MANUFACTURE

Wireless terminal production-level OTA test system supporting

5G MIMO/SISO measurement

GTS-PinProbe M6

5G FR1 OTA production line test system

The OTA testing of 5G devices undergoing mass production is facing unprecedented challenges. The number of antennas and frequency bands under test has increased extensively. The higher frequency bands used by 5G make OTA testing even more difficult. All of these challenges lead to a much longer test time, a more complicated procedure for NPI, and a higher cost. AeroGT Labs recently introduced PinProbe M6, an innovative solution that provides almost 6 times higher efficiency with a considerably lower cost. PinProbe M6 is able to test all the wireless functions of the 5G UE, including 5G FR1, LTE, WiFi 2.4G/4.9G/5.8G, Bluetooth, and GPS.PinProbe M6 is a 5G(FR1) UE Manufacturing OTA Test System with a small footprint. Key features include:

  • Comprehensive band & standards coverage 600MHz~6GHz & 5G NR (FR1), LTE, WiFi
  • Innovative technology: parallel multi-antenna OTA testing(patented ODC method)
  • High efficiency: DUT loaded once, tests for multi-antenna and multi-mode can be done
  • High confidence: test results correlate with TRP test
  • High reliability: system-level self-test & online self-test
  • Wide DUT compatibility: suitable for various multi-antenna UEs, cellphone, smartwatches, PDAs
  • Customizable design for manufacturing: manual or pneumatic operation etc.

Features

Multi-terminal parallel testing increases efficiency by 3-6 times

The PinProbe M6 operates in the frequency range of 0.6-6 GHz and is used for testing 2/3/4/5G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other technologies. The PinProbe M6 can test up to six mobile devices in parallel, mainly due to the multi-channel transceiver capability of the instrument, beamforming control of the probe antenna, isolation design of the absorbing material, and parallel execution of the software.

The test results are monotonically consistent with the TRP

To ensure detection rate, the production line test results must maintain monotonic consistency with the standard darkroom test results. Based on the principle of radiation aperture near-field plane scanning, PinProbe M6 designed a very close field test probe to ensure consistency transformation between near and far fields.

Cost-effective

The testing system provides built-in multi-channel transceiver options, supporting broadband arbitrary waveform generation, vector signal reception, and analysis functions. It is compatible with various signals, including 5G NR sub-6GHz, LTE, LTE-V2X, NB-IoT, Cat-M, V2X 802.11p, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, and truly realizes the six-channel parallel transceiver testing function.

Smart Import/Switch

PinProbe M6 provides a fully automatic import method based on the position and polarization of the DUT’s characteristic antenna.

EPP Environmentally Friendly Absorber

PinProbe M6 measurement dark box uses GTS’s patented technology of multi-resonance pyramidal EPP absorber material. EPP can absorb electromagnetic waves in the critical frequency band in a small space, ensuring low reflection characteristics of the measurement environment, reducing measurement uncertainty, and improving measurement accuracy.

System-level self-check

To ensure the stability of the testing, PinProbe M6 provides a self-calibration function: the signal passes through the 7th port of the instrument, self-calibration antenna, each testing antenna, and each port to form 6 closed loops to complete the calibration.

Human-machine Safety Design

Safety Design

Ergonomic Design

Product Maintenance

The modular structure enables easy maintenance of the equipment, and the automatic system self-check ensures quick troubleshooting of faults

Opening the back door of the box allows for troubleshooting of electrical, structural, and antenna hardware issues.

RF Link Troubleshooting

Measuring the path loss between the test probe antenna and the communication antenna can identify whether there are any anomalies in the RF link.

Cylinder Maintenance

The maintenance ports for the cylinders are located on both sides of the box, allowing for adjustments and checks of the cylinder’s status and tuning parameters.

Test Software

The Raytest production line measurement software is a non-signaling production line testing software developed based on the Microsoft.NET 4.0 platform. The software features high efficiency, fast import of new products, flexible architecture, guided processes, stable operation, and a simple and user-friendly interface, making it suitable for most production line scenarios.

  • Automated new product import
  • Support for GTS multi-channel transceiver module
  • Parallel testing of multiple DUTs
  • Management of multiple DUT configurations
  • Complete testing data and logs
  • Support for mainstream platform solutions
  • Self-diagnosis
  • Role-based access control to ensure data security
  • Flexible definition of test items based on XML-based test process configuration
  • View DUT antenna scanning, calibration, and testing information
  • Low-precision and high-precision testing.