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

这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力有几个方面。从科学认识的角度来看，使用墙面反射时变且不均匀的混响室是一个新概念，对这项技术的成功理解可能会影响到各种应用。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成本高昂，除了最大的公司或研究组织外，所有公司都无法使用这些方法。准确、低成本和快速测试能力的开发为无线设备开发机构之间的竞争奠定了基础，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者能够提高性能和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，使更多的人能够访问他们个人和经济发展所需的信息。小型企业技术转移研究(STTR)第一阶段项目的动机是，新兴的无线设备必须提供更高级别的复杂性，才能跟上不断增长的数据吞吐量需求。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。这项工作中提出的创新的可重构空中电离室(ROTAC)有望极大地改善无线设备测试。拟议的活动集中于三个关键的技术挑战：1)生成详细的仿真模型，允许详细了解ROTAC用于无线设备测试的行为；2)探索能够快速确定实现所需信道特性的可重构参数的优化算法；以及3)在实验ROTAC原型上实现算法。成功完成这些活动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优势。

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.