 300 is connected to the integrated thermal insulation turntable module 200 via an insulated pipe 38, forming a three-axis structure. The environmental control module 300 is positioned outside the microwave darkroom 31 to avoid the restrictive effects of the environmental control module 300 on the integrated thermal insulation turntable module 200. In this embodiment, the adjustable cover structure 35 is made of a wave-transparent material. The cover design utilizes a slotted mounting structure, allowing for flexible adjustment to form an insulation cover that can accommodate devices of varying sizes under test, thereby enabling over-the-air testing in multiple environmental scenarios.

[0051] 4 , in some feasible embodiments, the testing module 100 further includes:

[0052] A reflecting surface 32 is provided on the inner wall of the microwave darkroom 31;

[0053] A feed antenna 33 is provided at the focal position of the reflecting surface 32;

[0054] The measuring instrument 37 is disposed inside or outside the microwave darkroom 31 and is connected to the feed antenna 33 via a radio frequency cable.

[0055] In this embodiment, the test module 100 is composed of a microwave darkroom 31, a reflective surface 32, a feed antenna 33, and a measuring instrument 37. The types of compact ranges formed by the microwave darkroom 31, the reflective surface 32, and the feed antenna 33 are various. The compact range listed in this embodiment is a bias-fed single-reflective-surface compact range, but the same applies to other types of compact ranges. The measuring instrument 37 can be placed inside the microwave darkroom 31 or outside the darkroom. FIG4 corresponds to an embodiment in which the measuring instrument 37 is placed outside the microwave darkroom 31. The measuring instrument 37 is connected to the feed antenna 33 via a radio frequency cable. Based on the above components, the test module 100 can provide a test environment for the device under test to implement OTA testing of the device under test.

[0056] 4 , in some feasible embodiments, the environment control module 300 further includes:

[0057] An environmental control unit 36 ​​is provided outside the microwave darkroom 31;

[0058] The environment detection sensor is arranged on the turntable rolling axis of the integrated heat-insulating turntable module 200 and is used to obtain the environmental parameters of the area where the device to be tested is located.

[0059] In this embodiment, the environmental control module 300 and the integrated insulation turntable module 200 cooperate with each other to achieve control and maintenance of the environment surrounding the equipment to be tested, wherein the environmental control module 300 is mainly composed of an environmental control unit 36, an insulation pipe 38 and an environmental detection sensor; the environmental control unit 36 ​​is installed on the outside of the microwave darkroom 31 to reduce its impact on the darkroom environment; the insulation pipe 38 is composed of an air inlet pipe and an air outlet pipe, which is introduced into the interior of the microwave darkroom 31 through a cutoff waveguide to connect the environmental control unit 36 ​​with the U-shaped turntable 34. In particular, the insulation pipe 38 must be made of a flexible material with low thermal conductivity and high and low temperature resistance. It must extend to the center of the central axis of the turntable 34 and be connected to the turntable 34 through an airtight rotary joint; the environmental detection sensors are distributed on the turntable roll axis to achieve environmental detection of the area of ​​the equipment to be tested. The main function of the environmental control module 300 is to control the temperature, humidity, air pressure and other environmental factors inside the cover structure 35 according to the conditions monitored by the environmental detection sensor inside the cover structure 35, so that the temperature, humidity and air pressure environment inside the cover structure 35 reach the set state of the tester.

[0060] 4 , in some feasible embodiments, the integrated heat preservation turntable module 200 further includes:

[0061] The turntable 34 has a bottom connected to the environment control module 300 via a heat-insulating pipe 38 , and a support arm of the turntable 34 is connected to the adjustable cover structure 35 .

[0062] It can be understood that the integrated heat preservation turntable module 200 is mainly composed of a turntable 34 and an adjustable cover structure 35 .

[0063] As an example, in this embodiment, the turntable 34 is a three-axis U-shaped turntable, and its specific structure is shown in FIG5 . As can be seen from FIG5 , the turntable 34 includes:

[0064] A turntable electronic control unit 341 , which serves as the base of the turntable 34 and is used to control the rotation of each movable axis of the turntable 34 ;

[0065] A turntable bracket 342 , the bottom of which is connected to the turntable electronic control unit 341 and the insulation pipe 38 of the environmental control module 300 to form a three-axis structure;

[0066] A turntable rolling shaft 343 , the turntable rolling shaft 343 is connected to the support arm of the turntable bracket 342 via a rotating motor;

[0067] An airtight rotary joint 344 , which is mounted on the inner side of the top end of the arm of the turntable bracket 342 ;

[0068] A retractable heat-insulating short tube 345 , one end of which is connected to the arm of the turntable bracket 342 via the airtight rotary joint 344 , and the other end of which is connected to the cover structure 35 via a sealing ring.

[0069] In this embodiment, the turntable 34 is composed of a turntable electronic control unit 341 , a turntable bracket 342 , a turntable rolling shaft 343 , an airtight rotary joint 344 and a retractable heat-insulating short tube 345 . The turntable electronic control unit 341 is located at the bottom of the turntable and is primarily responsible for controlling the rotation of the turntable's movable axes. The turntable bracket 342 is a U-shaped bracket. To achieve ventilation, insulation, and load-bearing functions, it must be made of low-thermal-conductivity, high-strength materials. Furthermore, it adopts a hollow pipe structure. Specifically, the U-shaped bracket is divided into two parts by a partition at the center axis, and the two parts of the U-shaped bracket are respectively connected to the insulation pipe 38 at the center axis. The turntable roll axis 343 is connected to the two arms of the turntable bracket 342 via a rotating motor. An airtight rotary joint 344 is installed on the inner side of the top of the two arms of the U-shaped bracket. One end of the retractable insulation short tube 345 is connected to the U-shaped bracket arm via an airtight rotary joint, and the other end is connected to the insulation cover 35 via a sealing ring. The three-axis U-shaped turntable constructed by this design not only ensures the rotational freedom of each axis of the turntable, but also constructs a complete air duct circulation path for the entire air interface test device, which is the core design for achieving environmental control of the entire air interface test device.

[0070] 6 , in some feasible embodiments, the cover structure 35 is a closed cubic heat-insulating cover formed by fixing left and right panels 351 , front and rear panels 352 , and upper and lower panels 353 through mounting grooves.

[0071] In this embodiment, the cover structure 35 is a cubic structure, mainly composed of six panel components, namely left and right panels 351, front and rear panels 352, and upper and lower panels 353. The left and right panels 351, front and rear panels 352, and upper and lower panels 353 are installed and fixed through mounting grooves to form a closed cubic thermal insulation cover; in particular, the materials for making each panel of the thermal insulation cover must be low dielectric constant, low loss tangent, and wave-transparent materials with wide temperature characteristics, such as glass fiber materials, fluoropolyurethane, etc.

[0072] As can be seen from Figure 6, in some feasible embodiments, circular holes and square holes are provided on the left and right panels 351. The circular holes are used to plug in the retractable insulation short tube 345 of the turntable 34. The size of the square holes is larger than the size of the turntable rolling shaft 343 of the turntable. The square holes are used to ensure that the turntable rolling shaft can smoothly pass through the left and right panels 351.

[0073] Referring to Figure 7, in some feasible embodiments, the left and right panels 351 are provided with long side mounting grooves 3513 and wide side mounting grooves 3514, the front and rear panels 352 are fixed to the left and right panels 351 through the wide side mounting grooves 3514, and the upper and lower panels 353 are fixed to the left and right panels 351 through the long side mounting grooves 3513, and the size of the closed cubic insulation cover is determined according to the size of the front and rear panels 352 and the upper and lower panels 353.

[0074] In this embodiment, the left and right panels 351 are rectangular parallelepipeds with a length of L, a width of W, and a thickness of H. The dimensions are determined by the designer's specific needs. The cross-sectional structure is shown in FIG7 . A circular hole 3511 and a square hole 3512 are formed on the front of the panel. The centers of the circular hole 3511 and the square hole 3512 are located on the center line of the front of the panel. The diameter of the circular hole 3511 is d, and the distance from the center of the circular hole to the upper edge of the panel is d. The size and position of the circular hole 3511 must match the telescopic insulation short pipe 345 connected to the U-shaped frame arm to ensure that the two are closely connected; the length of the square hole 3512 is a, the width is b, and the distance from the center of the square hole to the bottom edge of the panel is 1 / 4 of the distance from the center of the square hole to the bottom edge of the panel. The specific size of the square hole 3512 must be designed according to the size of the turntable rolling shaft 343 to ensure that the turntable rolling shaft can pass through the panel smoothly; the left and right panels 351 are also designed with long side mounting grooves 3513 and wide side mounting grooves 3514. There are two long side mounting grooves 3513, which are located on both sides of the upper and lower edges of the panel respectively. Their length is L, width is tg, and the distance from the upper / lower edge of the panel is There are also two wide side mounting grooves 3514, which are distributed on both sides of the left and right edges of the panel. Their length is W, their width is tg, and their distance from the left / right edges of the panel is The depth of both mounting grooves is hg; the front and rear panels 352 are fixed via the wide-side mounting grooves 3514, and the upper and lower panels 353 are fixed via the long-side mounting grooves 3513. As can be seen in Figures 6 and 7, the circular hole 3511 and the square hole 3512 are located within the rectangular area formed by the long-side mounting grooves 3513 and the wide-side mounting grooves 3514.

[0075] As an example, the front and rear panels 352 are cross-sectionally shown in FIG8 . The panel width is W, which is the same as the width of the left and right panels 351 ; the panel thickness is tg, which is the same as the width of the wide side mounting slots 3514 on the left and right panels 351 ; the panel length is Ls, which is not fixed and must be determined based on the length of the device under test. There are two slots 3521 on the panel, with a length of Ls, which is the same as the length of the panel, a width of tg, and a distance from the upper / lower edge of the panel. The slot 3521 is aligned with the long side mounting grooves 3513 on the left and right panels 351 , and the depth of the slot 3521 is hs. The slot 3521 can provide better support for the installation of the upper and lower panels 353 .

[0076] As an example, the cross-section of the upper and lower panels 353 is shown in Figure 9. The panel width is Ln + 2hs, which matches the gap between the front and rear panels 351. The panel thickness is tg, which matches the width of the long-side mounting slots 3513 on the left and right panels 351. The panel length is Ls, which must match the length of the front and rear panels 352. When used, it must be used with the matching front and rear panels 352.

[0077] When constructing the turntable 34, the left and right panels 351 must be installed synchronously. When the air interface test device is used for subsequent testing, the positions of the left and right panels 351 are fixed with the center of the device to be tested as the base point, and the front and rear panels 352 are inserted between the two left and right panels 351 along the wide side mounting groove 3514. The upper and lower panels 353 are inserted into the long side mounting groove 3513 on the left and right panels 351 along the slots 3521 on the two front and rear panels 352. Each panel is tightly combined through the slots to form a cubic insulation cover. In actual use, in order to adapt to equipment of different sizes, it is necessary to construct insulation covers of different sizes. The front and rear panels 352 and the upper and lower panels 353 need to be customized with multiple length dimensions, but a basic principle must be followed, that is, the maximum size of the insulation cover cannot exceed the size of the darkroom quiet area.

[0078] In addition, the air interface test device in this embodiment is implemented in the form of a combination of a compact field and a U-shaped bracket turntable, but the specific implementation method is not limited to this. The test darkroom site is replaced with a far-field darkroom, and the U-shaped bracket turntable is replaced with an upright bracket turntable. According to the design concept provided in this embodiment, the function of the air interface test device in this embodiment can also be realized. Combining the darkroom site (compact field, far field) with the bracket turntable form (U-shaped bracket, upright bracket) according to the design idea provided in this embodiment can also realize the function of the air interface test device in this embodiment, thereby realizing OTA testing in multiple environment scenarios.

[0079] This embodiment provides an air interface test device. The assembly design provided in the above embodiment can fully guarantee the flexibility of the thermal insulation cover and expand the use scenarios of the entire test system. For example, in actual testing, if only a room temperature OTA test is performed, the front and rear panels and the upper and lower panels of the thermal insulation cover can be completely removed during the test, and the left and right panels can be moved to the sides of the U-shaped bracket arm respectively; if an environmental adaptability OTA test is performed, the distance between the left and right panels can be determined according to the size of the device to be tested and the center of the device to be tested, and then the position is fixed and sealed. Then, the upper and lower panels and the front and rear panels of corresponding specifications and sizes are selected according to the distance between the left and right panels for installation, and finally the seams are sealed to form a sealed thermal insulation cover.

[0080] This embodiment integrates the environmental control module and the integrated insulation turntable module into a highly integrated design, which effectively integrates the environmental control system and the turntable system, effectively reducing the volume and complexity of the entire system while ensuring the functions of each system; through the flexible insulation cover design, the scope of use of the entire system is broadened. When the insulation cover is removed, the system can be used for conventional OTA testing. When the insulation cover is installed, OTA testing under multiple environmental conditions can be achieved.

[0081] In addition, an embodiment of the present application further provides an air interface testing method, which can be applied to the air interface testing device in the above embodiment. Referring to FIG. 10 , the air interface testing method includes steps S10 to S40 .

[0082] Step S10, initializing the configuration of the test environment;

[0083] Step S20, generating a data correction model based on preset standard data and a theoretical model;

[0084] Step S30, performing an air interface test on the device to be tested based on the air interface test device to obtain test data;

[0085] Step S40: correct the test data based on the data correction model and output a test result.

[0086] The air interface test method provided in this embodiment can only be implemented based on the air interface test device provided in the above embodiment. Before performing the OTA test, the test environment needs to be initialized and configured first, such as adjusting the position of the feed antenna in the above air interface test device and completing the signal link calibration of the test site; then, a test data correction model is constructed based on the preset standard data measured in advance by the above air interface test device and the theoretical model constructed according to electromagnetic theory; after completing these preparatory tasks, the OTA test can be performed on the device to be tested through the configured air interface test device, and the test data can be read through the instrument; finally, the read test data is corrected by the data correction model constructed before the test, and the final test result report is output as the test result.

[0087] In some feasible embodiments, the above step S10 may include:

[0088] Step S11, adjusting the position of the feed antenna according to the frequency range to be tested;

[0089] Step S12: Calibrate the transmission and reception signal link loss of the test site based on the calibration speaker.

[0090] Since the air interface test device in the above embodiment uses a compact field, the focus of the reflecting surface is slightly different for different test frequency bands, so it is necessary to first set the position of the feed antenna according to the frequency range to be tested so that the feed antenna is at the focus of the reflecting surface; then the calibration horn antenna is installed at the center of the turntable roll axis, and the transmit and receive signal link loss of the test site is calibrated, and the signal link loss of the compact field at the frequency to be tested is calculated based on the transmit and receive signal strength and the calibration horn gain table.

[0091] In some feasible embodiments, the preset standard data includes: directional pattern data of a standard antenna without a cover structure, and directional pattern data of a standard antenna with a cover structure; the above step S20 may include:

[0092] Step S21, substituting the directional pattern data of the standard antenna without the cover structure into a theoretical model to obtain standard output data;

[0093] Step S22, comparing the standard output data with the standard antenna pattern data of the cover structure to obtain a comparison result;

[0094] Step S23: correcting the theoretical model based on the comparison result to obtain a data correction model.

[0095] Before executing the air interface test method in this embodiment, some preset standard data will be obtained based on the air interface test device, including standard antenna pattern data without a cover structure and standard antenna pattern data with a cover structure, that is, the pattern data of the standard antenna at the frequency to be tested are tested without and with the cover structure installed respectively; after obtaining this part of the preset standard data, the standard antenna pattern data without a thermal insulation cover can be used as input data to input into the theoretical model to obtain standard output data, and the standard antenna pattern data with a thermal insulation cover can be used as output. The theoretical model is corrected through iterative comparison of the standard output data and the output, and finally a mathematical model for error correction introduced by the thermal insulation cover factor is obtained.

[0096] In some feasible embodiments, the above step S30 may include:

[0097] Step S31, assembling an adjustable cover structure based on the size of the device under test to form a closed cubic heat-insulating cover, so that the device under test is placed inside the closed cubic heat-insulating cover;

[0098] Step S32: Power on the environmental control module, and when the environmental conditions inside the closed cubic thermal insulation cover reach a preset state, perform an air interface test on the device under test to obtain test data.

[0099] In this embodiment, the device to be tested is installed and fixed at the center of the turntable's roll axis, and the installation position of the left and right panels of the thermal insulation cover is determined according to the size of the device to be tested. Then, the front and rear panels and the upper and lower panels of the thermal insulation cover are assembled along the slots in sequence to form a closed thermal insulation cover, and the joints of each panel are sealed to ensure the overall airtightness of the integrated thermal insulation turntable system. After that, the environmental control system outside the darkroom is powered on, the target parameters of the environment are set, and the system is started; the environmental control unit obtains the current environmental parameters in the thermal insulation cover through sensors. When the environmental conditions in the thermal insulation cover have not reached the preset environmental conditions, the environmental control unit adjusts the air intake and exhaust rates and continues to monitor the environment inside the thermal insulation cover; when the environmental conditions in the thermal insulation cover have reached the preset state and remain stable, OTA testing can be started.

[0100] As an example, this embodiment can test the RF indicators at a fixed-point pointing position, such as EIRP, EIS (Equivalent Isotropically Sensitivity), etc., and can also perform scanning tests on the radiation sphere of the device under test, such as TRP, radiation beam pattern, etc.; if a fixed-point pointing test is performed, it is only necessary to use the turntable control software to rotate the device under test to the corresponding pointing position. Just read the instrument test data; if a scanning test is performed, OTA test software must be used to jointly control the turntable and instrument according to the test case settings to complete the scanning test of the radiation sphere of the device under test.

[0101] In some feasible embodiments, the above step S40 may include:

[0102] Step S41, correcting the test data based on the data correction model;

[0103] Step S42: Generate and output a report as a test result based on the corrected test data.

[0104] It is understandable that after completing the OTA test, the test results obtained are the overall test results including the thermal insulation cover. Therefore, it is necessary to use the data correction model constructed in the previous steps to make corresponding corrections to the OTA test data. The corrected data is the actual performance reflection of the device under test under the preset environmental conditions.

[0105] As an example, referring to FIG11 , the steps of an application example of performing OTA testing in combination with the air interface testing device and the air interface testing method provided in the above embodiment are as follows:

[0106] 1) Adjust the position of the feed antenna. Since a compact range is used, the focus of the reflector is slightly different for different test frequency bands. Therefore, you first need to set the position of the feed antenna according to the frequency range to be tested so that the feed antenna is at the focus of the reflector.

[0107] 2) Test site signal link calibration: Install the calibration horn antenna at the center of the turntable's roll axis to calibrate the test site's transmit and receive signal link loss. Calculate the test site's signal link loss, Lspace, at the test frequency based on the transmit and receive signal strength and the calibration horn gain table.

[0108] 3) Acquisition of standard antenna pattern data: Replace the calibration horn with a standard antenna and use the OTA test subsystem to obtain the standard antenna pattern data at the frequency to be tested. Where P0 is the received signal power, f is the test frequency, is the azimuth angle in the spherical coordinate system, θ is the pitch angle in the spherical coordinate system, and the spherical coordinate system is shown in Figure 12;

[0109] 4) Acquisition of the standard antenna pattern data with the thermal cover: Assemble the thermal cover, place the standard antenna in the center of the thermal cover, and repeat step 3 to obtain the pattern data of the standard antenna with the thermal cover at the frequency to be tested.

[0110] 5) Construct a test data correction model; construct a theoretical model based on electromagnetic theory, and convert the standard antenna pattern data without the insulation cover into As input data, Input theoretical model to get The standard antenna pattern data with thermal insulation cover As output, through The data is compared and iterated, and the theoretical model is corrected, and finally the error correction mathematical model introduced by the insulation cover factor is obtained.

[0111] 6) Install the device under test and assemble the sealed insulation cover; install and fix the device under test at the center of the turntable's rolling axis, determine the installation position of the left and right panels of the insulation cover according to the size of the device under test, and then assemble the front and rear panels and the upper and lower panels of the insulation cover along the slots to form a closed insulation cover. Seal the joints of each panel to ensure the overall airtightness of the integrated insulation turntable system;

[0112] 7) Turn on the environmental control system; power on the environmental control system outside the darkroom, set the target parameters of the environment, and start the system;

[0113] 8) Monitor the environmental parameters inside the insulation cover; the environmental control system obtains the current environmental parameters inside the insulation cover through sensors. When the environmental conditions inside the insulation cover have not reached the preset environmental conditions, the environmental control system adjusts the air intake and exhaust rates and continues to monitor the environment inside the insulation cover; when the environmental conditions inside the insulation cover have reached the preset state and remain stable, the OTA test can be started;

[0114] 9) Start OTA testing; the system of the present invention can test the RF indicators of the fixed-point pointing position, such as EIRP, EIS, etc., and can also perform scanning tests on the radiation sphere of the device under test, such as TRP, radiation beam pattern, etc.; if a fixed-point pointing test is performed, it is only necessary to use the turntable control software to rotate the device under test to the corresponding pointing position. Simply read the instrument test data. If a scan test is to be performed, OTA test software must be used to jointly control the turntable and instrument according to the test case settings to complete the scan test of the radiation sphere of the device under test.

[0115] 10) Test data correction: After the OTA test is completed, the test results obtained are the overall test results including the insulation cover. The data correction model constructed in step 5 is used to correct the OTA test data accordingly. The corrected data is the actual performance reflection of the device under test under the preset environmental conditions;

[0116] 11) Output test results; after data correction is completed, output the final test result report;

[0117] 12) Restoring the environmental conditions inside the heat preservation cover to their initial state; after the test is completed, setting the environmental control parameters of the environmental control system, restoring the environmental conditions inside the heat preservation cover to their initial state, and ending the test;

[0118] The above is a complete step-by-step description of completing the entire environmental adaptability OTA test. If a test data correction model already exists before conducting the environmental adaptability OTA test, steps 3 to 5 can be omitted.

[0119] This embodiment provides an air interface testing method, which constructs a test data correction model and performs testing based on the air interface testing device provided in the above embodiment. It can realize all-round correction of test data in multiple dimensions such as power and angle, so that the test results can reflect the actual air interface performance of the device to be tested under multiple environmental conditions.

[0120] The technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present application can be combined with each other, but they must be based on the fact that they can be implemented by technical personnel in this field. When the combination of technical solutions is mutually contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be considered that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the scope of protection required by the embodiments of the present application.

[0121] The above are only some embodiments of the present application, and do not limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the description and drawings of the present application, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An air interface test device, wherein: The air interface test device comprises: The test module includes a microwave darkroom, which is used to provide a test environment for the device under test; An integrated heat preservation turntable module is arranged inside the microwave darkroom and includes an adjustable cover structure, wherein the cover structure is used to maintain the environmental state of the device under test; The environment control module is arranged outside the microwave darkroom and is connected with the integrated insulation turntable module through an insulation pipe to form a three-axis structure, and is used to cooperate with the integrated insulation turntable module to adjust the test environment of the device under test.

2. The air interface test device according to claim 1, wherein: The test module also includes: A reflecting surface is arranged on the inner wall of the microwave darkroom; A feed antenna is arranged at a focal position of the reflecting surface; The measuring instrument is arranged inside or outside the microwave darkroom and connected to the feed antenna through a radio frequency cable.

3. The air interface test device according to claim 1, wherein: The environmental control module comprises: An environmental control unit is arranged outside the microwave darkroom; The environment detection sensor is arranged on the turntable rolling axis of the integrated heat preservation turntable module, and is used to obtain the environmental parameters of the area where the device to be tested is located.

4. The air interface test device according to claim 1, wherein: The integrated heat preservation turntable module also includes: A turntable, the bottom of which is connected to the environmental control module via a heat-insulating pipe, and the support arm of the turntable is connected to the adjustable cover structure.

5. The air interface test device according to claim 4, wherein: The turntable comprises: A turntable electronic control unit, which serves as the base of the turntable and is used to realize the rotation control of each movable axis of the turntable; A turntable bracket, the bottom of which is connected to the turntable electronic control unit and the insulation pipe of the environmental control module to form a three-axis structure; A turntable rolling shaft, the turntable rolling shaft is connected to the support arm of the turntable bracket through a rotating motor; An airtight rotary joint, the airtight rotary joint being mounted on the inner side of the top end of the support arm of the turntable support; A retractable thermal insulation short tube, one end of which is connected to the support arm of the turntable bracket through the airtight rotary joint, and the other end of which is connected to the cover structure through a sealing ring.

6. The air interface test device according to claim 4, wherein: The cover structure is a closed cubic heat-insulating cover formed by installing and fixing the left and right panels, the front and rear panels, and the upper and lower panels through the installation grooves.

7. The air interface test device according to claim 6, wherein: The left and right panels are provided with a circular hole and a square hole. The circular hole is used to plug in the retractable insulation short tube of the turntable. The size of the square hole is larger than the size of the turntable rolling shaft of the turntable. The square hole is used to ensure that the turntable rolling shaft can smoothly pass through the left and right panels.

8. The air interface test device according to claim 7, wherein: The left and right panels are provided with long side mounting grooves and wide side mounting grooves, the front and rear panels are fixed to the left and right panels via the wide side mounting grooves, the upper and lower panels are fixed to the left and right panels via the long side mounting grooves, and the size of the closed cubic insulation cover is determined according to the size of the front and rear panels and the upper and lower panels.

9. The air interface test device according to claim 8, wherein: The circular hole and the square hole are arranged inside a rectangular area formed by the long side mounting groove and the wide side mounting groove.

10. An air interface testing method, wherein: The air interface test method is applied to the air interface test device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising: Initialize the configuration of the test environment; Generate a data correction model based on preset standard data and theoretical models; Perform air interface testing on the device to be tested based on the air interface testing device to obtain test data; The test data is corrected based on the data correction model and a test result is output.

11. The air interface testing method according to claim 10, wherein: The step of initializing the configuration of the test environment includes: Adjust the position of the feed antenna according to the frequency range to be tested; The link loss of the transmit and receive signals at the test site is calibrated based on the calibration speaker.

12. The air interface testing method according to claim 10, wherein: The preset standard data includes: the directional pattern data of the standard antenna without the cover structure and the directional pattern data of the standard antenna with the cover structure; The step of generating a data correction model according to preset standard data and a theoretical model comprises: Substituting the directional pattern data of the standard antenna without the cover structure into the theoretical model to obtain standard output data; Comparing the standard output data with the standard antenna pattern data of the cover structure to obtain a comparison result; The theoretical model is corrected based on the comparison result to obtain a data correction model.

13. The air interface testing method according to claim 10, wherein: The step of performing air interface testing on the device to be tested based on the air interface testing device to obtain test data comprises: Assembling an adjustable cover structure based on the size of the device under test to form a closed cubic heat-insulating cover, so that the device under test is placed inside the closed cubic heat-insulating cover; The environment control module is powered on, and when the environmental conditions inside the closed cubic thermal insulation cover reach a preset state, an air interface test is performed on the device to be tested to obtain test data.

14. The air interface testing method according to claim 10, wherein: The step of correcting the test data based on the data correction model and outputting the test result comprises: Correcting the test data based on the data correction model; Generate and output a report as the test result based on the corrected test data.

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