Radiated Power Measurement
One of the most important properties of a wireless device is how much it actually radiates, how efficient is the antenna. This is typically measured in an anechoic chamber (at an expensive test lab). Another, time-consuming and inaccurate, method is by walking around in a free field and test the communication distance.
One of the most important properties of a wireless device is how much it actually radiates, how efficient is the antenna.This is typically measured in an anechoic chamber (at an expensive test lab). Another, time-consuming and inaccurate, method is by walking around in a free field and test the communication distance.
MegiQ has created a turnkey Radiation Measurement System (RMS) that will measure radiation patterns and Total Radiated Power (TRP) from a 3-axis rotation without the need for an anechoic chamber. By using a smart antenna design and choosing the proper measurement setup the RMS can measure quite accurately in a relatively small lab or office spaces.
This is an invaluable help during design and optimization of a wireless device. Since there is no need to go to an anechoic lab you can have a quick turnaround of the measurement and an efficent optimization of the device. This greatly improves the quality of the design and the confidence in the performance.
The RMS consists of a measurement antenna, measurement receiver and a turntable. The application software controls the system and measures the radiated power during three rotations, one around each of the X, Y and Z axes. With the dual-polarization measurement antenna it only needs one rotation per axis. A full semi-3D pattern measurement can be done in a few minutes.
Read a Review of the RMS system in Microwaves and RF magazine.
These RMS models cover many popular microwave communication bands:
An extensive evaluation at the Philips Innovations Services (PINS) anechoic labs has shown that in a normal environment the RMS can produce results that are comparable with anechoic measurements.
Read this article about measuring Total Isotropic Sensitivity with the RMS system.
MegiQ offers a compact, lightweight turntable for small devices and a heavy-duty table for larger objects.
RMS videos
These youtube videos show some of the possibilities of the RMS of measuring antennas, fields and harmonics.
Part 1: Measuring antenna patterns
Part 2: Measuring harmonic patterns
Part 3: Sweeping antenna patterns at many frequencies