Multipath simulator for mobile terminal antenna characterisation

A measurement equipment for terminal antennas is presented. The equipment simulates a 2-D multipath signal environment in a lab, enabling fast measurements of weighted radiation properties. It consists of 16 antenna elements encircling the antenna under test, and a 1-to-16 feed network including Doppler generators on the 16 branches. In-the-air combining at the terminal under test gives fast fading. Averaging the measured power over the fading gives a value proportional to the antenna mean effective gain. The signal environment at the test object corresponds to a realistic 2-D scattering environment. The equipment can thereby also be used for simulated drive tests. In the presented work, a multipath simulator for 2–2.6 GHz is designed, built and verified in different types of rooms.