STTR Phase I: Reconfigurable Over-the-air Chamber for Wireless Device Testing

这个项目的广泛影响/商业潜力有几个方面。从科学理解的角度来看，使用具有时变和非均匀反射的墙壁混响室是一个新概念，成功理解该技术可能会影响各种应用。更具体地说，对于无线设备测试，最准确的无线设备性能传统测试方法是昂贵的，除了最大的公司或研究机构之外，所有人都无法使用它们。准确、低成本和快速测试能力的发展使无线设备开发组织之间的竞争更加公平，并将有利于消费者的竞争引入市场。此外，低成本促进了新兴技术的发展，这些技术可能提供较低的初始收入，但提供较高的社会价值。最后，由于低成本和准确的测试能力将使无线设备设计人员能够提高性能并提供更高的频谱效率，它将促进对有限无线电频谱的更多访问，使更多的人能够获得他们个人和经济发展所需的信息。这个小型企业技术转移研究（STTR）第一阶段项目的动机是观察到新兴的无线设备必须提供更高水平的复杂性，以跟上对数据吞吐量不断增长的需求。实现这一目标需要开发新的测试方法，能够以低成本快速准确地评估新兴设备的有效性。在这项工作中提出的创新的可重构空中室（ROTAC）有望显著改善无线设备测试。提出的活动侧重于三个关键技术挑战：1)生成详细的仿真模型，以便详细了解用于无线设备测试的ROTAC的行为；2)探索优化算法，快速确定可重构参数，实现所需的通道特性；3)在ROTAC实验样机上实现算法。这些活动的成功完成将证明该技术作为商业产品的可行性，并使人们能够观察到技术的局限性和长处。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project has several facets. From the standpoint of scientific understanding, using a reverberation chamber with time-varying and non-homogeneous reflection from the walls is a new concept, and successful understanding of this technology may impact a variety of applications. More specifically for wireless device testing, the fact that the most accurate traditional testing methods for wireless device performance are costly, they are unavailable to all but the largest companies or research organizations. The development of an accurate, low-cost, and rapid testing capability levels the playing field among wireless device development organizations and introduces consumer-benefitting competition into the market. Furthermore, the low cost fosters the development of emerging technologies that may offer low initial revenue but provide high social value. Finally, because the low-cost and accurate testing capability will enable wireless device designers to improve performance and offer increased spectral efficiency, it will foster increased access to the limited radio spectrum, enabling more people to have the access to information that they need for personal and economic development. This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase I project is motivated by the observation that emerging wireless devices must offer increased levels of sophistication in order to keep pace with the growing demand for data throughput. Achieving this objective requires development of new testing methods that can rapidly and accurately assess the effectiveness of emerging devices at a low-cost. The innovative reconfigurable over-the-air chamber (ROTAC) proposed in this work promises dramatic improvement in wireless device testing. The proposed activities focus on three key technical challenges: 1) generation of a detailed simulation model that allows detailed understanding of the behavior of a ROTAC for wireless device testing; 2) exploration of optimization algorithms that can quickly determine the reconfigurable parameters that achieve the desired channel characteristics; and 3) implementation of algorithms on an experimental ROTAC prototype. Successful completion of these activities will demonstrate the feasibility of the technology as a commercial product and enable observation of the technology limitations and strengths.