WO2023058923A1 - Slot-extended pim measurement device and automatic pim measurement method using same - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention are a slot-extended PIM measurement device and an automatic PIM measurement method using same. The disclosed PIM measurement device comprises: a plurality of RF units (140-1 to 140-12) which generate transmission RF signals having predetermined bands for PIM measurement according to a control signal so as to transmit same to antennas, and which receive RF signals for PIM measurement from the antennas; a coupling unit (150) which combines the transmission RF signals of the RF units so as to transmit same to the connection port of an antenna to be measured, and which receives, through the connection port, an RF signal reflected from the antenna to be measured, so as to transmit same to a corresponding RF unit; a reception switch unit (120), which selects and amplifies, according to the control signal, the reception RF signals having the respective bands, received from the RF units; and a main unit (110), which generates a reference RF signal so as to provide same to each of the plurality of RF units, controls the plurality of RF units and the reception switch unit so as to perform a PIM measurement procedure according to a measurement program transmitted from a host terminal, down-converts the reception RF signals received from the reception switch unit and converts same into digital signals, and performs FFT analysis thereon so as to transmit PIM measurement results to the host terminal.

Description

Slot expansion type PIM measurement device and PIM automatic measurement method using the same

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for measuring passive intermodulation (PIM) of an RF component for mobile communication, and more particularly, to a slot expansion type PIM measuring apparatus formed of a chassis and a unit and capable of automatically measuring PIM in multiple bands, and the same. It relates to a PIM automatic measurement method using

In general, PIM (Passive Intermodulation) is a type of intermodulation distortion, which is generated when two or more strong RF signals are mixed in passive components that are thought to be linear, such as loose or corroded connectors, cables, duplexers, and antennas. Especially when carrier sources are physically close to each other or share the same antenna, any corrosion or other nonlinear effect can create PIM components that cause desensitization or blockage in the reception band, and these intermodulated signals are transmitted later in the signal path. There is a problem that is difficult to filter because it is created in .

In 5th generation mobile communication, frequencies such as 3.5GHz Band, 4.5GHz Band, and 28GHz Band are widely distributed, and services are provided simultaneously with existing networks (3rd and 4th generations), and multi-band filters and multi-band antennas are used for simultaneous service. are using Since the possibility of generating PIM signals increases due to the use of such multi-band products, it is necessary to prevent product defects in advance by continuously measuring PIM from development to production and shipment of mobile communication products.

"Expandable PIM analyzer" published as registration number 10-1148192 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office Registered Patent Publication can individually control a plurality of sub-racks connected to one main rack by band selection, so that several bands of bands When measuring a band, one main rack and a sub rack of the required band are purchased so that the overall cost is reduced.

The prior art scalable passive intermodulation distortion (PIM) analyzer requires a main rack and a plurality of sub racks to measure multi-band, and to measure PIM for each distinct band through a band selector. When 3G, 4G, and 5G (generation) frequency signals are mixed, it is impossible to measure PIM signals outside of each band, and in particular, there is a problem in that PIM cannot be measured between multiple communication service providers.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, and the problem to be solved by the present invention is to easily expand the measurement band as needed to mix a plurality of mixed bands such as 3G, 4G, and 5G (generation) in various ways It is to provide a slot expansion type PIM measurement device capable of automatically measuring multi-band PIM by configuring and an automatic PIM measurement method using the same.

An embodiment of the present invention discloses a slot-extended PIM measurement device.

The disclosed PIM measurement device includes a plurality of RF units generating and transmitting a transmission RF signal of a predetermined band for PIM measurement according to a control signal to an antenna side and receiving the RF signal for PIM measurement from the antenna side, and transmitting the RF unit. A coupling unit that combines RF signals and transmits them to the connection port of the antenna to be measured, receives the RF signal reflected from the antenna to be measured through the connection port and transmits the RF signal to the corresponding RF unit, and receives it from the RF unit according to the control signal A receiving switch unit selects and amplifies the received RF signal of each band, and generates a reference RF signal and provides it to the plurality of RF units, respectively, and the plurality of RF units and the receiving switch unit according to the measurement program transmitted from the host terminal and a main unit controlling a switch unit to perform a PIM measurement procedure, down-converting the received RF signal received from the receiving switch unit, converting it to digital, performing FFT analysis, and transmitting the PIM measurement result to the host terminal.

The slot-extended PIM measuring apparatus may further include a tilt control unit for remotely controlling a tilt angle of an antenna to be measured, if necessary, and the RF unit generates an RF signal of a first frequency synchronized with the reference RF signal. A first RF signal generator for generating, a first high power amplifier for amplifying an output of the first RF signal generator to a predetermined level, and a second RF signal for generating an RF signal of a second frequency synchronized with the reference RF signal. A generator, a second high power amplifier for amplifying the output of the second RF signal generator to a predetermined level, a combiner for combining the output of the first high power amplifier and the output of the second high power amplifier, and an output of the combiner to the antenna side, and a multiplexer for transmitting the RF signal received from the antenna side to the receiving switch unit side.

The main unit includes a synchronization module for oscillating a reference signal of a predetermined frequency and providing it to each RF unit, down-converting the RF signal received from the receiving switch unit, converting it to digital, and measuring the PIM signal through FFT analysis. module and a main interface module for processing the entire measurement procedure by controlling each unit through an external control bus while communicating with the host terminal through the communication port to receive and execute a predetermined measurement program.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an automatic PIM measurement method using a slot expansion type PIM measurement device.

The PIM automatic measurement method of another disclosed embodiment connects the host terminal to the main unit, connects the measurement target antenna to the antenna port of the coupling unit, and tests the transmission frequency and level for multi-band PIM measurement on the GUI screen of the host terminal step by step. and, when measurement starts after the setting is completed, checking whether automatic measurement is performed and, if automatic, adding the set value for measurement to the queue, and checking whether or not the tilt control is performed after taking the set value out of the queue to control the tilt. If there is, the step of transferring the tilt angle value to the tilt control unit through the main unit so that the tilt control unit adjusts the tilt angle of the antenna to be measured, and when combined data for measurement is received, the main unit performs the corresponding Controlling the corresponding RF unit to adjust the transmission frequency and output of the RF unit, setting the receiving frequency and band of the receiving switch unit to measure, checking the measurement time counter, and if within the time limit, the main unit sends the FFT data to the host Transmission to the terminal, displaying on the GUI screen, continuing measurement if no alarm occurs, and, if an alarm occurs, pauses the measurement, turns off the transmission output, and turns off the alarm state Check again to continue measurement when the alarm is turned off, and check the measurement time counter to terminate measurement if the alarm state continues even after the time limit has elapsed or the transmission output is turned off.

The PIM measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention can easily measure multi-band PIM by easily expanding the measurement band as needed and configuring a plurality of mixed bands such as 3G, 4G, and 5G (generation) in various ways. There is an effect. That is, since antennas of actual base stations are installed in an environment in which different service frequency bands are mixed according to generations, services, and communication operators such as 3G, 4G, and 5G, measurement is difficult in the conventional method, but according to an embodiment of the present invention Since various mixed bands can be configured using the slot expansion method, PIM can be accurately measured even when multiple frequency bands are mixed.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, cost and space can be saved because a plurality of measurement bands can be simply configured in a single rack type, and PIM can be automatically operated in all processes from development to production and shipment of mobile communication products. It is possible to reduce the measurement time by measuring it with , and it has the effect of preventing defects of mobile communication products in advance.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of unit arrangement of a slot expansion type PIM measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of the overall configuration of a slot-extended PIM measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a block diagram showing an example of a multiplex type RF unit shown in FIG. 2;

4 is a block diagram showing an example of the simplex type RF unit shown in FIG. 2;

5 is a block diagram of the reception switch unit shown in FIG. 2;

6 is a block diagram of the main unit shown in FIG. 2;

7 is a block diagram of the power supply unit shown in FIG. 2;

8 and 9 are flowcharts illustrating an automatic PIM measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

10 is an example of a GUI screen when automatically measuring PIM according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The technical problems achieved by the present invention and its practice will become clearer with the preferred embodiments of the present invention described below. The following examples are merely illustrative of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

Like active components, PIM of RF passive components occurs when two or more RF signals pass through RF components having nonlinear characteristics. Nonlinearities of general RF passive components include contact nonlinearity that occurs at the metal contact point of a connector, such as tunneling effect, microdischarge, and contact resistance, and magnetic resistance, thermal resistance, and nonlinear hysteresis of transmission lines. There is Material Nonlinearity. The PIM signal of the 2-port RF passive component proceeds with the same magnitude in both input and output directions. Therefore, the measurement of the PIM level of the device under test (DUT) can be divided into a reflect method and a forward method for measuring a transmitted intermodulation signal. In the embodiment of the present invention, the reflect method is mainly used. will mainly be explained.

In addition, the measurement target antenna (DUT) used in the embodiment of the present invention may be various types of mobile communication antennas used in normal base stations, for example, a multi-band polarization antenna having a +45° polarization port and a -45° polarization port. , it may be an antenna having a RET (Remote Electrical Tilt) function that can remotely adjust the tilt angle.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of unit arrangement of a slot expansion type PIM measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slot expansion type PIM measuring device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main unit 110, a receiving switch unit 120, and a tilt control unit 130 mounted in a single rack 102. , 1st to 12th RF units (140-1 to 140-12), coupling unit 150, and a plurality of power supply units (160-1 to 160-4), 12-band passive mutual communication for mobile communication Modulation (PIM) characteristics can be automatically measured.

Referring to Figure 1, a single rack (Rack; 102) is a 19-inch standard rack and is divided into five shelves, a coupling unit 150 is mounted on the first shelf at the bottom, and the second to fourth shelves are mounted. 12 RF units (140-1 to 140-12) are mounted in a 4x3 form. In addition, the main unit 110, the reception switch unit 120, and the tilt control unit 130 are mounted on the uppermost fifth shelf, and the power supply unit (P/S; 160- 1~160-4) are mounted one by one to supply power to the entire unit.

The main unit 110 is connected to the host terminal 104 used by the measurer through a wired communication port such as USB or RS232C, provides a GUI screen for PIM measurement, sets the measurement procedure, and controls each unit for automatic measurement. It processes the process, receives the received signal from the receiving switch unit 120, measures the PIM, and transmits it to the host terminal 104.

The host terminal 104 is composed of a desktop computer or the like equipped with a measurement control program, and displays a GUI screen for measurement as will be described later, manages PIM measurement results in a database, receives various setting data, and receives various setting data, and the main unit 110 ) is sent to

The reception switch unit 120 selects and amplifies the reception signal of each band received from the RF units 140-1 to 140-12 according to the control signal of the main unit, transmits the amplified signal to the main unit 110, 110 analyzes the PIM signal in the reception signal received from the reception switch unit 120 and transmits the measurement result data to the host terminal 104.

The tilt control unit 130 is connected to the measurement target antenna 106 through the RET terminal to remotely control the tilt angle of the measurement target antenna according to the AISG (Antenna Interface Standards Group) standard procedure, and the coupling unit 150 is The transmitted RF signals of the first to twelfth RF units 140-1 to 140-12 are combined and transferred to the measurement target antenna 106 through the first antenna port Port1 and the second antenna port Port2, and The received RF signal reflected from the side (106) is transferred to the corresponding RF unit (140-1 to 140-12).

2 is a block diagram of the entire configuration of a slot expansion type PIM measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a configuration block diagram showing an example of a multiplex type RF unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram of FIG. It is a configuration block diagram showing an example of a simplex type RF unit shown in . 5 is a configuration block diagram of the reception switch unit shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 6 is a configuration block diagram of the main unit shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 7 is a configuration block diagram of the power supply unit shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the multi-band PIM automatic measuring device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes 12 RF units 140-1 to 140-12, a coupling unit 150, and a receiving switch unit ( 120), the tilt control unit 130, and the main unit 110, the port 1 (Port1) and port 2 (Port2) of the coupling unit 150 and the remote tilt angle control terminal (RET) of the tilt control unit 130 It is possible to measure the PIM characteristics of the measurement target antenna (DUT) 106 connected to ).

The RF unit (140-1~140-12) easily expands the measurement band as needed to configure an environment in which different service frequency bands are mixed according to generation, service, and communication service provider such as 3G, 4G, and 5G. It is for measuring multi-band PIM, and a plurality of service frequency bands can be mixed and configured in various ways, but in the embodiment of the present invention, 12 frequency bands will be described as an example. In addition, the RF units 140-1 to 140-12 are multiplexed to be applied to Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) according to the transmission method of the mobile communication network to be measured. It can be classified as a simplex type for application.

As shown in FIG. 3, the multiplexed RF unit 140 includes a first RF signal generator (F1 Tunable RF OSC; 141-1) for generating an RF signal of a first frequency synchronized with a reference RF signal; A first pre-amplifier (Pre AMP) 142-1 for amplifying the output of the first RF signal generator 141-1, and a first variable attenuator (Variable ATT) 143-1 for adjusting the level according to a control signal A first high power amplifier (HPA) 144-1, a second RF signal generator (F2 Tunable RF OSC; 141-2) for generating an RF signal of a second frequency synchronized with the reference RF signal, and a second RF A second pre-amplifier (Pre AMP) 142-2 for amplifying the output of the signal generator 141-2, a second variable attenuator (Variable ATT) 143-2 for adjusting the level according to the control signal, 2 a high power amplifier (HPA; 144-2), a combiner 145 combining the output of the first high power amplifier 144-1 and the output of the second high power amplifier 144-2, and a transmit bandpass filter ( Tx BPF; 146), a multiplexer 147 that transmits the output of the transmit bandpass filter 146 to the antenna side, and transmits the RF signal received from the antenna side to the receiving switch unit 120 side, and a control module 148. According to the control signal, a transmission RF signal of the corresponding band for PIM measurement is generated and transmitted to the antenna side, and the RF signal for PIM measurement is received from the antenna side.

Referring to FIG. 3, the control module 148 monitors the output to measure whether the object to be measured is connected, the return loss of the object to be measured, and the output of the HPA, and monitors the local oscillator 148-1 and the transmission signal. A switch 148-2 for selecting a feedback signal to do so, a mixer 148-3 for mixing the local oscillation signal and the transmission signal, a SAW filter 148-4 for selecting and passing the low-band of the mixer, Detector 148-5 for detecting the output of the SAW filter, ADC 148-6 for converting the analog output of the detector to digital, and communicating with the main unit 110 through an external control bus (Ext CTRL) and outputting It consists of a micro control unit (MCU; 148-7) to monitor whether the object to be measured is connected, return loss of the object to be measured, and HPA output.

As shown in FIG. 4, the simplex type RF unit 140 includes a first RF signal generator (F1 Tunable RF OSC) 141-1, a first pre-amplifier (Pre AMP) 142-1, and a first variable Attenuator (Variable ATT; 143-1), first high power amplifier (HPA; 144-1), second RF signal generator (F2 Tunable RF OSC; 141-2), second pre-amplifier (Pre AMP; 142-2) , a second variable attenuator (Variable ATT; 143-2), a second high power amplifier (HPA; 144-2), a combiner 145, a transmit bandpass filter (Tx BPF; 146), and a transmit bandpass during transmission. An RF (SPDT; Single-Pole Double-Throw) switch 149 that selects the output of the filter 146 and transmits it to the antenna side, and transmits the RF signal received from the antenna side to the receiving switch unit 120 side during reception. It is composed of a control module 148 and generates a transmission RF signal of a corresponding band for PIM measurement according to a control signal, transmits it to the antenna side, and receives the RF signal for PIM measurement from the antenna side. Since the simplex type RF unit is the same as the multiplex type RF unit of FIG. 3 except for the RF switch 149, further description thereof will be omitted.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first to twelfth RF units 140-1 to 140-12 may measure PIM of multi-frequency bands for 3G, 4G, and 5G mobile communication as shown in Table 1 below.

unit	division	Transmitting frequency band (MHz)	Receive frequency band (MHz)	note
RFU 1	700 MHz	773~793	728~738	Port1
RFU 2	850 MHz	875~890	830~850
RFU 3	3500MHz-1	3520~3550	3520~3550
RFU 4	3600MHz-1	3780~3800	3650~3680
RFU 5	4500MHz-1	4630~4700	4630~4700
RFU 6	1500 MHz	1488~1520	1451~1480	Port2
RFU 7	1800 MHz	1805~1880	1710~1785
RFU 8	2100 MHz	2110~2170	1920~2080
RFU 9	2600 MHz	2620~2690	2500~2570
RFU 10	3500MHz-2	3520~3550	3520~3550
RFU 11	3600MHz-2	3780~3800	3650~3680
RFU 12	4500MHz-2	4630~4700	4630~4700

In Table 1, the transmission frequency band and the reception frequency band allocated to each of the RF units 140-1 to 140-12 are only for showing an example, and according to the frequency allocation policy of the country to which the present invention is applied, The actual measurement frequency band may vary and may also vary depending on the type of antenna to be measured. For example, in the case of Korea, since the frequency assigned to each carrier is different even in each frequency band, it is possible to divide and measure the detailed frequency band for each carrier. In addition, in 4G or 5G mobile communication, time When TDD method is used, transmit/receive frequency band is the same, so assign the same frequency band to transmit/receive for testing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the coupling unit 150 includes a first combining filter unit for generating a first combined signal by combining the transmitted RF signals of the first to fifth RF units 140-1 to 140-5; , a second combining filter unit for generating a second combined signal by combining the transmitted RF signals of the sixth to twelfth RF units 140-6 to 140-12, and transmitting the first combined signal to a first antenna port (Port1) , and the second combined signal is connected to the second antenna port (Port2). In the embodiment of the present invention, the low frequency band and the high frequency band are connected to the first antenna port (Port1), and the middle frequency band and the high frequency band are connected to the second antenna port (Port2). The combined signals may be combined again and connected to one antenna port, or two different combined signals may be generated by dividing the frequency band in a different way.

As shown in FIG. 5, the reception switch unit 120 includes a port switch 121 for selecting a port, a plurality of reception band pass filter arrays 122, a filter switch module 123, a low noise amplifier (LNA); 124), a micro control unit (MCU) 125 for controlling the port switch 121 and the switch module 123 by communicating with the main unit 110 through an external control bus, and the RF unit 140 according to the control signal. -1 to 140-12) selects and amplifies the received signal of each band and transmits it to the main unit (110).

As shown in FIG. 6, the main unit 110 includes a synchronization module 111 for oscillating a 10 MHz reference signal and providing it to each RF unit 140-1 to 140-12, and a receiving switch unit 120. After down-converting the received RF signal, convert it to digital and measure the PIM signal through FFT analysis, and communicate with the host terminal 104 through the communication port to receive and execute a predetermined measurement program. It consists of a main interface module 112 for processing the entire measurement procedure by controlling each unit through an external control bus.

As shown in FIG. 7, the power supply unit 160 includes a switching mode power supply unit (SMPS) 162 for receiving AC power and supplying DC power required by the circuit, and a main unit 110. It consists of a communication coupling distribution module 164 for connecting the control bus of the cell to each unit of the corresponding cell.

Meanwhile, the tilt control unit 140 is for remotely controlling the tilt angle of the measurement target antenna 106 . Typically, antennas used in mobile communication base stations can adjust the tilt angle of the antenna remotely through Remote Electrical Tilt (RET), and such control is performed through AISG (Antenna Interface Standards Group) master controller. communication between the AISG master controller and RET follows the RS 485 standard. This AISG standard is a standardized standard to secure interconnectivity for the tilt angle control method of an antenna, etc., and in an embodiment of the present invention, the tilt control unit 140 controls the tilt angle through RET according to the standard AISG standard Since it is a configuration, further description will be omitted.

8 and 9 are flowcharts illustrating an automatic PIM measurement procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10 is an example of a GUI screen during automatic PIM measurement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, after moving the rack 102 of the PIM measurement device according to the embodiment of the present invention to the measurement site, the main unit 110 and the host terminal 104 are connected with a USB cable, and the antenna 106 to be measured and the antenna port are connected. and RET terminals are connected with the RF cable 108 and the 485 communication cable.

Subsequently, after executing the PIM measurement application program in the host terminal 104, the transmission frequency and level for multi-band PIM measurement are set for each band. For example, in the first test step (T1), the first transmission frequency (F1) and the output of the first RF unit (140-1) are set to 785.5 MHz, 10W, and the first RF unit (140-7) After setting the transmission frequency (F1) and output to 1822.5MHz, 5W, and the second transmission frequency (F2) and output to 1872.5 MHz, 5W, respectively, the intermodulation (PIM) characteristics of the reflected received signal at 735.5MHz were measured. can In the second test (T2) step, the second transmission frequency F2 and output of the first RF unit 140-1 are set to 793 MHz and 10W, and the first transmission frequency of the third RF unit 140-3 After setting (F1) and output to 3470 MHz, 5 W, and the second transmit frequency (F2) and output to 3520 MHz and 5 W, respectively, measure the intermodulation (PIM) characteristics of the reflected received signal at 843 MHz, in the same way Each test step can be set sequentially. In this way, in the embodiment of the present invention, the transmission frequency and output of each RF unit are set in advance for each test step, and then the program is transmitted to the main unit 110, thereby automating the entire measurement process so that the measurement can be performed quickly and accurately.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, when the 'Measure Start' button is clicked on the GUI screen as shown in FIG. 10 after the setting is completed, it is checked whether automatic measurement is performed, and if it is automatic, the set value for measurement is added to the queue, and the combined data If the value of the data counter in the queue is 1 or more, measurement starts, and if it is less than 1, measurement ends (SS1 to S4).

If the data counter value is 1 or more, the setting value is taken out from the queue and tilt control is checked (S5, S6).

If there is tilt control, the tilt angle value is transmitted to the tilt control unit 130 through the main unit 110 so that the tilt control unit 130 adjusts the tilt angle of the antenna 106 to be measured, and combines for measurement Data is transmitted to the main unit 110 (S7 to S9). At this time, if there is no tilt control, combined data for measurement is immediately transmitted to the main unit 110.

The main unit 110 controls the corresponding RF unit to adjust the transmission frequency and output of the corresponding RF unit 140-1 to 14012 according to the combined data, sets the receiving frequency and band of the receiving switch unit 120, The PLL frequency, attenuator and table of the receiving module 113 of the main unit are set (S10, S11).

If the measurement mode is the noise floor mode (Nise Floor), turn off the transmit output of the corresponding RF unit and turn on the PIM reception mode to measure the PIM characteristics of the pure antenna in the absence of transmit output so that meaningless data can be ignored (S12 ~S15).

Next, the measurement time counter is checked, and if it is within the time limit, the FFT data of the receiver is transmitted to the host terminal 104 and displayed on the GUI screen. Do (S16 to S19). When an alarm occurs, the measurement is paused, the transmission output is turned off, the alarm state is checked again, and when the alarm is turned off, the measurement continues in step S4, and the measurement time counter is checked to determine whether the time limit has elapsed or transmission Even if the output is turned off, if the alarm state continues, the measurement ends (S20 to S23).

The host terminal 104 may display the measurement result data in the form of text, graphics, or graphs on the GUI screen, convert the measurement results into a database, and then perform statistical processing and provide the data. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, it has been described that measurement results are transmitted in real time at every measurement step (test step) and displayed on the GUI screen in real time, but measurement results may be collectively transmitted after measurement is completed.

In the above, the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, but those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom.

Claims (5)

1. A plurality of RF units for generating and transmitting a transmission RF signal of a predetermined band for PIM measurement according to the control signal to the antenna side, and receiving the RF signal for PIM measurement from the antenna side;

   a coupling unit that combines the transmitted RF signals of the RF unit and transmits them to the connection port of the antenna to be measured, receives the RF signal reflected from the antenna to be measured through the connection port, and transfers the signal to the corresponding RF unit;

   a reception switch unit for selecting and amplifying the reception RF signal of each band received from the RF unit according to a control signal; and

   A reference RF signal is generated and provided to each of the plurality of RF units, and a PIM measurement procedure is performed by controlling the plurality of RF units and the receiving switch unit according to a measurement program transmitted from a host terminal, and from the receiving switch unit A slot expansion type PIM measurement device including a main unit that down-converts the received RF signal, converts it to digital, performs FFT analysis, and transmits the PIM measurement result to the host terminal.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the slot expansion type PIM measuring device

   If necessary, the slot expansion type PIM measurement device further comprising a tilt control unit for remotely controlling the tilt angle of the measurement target antenna.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the RF unit

   A first RF signal generator for generating an RF signal of a first frequency synchronized with the reference RF signal, a first high power amplifier for amplifying an output of the first RF signal generator to a predetermined level, and a signal generator synchronized with the reference RF signal. A second RF signal generator for generating an RF signal of a second frequency, a second high power amplifier for amplifying an output of the second RF signal generator to a predetermined level, an output of the first high power amplifier and the second high power amplifier A slot expansion type PIM measuring device characterized in that it is composed of a combiner for combining the outputs of the combiner, and a multiplexer for transmitting the output of the combiner to the antenna side and transmitting the RF signal received from the antenna side to the receiving switch unit side.
4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the main unit

   A synchronization module for oscillating a reference signal of a predetermined frequency and providing it to each RF unit, a receiving module for down-converting and digitally converting the RF signal received from the receiving switch unit and measuring a PIM signal through FFT analysis; Slot expansion type PIM measuring device, characterized in that it consists of a main interface module for processing the entire measurement procedure by controlling each unit through an external control bus while communicating with the host terminal through the communication port to receive and execute a predetermined measurement program.
5. Connecting the host terminal to the main unit and connecting the antenna to be measured to the antenna port of the coupling unit, and then setting the transmission frequency and level for multi-band PIM measurement in each test step on the GUI screen of the host terminal;

   When measurement is started after setting is completed, checking whether automatic measurement is performed and adding a set value for measurement to a queue if it is automatic;

   Taking a set value from the queue, checking whether or not tilt control is present, and if there is tilt control, transferring the tilt angle value to the tilt control unit through the main unit so that the tilt control unit adjusts the tilt angle of the antenna to be measured;

   When the combined data for measurement is received, controlling the corresponding RF unit so that the main unit adjusts the transmission frequency and output of the corresponding RF unit according to the combined data, and setting the receiving frequency and band of the receiving switch unit to measure;

   Checking the measurement time counter and if it is within the time limit, the main unit transmits the FFT data to the host terminal and displays it on the GUI screen, and if no alarm is generated, continuing the measurement;

   When an alarm occurs, the measurement is paused, the transmission output is turned off, the alarm state is checked again, and if the alarm is turned off, the measurement is continued. An automatic PIM measurement method using a slot expansion type PIM measurement device comprising the step of terminating measurement if the alarm state continues.

Images