Molex Antenna joins hands with Aalborg University to conduct 4G LTE measurements

Molex announced that researchers from Aalborg University
and antenna experts from Molex are conducting measurements in dense
environments to ensure realistic results.

The indoor experiments conducted in downtown Aalborg with
prototypes of next generation LTE mobile phones will help give consumers better
data connections to the portable devices of the future.

We are trying to see how much more we can get out of the
next-generation mobile phones when we have several antennas in them. The
location has a great influence on the performance and the most difficult
scenario is indoors in the city with tall buildings around. So we tested those
specific environments,” said GertFrølund Pedersen, Department of Electronic
Systems, Aalborg University.

As a collaboration between Aalborg University and the
Molex antenna research department located in Nørresundby, Denmark, the ongoing measurement
campaign previously focused on outdoor reception on the streets of Aalborg.

Testing in the antenna radio anechoic lab is suitable for some types of applications, but the 4G
technology has to function in a different and tough reality. The measurements
conducted in the city are an opportunity to test prototypes and measurement
equipment in real-life environments.

If you just take measurements in a lab you get
misleading results. We know these devices have to be used in the real world, so
we need to include all factors that affect this type of radio signal. With the
next generation 4G and LTE systems, the influence of the radio propagation
environment has an enormous impact on the performance you experience as a user
of the product,” said Morten Christensen, RF research manager, Molex.

The measurements being taken are some of the first in the
world without traditional cables connected to the prototype phones. The
challenge in using a copper coaxial cable is that it acts as an extra-long
antenna.

This can yield unrealistically good reception and thus
impair measurement quality. Aalborg University and Molex have developed a
solution using fiber optics instead, thereby eliminating an important source of
error.

Results of the research are part of the four-year CAMMP
project (Converged Advanced Mobile Media Platforms) with support from the
Danish National Advanced Technology Foundation. The program has a total budget
of DKK 42.5 million and is focused on the convergence of the Internet, digital
television, radio and mobile communications.

We have produced several terabytes of data that have to
be analyzed, but we expect to have some conclusions during the next three
months,” Christensen added.

The measurements generate an enormous amount of data that
must be handled before the researchers and developers can judge the quality of
the different types of antenna designs in the tested prototypes. Then it is up
to the IT and mobile industry to determine how quickly the results will benefit
consumers. There may be devices on the market utilizing the Aalborg test
results within a year.

These are antennas that are expected to be in new
devices that are already in the design phase. We are testing which of these are
the best. The cycle is somewhat shorter now that we are beginning to see the
standard for the new 4G system, so it may be only six months,” Pedersen added.

 

By Telecomlead.com Team
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