TWI621857B - System of measuring antenna characteristic of device under test having embedded antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for measuring antenna characteristics of a test object, comprising a directional antenna, a waveguide, an SMA adapter, and a measuring device. The directional antenna is configured to receive electromagnetic wave signals emitted by a built-in antenna chip. The waveguide is electrically connected to the directional antenna for transmitting the electromagnetic wave signal in a waveguide manner. The SMA adapter is coupled to the waveguide for converting the electromagnetic wave signal. The measuring device is connected to the SMA connector for measuring the antenna characteristics of the built-in antenna chip according to the converted electromagnetic wave signal.

Description

System for measuring antenna characteristics of a test object

The present invention relates to a measurement system, and more particularly to a system for measuring antenna characteristics of a test object.

In recent years, with the advancement of technology, wireless communication technology has developed rapidly. With the popularization of electronic devices such as tablet computers and smart phones, people are becoming more and more dependent on wireless communication products, and their requirements are getting higher and higher. In the transmitting and receiving systems of these electronic devices, electromagnetic wave elements designed to be transmitted or received are referred to as antennas. In the wireless communication transmitting and receiving system architecture, the role of the antenna is to convert the electromagnetic wave type, the antenna at the transmitting end converts the guided wave in the circuit transmission structure into a radiated wave, and the receiving end antenna is the radiated wave in the space. Converted to a pilot wave in a circuit transmission structure. Antenna is one of the most important components in wireless communication products. All communication products that need to send and receive signals must use antennas to complete the transmission and reception of signals. Therefore, the traditional microwave frequency band (30MHz-30GHz) mobile communication devices, such as mobile phones, notebook computers, digital TVs and car navigation, are gradually being integrated one by one. In addition to integrating all communication functions, communication products must also be integrated. Consider the problems of carrying, aesthetics, small size and manufacturing cost. Therefore, integrating the antenna into a single chip, that is, by using a built-in antenna, is also a means of reducing the size of the mobile communication device.

Traditionally, in order to avoid the antenna characteristics of the wafer of the built-in antenna being subject to environmental interference during measurement, the measurement environment must be performed in a non-reflective laboratory. But the space required to build a non-reflective laboratory is large enough, and the wave-absorbing materials attached to the non-reflective laboratory are expensive to manufacture. Before the measurement, the calibration environment before the measurement must be set up. After the calibration is completed, the measurement environment is re-erected. The overall calibration and measurement process takes a long time.

In order to simplify the measurement time and cost of the built-in antenna chip manufacturer, how to reduce the cost of the non-reflective laboratory and the entire calibration and measurement time is a technical problem that the measurement manufacturer wants to solve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for measuring the antenna characteristics of a test object for solving the problem of setting a high cost non-reflective laboratory and requiring a long correction and measurement time.

The present invention provides a system for measuring antenna characteristics of a test object, comprising a directional antenna, a waveguide, an SMA (Sub Miniature version A) adapter, and a measuring device. The directional antenna is configured to receive an electromagnetic wave signal emitted by a test object. The waveguide is electrically connected to the directional antenna for transmitting the electromagnetic wave signal in a waveguide manner. The SMA adapter is coupled to the waveguide for converting the electromagnetic wave signal. The measuring device is connected to the SMA connector for measuring the antenna characteristic of the object to be tested according to the converted electromagnetic wave signal.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the directional antenna comprises an electromagnetic wave signal receiving source. The electromagnetic wave signal receiving source is used to receive the electromagnetic wave signal.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the directional antenna emits the direction of the electromagnetic wave signal toward the object to be tested.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the angle between the direction in which the electromagnetic wave signal is emitted by the object to be tested and the receiving direction of the electromagnetic wave signal receiving source is 0-45 degrees.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the SMA connector includes a spacer, a conductive member, a center conductor, and a dielectric. The spacer has an opening, and has a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being opposite to the second surface. The conductive member is located on the first surface of the spacer and is connected to the measuring device. The central conductor is located on the second surface of the spacer, the first end of which is connected to the conductive member through the opening, and the second end protrudes from the spacer and is connected to the waveguide. The dielectric body surrounds the first end of the center conductor at the opening.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the antenna characteristic comprises a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR).

Compared with the prior art, the system for measuring the antenna characteristics of the object to be tested of the present invention does not require measurement of the built-in antenna wafer in the environment without a reflection laboratory, thereby reducing the cost of setting up a non-reflective laboratory. In addition, the system of the present invention uses a directional antenna to align the built-in antenna chip to be tested, and can effectively and accurately receive electromagnetic waves emitted by the built-in antenna chip, thereby reducing interference of environmental radiation on the measurement result. In addition, since the overall characteristics of the antenna are proportional to the size of the surrounding clearance area and the ground contact area, the use of the directional antenna measurement of the present invention can reduce the error caused by the site limitation. In addition, the system of the invention does not need to be carried out without a reflex laboratory, and it is not necessary to set up a calibration environment before the measurement, thereby greatly reducing the tedious time of the overall calibration and measurement, and having the advantages of quick and easy measurement, simple structure and easy inspection. efficacy.

The embodiments of the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10‧‧‧System

12‧‧‧ pointing antenna

14‧‧‧Waveguide

16‧‧‧SMA adapter

20‧‧‧Measurement device

30‧‧‧ Built-in antenna chip

122‧‧‧Electromagnetic wave signal receiving source

161‧‧‧Opening

162‧‧‧Isolation board

164‧‧‧Electrical parts

166‧‧‧Center conductor

168‧‧‧ dielectric

1621‧‧‧The first side of the insulation board

1622‧‧‧Second side of the insulation board

A1-A3‧‧‧ Receiving direction of electromagnetic wave signal receiving source

1 is a block diagram of a system for measuring antenna characteristics of a test object according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the structure of a pointing antenna of the system shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a schematic view showing the structure of the SMA adapter of the system shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the relative positional relationship between the built-in antenna wafer and the directional antenna of the embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 for measuring antenna characteristics of an object to be tested according to an embodiment of the present invention. The object to be tested may be, but not limited to, a built-in antenna chip 30 of a smart phone, a cellular base station, a wireless local area network (WLAN), and other wireless communication devices. When the built-in antenna wafer 30 is manufactured, it is necessary to measure whether the antenna characteristics meet the specifications. The system 10 does not need to be placed in a non-reflective laboratory, and only needs to be used to measure the antenna characteristics of the object to be tested in a clean environment. System 10 includes a directional antenna 12, a waveguide 14, an SMA (Sub Miniature version A) adapter 16, and a metrology device 20. The directional antenna 12 is configured to receive electromagnetic wave signals emitted by the built-in antenna wafer 30. The waveguide 14 is electrically connected to the directional antenna 12 for transmitting the electromagnetic wave signal in a waveguide manner. The SMA adapter is coupled to the waveguide 14 for converting the electromagnetic wave signal. The measuring device 20 is connected to the SMA connector 16 for measuring the antenna characteristics of the built-in antenna chip 30 according to the converted electromagnetic wave signal. The measurement device 20 can be, but is not limited to, a network analyzer (ENA). The measuring device 20 is used to measure the antenna characteristics of the built-in antenna wafer 30 including but not limited to parameters such as a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), a frequency, and an impedance.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic structural view of the directional antenna 12 shown in FIG. 1. According to an embodiment of the invention, the directional antenna 12 includes an electromagnetic wave signal receiving source 122 for receiving electromagnetic wave signals transmitted from the built-in antenna chip 30.

The waveguide 14 is a structure for restraining or guiding electromagnetic wave signals for controlling the transmitted electromagnetic wave signals or power. The waveguide 14 can be a metal tube, a dielectric rod or a mixture of tubular members of a conductive material and a dielectric material for completely confining the transmitted electromagnetic wave signals within the waveguide 14.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic structural view of the SMA adapter 16 shown in FIG. 1. According to an embodiment of the invention, the SMA adapter 16 includes a spacer 162, a conductive member 164, a center conductor 166, and a dielectric body 168. The partition plate 162 is centrally provided with an opening 161 having a first surface 1621 and a second surface 1622. The first surface 1621 is opposite to the second surface 1622. The conductive member 164 is located on the first face 1621 of the spacer 162 and is connected to the measuring device 20. The center conductor 166 is located on the second face 1622 of the spacer 162, the first end of which is connected to the conductive member 164 through the opening 161, and the second end protrudes from the spacer 162 and is connected to the waveguide 14. Dielectric body 168 is comprised of a dielectric material (e.g., ceramic, mica, plastic) that surrounds the first end of center conductor 166 at opening 161.

Referring to Fig. 4, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the relative positional relationship between the built-in antenna wafer 30 and the directional antenna 12 of the embodiment of the present invention. When the antenna characteristics of the built-in antenna wafer 30 as the object to be tested are measured using the system 10, the emitted electromagnetic wave signals are received by the electromagnetic wave signal receiving source 122. In order to improve the accuracy of the measurement, the directional antenna 12 is required to emit an electromagnetic wave signal toward the built-in antenna wafer 30. Preferably, the direction of the electromagnetic wave signal emitted by the built-in antenna chip 30 and the receiving direction A1 of the electromagnetic wave receiving source 122 of the directional antenna 12 are The angle is 0 degrees. In other embodiments, when the direction of the electromagnetic wave signal emitted by the built-in antenna chip 30 is 45 degrees from the receiving direction A2 or A3 of the electromagnetic wave receiving source 122 of the directional antenna 12, the directional antenna 12 can be effective. The built-in antenna chip 30 is accurately received to emit electromagnetic wave signals, so that the measuring device 20 of the system 10 can measure the desired antenna characteristics. It should be noted that the angle between the direction in which the built-in antenna chip 30 emits the electromagnetic wave signal and the direction in which the electromagnetic wave signal receiving source 122 of the directional antenna 12 is received is in the range of 0 to 45 degrees.

Since the overall characteristics of the antenna are proportional to the size of the surrounding clearance area and the ground contact area, when the antenna characteristic of the built-in antenna wafer 30 is measured using the system 10 of the present embodiment, only the directional antenna 12 and the built-in antenna wafer are selected. The relatively short antenna environment between 30 can measure the accurate antenna characteristics. Therefore, the embodiment uses the directional antenna 12 to receive the electromagnetic wave signals emitted by the built-in antenna chip 30, thereby reducing the error caused by the site limitation.

Compared with the prior art, the system for measuring the antenna characteristics of the object to be tested of the present invention does not require measurement of the built-in antenna wafer in the environment without a reflection laboratory, thereby reducing the cost of setting up a non-reflective laboratory. In addition, the system of the present invention uses a directional antenna to align the built-in antenna chip to be tested, and can effectively and accurately receive electromagnetic waves emitted by the built-in antenna chip, thereby reducing interference of environmental radiation on the measurement result. In addition, since the overall characteristics of the antenna are proportional to the size of the surrounding clearance area and the ground contact area, the use of the directional antenna measurement of the present invention can reduce the error caused by the site limitation. In addition, the system of the present invention does not require a non-reflective laboratory to measure the built-in antenna wafer, and it is not necessary to set up a calibration environment before measurement, thereby greatly reducing the length of the overall calibration and measurement, and having quick and easy measurement. The structure is simple and easy to repair.

While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the invention may be variously modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application.

Claims (6)

A system for measuring an antenna characteristic of a test object, comprising: a directional antenna for receiving an electromagnetic wave signal emitted by a test object; and a waveguide electrically connected to the directional antenna for using the electromagnetic wave signal Transmitting in a waveguide manner; an SMA (Sub Miniature version A) adapter connected to the waveguide for converting the electromagnetic wave signal; and a measuring device connected to the SMA connector for converting the electromagnetic wave according to the electromagnetic wave The signal measures the antenna characteristics of the object to be tested. The system for measuring a built-in antenna chip according to claim 1, wherein the directional antenna comprises: an electromagnetic wave signal receiving source for receiving the electromagnetic wave signal. The system for measuring a built-in antenna wafer according to claim 2, wherein the directional antenna emits the direction of the electromagnetic wave signal toward the object to be tested. The system for measuring a built-in antenna chip according to claim 3, wherein an angle between a direction in which the electromagnetic wave signal is emitted by the object to be tested and a receiving direction of the electromagnetic wave receiving source is 0-45 degrees. The system for measuring a built-in antenna chip according to the second aspect of the invention, wherein the SMA connector comprises: a spacer plate having an opening, having a first face and a second face, the first One side opposite to the second side; a conductive member is disposed on the first surface of the spacer and connected to the measuring device; a center conductor is disposed on the second surface of the spacer, and the first end of the spacer is connected to the conductive member through the opening a second end protrudes from the spacer and is coupled to the waveguide; and a dielectric body surrounds the first end of the center conductor at the opening. A system for measuring a built-in antenna wafer according to claim 1, wherein the antenna characteristic comprises a Voltage Standing Wave Ratio.