High-Speed Antenna Measurement System Using Multi-Probe Array Technique for 5G Applications

In this article, a high-speed antenna measurement system using multi-probe array technique for 5G application is suggested. The spherical near-field scan measurement system for millimeter wave frequency band (3 GHz–40 GHz) and the multi-probe array rotation method is adopted to improve the antenna measurement speed. The proposed measurement RF system consists of the 14 multi-probe array (28 channel with dual-polarization), switch matrix, downconverters, amplifiers/attenuators, digitizers, and signal generators, and is compared to the conventional planar near-field scan antenna measurement system. The measurement speed performance can be improved significantly and the 3D beam pattern of the AUT can be achieved. The designed system was verified through comparison with a verified far-field measurement system. In addition, to increase the measurement efficiency, an effective sampling technique was proposed and verified.