Patent Description:
With the rise of the Internet of Things, ever more systems are provided with wireless connectivity for communication with other systems. For this purpose, the systems are provided with a wireless communication device that has to be compatible with a wireless network and other wireless communication devices.

An example of such a system may be a vehicle with a telematics unit.

<CIT> describes an electromagnetic radiation emission real-time measurement system for high-speed electrical multiple units (EMU).

<CIT> describes a method diagnosing telematic systems during a production process of a vehicle.

<CIT> discloses an apparatus for measuring over-the-air wireless communication performance in an automotive application of a device under test arranged on or in a vehicle.

<NPL>" discloses a scanner system for measuring the radiation characteristics of antennas mounted on and in a vehicle.

In order to assure compatibility, the system has to undergo various tests, including a measurement of a radiation pattern, especially a radiation pattern of spurious emission.

However, as the systems, for example a housing or a chassis of the system, may interfere with its own communication device, tedious and time-consuming tests inside and outside of the system have to be performed.

Thus, it is the object of the invention to provide a measurement system and a measurement setup for testing a system under test that yield complete measurement results in a short amount of time.

For this purpose, a measurement system for testing of a system under test is provided, in particular a vehicle with a wireless communication device. The measurement system has a communication tester for establishing an over the air communication link with the system under test, a first test receiver for receiving a signal of the system under test, and a second test receiver for receiving the signal of the system under test. The first test receiver is configured to be disposed at a distance from the system under test and the second test receiver is configured to be disposed inside the system under test. The measurement system comprises a control unit connected to the first test receiver, the second test receiver and the communication tester.

By placing a test receiver outside of the system under test and another test receiver within the system under test, the measurements of the emission behavior of the communication device of the system under test may be evaluated simultaneously. Thus, the time needed for a measurement can be reduced significantly.

For example, the signal of the system under test is a spurious signal of the system under test, in order to measure the spurious emission of the system under test. Of course, the system under test may emit communication signals for communicating, e.g. with the communication tester, as well.

In an embodiment, the second test receiver is a portable device and/or the first test receiver is stationary. This way, the test receivers may easily deployed.

For example, the second test receiver is small and lightweight.

In order to reduce the disturbance of the measurements due to the second test receiver, the second test receiver is a power meter, in particular a frequency selective power meter. For example, the second power meter is EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) tested and does not emit significant spurious signals itself.

In an aspect of the invention, the first test receiver comprises a receive antenna and a spectrum analyzer in order to precisely determine the radiation pattern.

For increasing the accuracy even further, the first test receiver comprises a signal-conditioning unit connected between the spectrum analyzer and the receive antenna.

In order to provide a versatile preprocessing, the signal-conditioning unit comprises at least one amplifier, at least one filter and/or at least one switch matrix.

For example, the signal-conditioning unit may be a switch and control platform capable of performing radio frequency (RF) switch and control tasks.

In an aspect, the receive antenna comprises a transducer and a coupling device.

In an embodiment of the invention, the control unit is connected to the first rest receiver, to the second test receiver and to the communication tester via a cable-bound connection in order not to disturb the measurements.

For example, the second test receiver is connected to the control unit via a local area network (LAN).

In an embodiment of the invention, the measurement system comprises a rotation mechanism for the system under test, in particular a turntable for vehicles. This eliminates the need to move the first test receiver, reducing measurement time even further.

Further, for above purpose, a measurement setup for testing of a system under test is provided, the measurement setup comprising a measurement system as explained above and a system under test. The first test receiver is disposed outside and at a distance from the system under test, and the second test receiver is disposed inside the system under test.

The features and advantage discussed in the context of the measurement system also apply to the measurement setup and vice versa.

In an embodiment, the system under test is a vehicle having a wireless communication device, in particular a telematics unit. This way, measurements on a vehicle are possible.

For example, the communication tester is configured for establishing an over the air communication link with the telematics unit.

In order to assess spurious emission within the vehicle, the vehicle comprises a passenger cabin and the second test receiver is located within the passenger cabin.

To allow a quick measurement, the system under test is placed on the rotation mechanism.

Further features and advantages will be apparent from the following description as well as the accompanying drawings, to which reference is made. In the drawings:.

<FIG> shows very schematically a measurement setup <NUM> comprising a system under test (SUT) <NUM> and a measurement system <NUM>.

The system under test <NUM> is a vehicle <NUM>, for example a passenger car, in the shown embodiment.

The vehicle <NUM> comprises a wireless communication device <NUM>, for example a telematics unit, and a passenger cabin <NUM>.

The measurement system <NUM> comprises a communication tester <NUM>, a first test receiver <NUM>, a second test receiver <NUM>, a rotation mechanism <NUM>, for example a turntable, and a control unit <NUM>.

The communication tester <NUM> and the first test receiver <NUM> may also comprise amplifiers or amplifying stages, which are not shown for the sake of simplicity.

The measurement system <NUM> is configured to test the system under test <NUM>, especially for measuring the radiation pattern. For example the radiation pattern of spurious signals of the system under test <NUM>, in the shown embodiment of spurious signals of the communication device <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>.

The communication tester <NUM> is configured to establish an over the air (OTA) communication link with the system under test <NUM>, in particular with the wireless communication device <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>.

The communication tester <NUM> comprises a signal generator <NUM> and a communication antenna <NUM>. The communication antenna <NUM> may have a transducer <NUM> and a coupling device <NUM>.

The signal generator <NUM> and the communication antenna <NUM> are connected via a cable.

The first test receiver <NUM> comprises a receive antenna <NUM> having a transducer <NUM> and a coupling device <NUM>, a signal-conditioning unit <NUM> and a spectrum analyzer <NUM>.

The signal-conditioning unit <NUM> has at least one amplifier <NUM>, at least one filter <NUM> and at least one switch matrix <NUM>.

The signal-conditioning unit <NUM> is a switch and control platform and may be used to perform radio frequency switch and control tasks.

The receive antenna <NUM> is connected to the signal-conditioning unit <NUM>, which is in turn connected to the spectrum analyzer <NUM>. All of these connections are electrically connections via a cable.

The first test receiver <NUM>, especially the receive antenna <NUM>, is stationary and may be disposed with a distance to the system under test <NUM>.

The second test receiver <NUM> is a portable device, meaning that it is a small and lightweight device.

The second test receiver <NUM> comprises a frequency selective power meter, for example a Rhode & Schwarz NRQ6, and an antenna.

The second test receiver <NUM> is EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) tested, meaning that it does not emit spurious signals itself, in any case, it emits less spurious signals than a tabletop spectrum analyzer.

The second test receiver <NUM> is configured to be disposed inside the system under test <NUM> without problems due to its small size and/or its electromagnetic compatibility.

The control unit <NUM> is configured to control the communication tester <NUM>, the first test receiver <NUM> and the second test receiver <NUM>. The control unit <NUM> is therefore connected via a cable-bound connection to the communication tester <NUM>, more precisely the signal generator <NUM>, to the first test receiver <NUM>, more precisely the spectrum analyzer <NUM>, and to the second test receiver <NUM>.

The cable-bound connection between the control unit <NUM> and the second test receiver <NUM> may be via a local area network (LAN).

Further, the control unit <NUM> is connected to and controls the rotation mechanism <NUM>. For measuring the radiation pattern of spurious emissions of the system under test <NUM>, in the shown example the vehicle <NUM>, system under test <NUM> (the vehicle <NUM>) is placed on the rotation mechanism <NUM>, here the turntable.

Further, the first test receiver <NUM>, more precisely the receive antenna <NUM> is setup outside of and at a distance to the system under test <NUM> and to the rotation mechanism <NUM>. Preferably, the receive antenna <NUM> is not moved during the measurement.

Likewise, the communication tester <NUM>, particularly the communication antenna <NUM> is placed stationarily outside of the system under test <NUM> and the rotation mechanism <NUM>.

The second test receiver <NUM> is placed within the system under test <NUM>, for example within the passenger cabin <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>.

For measuring, the control unit <NUM> controls the communication tester <NUM> to establish an over the air communication link with the system under test <NUM>, in the shown embodiment the communication device <NUM> of the vehicle <NUM>.

The communication link is maintained at the stable condition throughout the measurement. Thus, the communication between the system under test <NUM> and the communication tester <NUM> is continuous and without intermissions.

During the communication of the communication tester <NUM> and the communication device <NUM>, the communication device <NUM> generates spurious emissions that are picked up as spurious signals by the first test receiver <NUM>, more precisely the receive antenna <NUM>, and the second test receiver <NUM>.

For a complete measurement of the radiation pattern, the system under test <NUM> is rotated a full <NUM>° using the rotation mechanism <NUM> while the measurement is in progress.

Due to the fact, that the receive antenna <NUM> is stationary, the spurious emissions in all directions are measured.

At the same time, the spurious signals within the system under test <NUM> are picked up by the second test receiver <NUM>.

The spurious signals picked up by the receive antenna <NUM> are preprocessed by the signal-conditioning unit <NUM> and analyzed by the spectrum analyzer <NUM>. The control unit <NUM> then receives the measurement results of the spectrum analyzer <NUM> and the second test receiver <NUM> and generates, inter alia, a radiation pattern of spurious emissions of the system under test <NUM>, an example of which can be seen in <FIG>.

For example, three measurement points for each degree may be recorded.

Claim 1:
Measurement system for testing of a system under test (<NUM>), in particular a vehicle (<NUM>) with a wireless communication device (<NUM>), the measurement system (<NUM>) having:
a communication tester (<NUM>) for establishing an over the air communication link with the system under test (<NUM>),
a first test receiver (<NUM>) for receiving a signal of the system under test (<NUM>), wherein the first test receiver (<NUM>) is configured to be disposed at a distance from the system under test (<NUM>),
wherein the measurement system comprises a second test receiver (<NUM>) for receiving the signal of the system under test (<NUM>), wherein the second test receiver (<NUM>) is configured to be disposed inside the system under test (<NUM>)
characterized in that the measurement system (<NUM>) comprises a control unit (<NUM>) connected to the first test receiver (<NUM>), the second test receiver (<NUM>) and the communication tester (<NUM>).