Patent ID: 12222382

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to make the object, technical solutions, and advantages of the present invention clearer, the present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. The embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention, but not to limit the present invention.

The following embodiments illustrate the technical solutions.

Referring toFIGS.1and2, a near-field test system in accordance the embodiment of the present invention includes a computer14and a source of signal11for generating test signals, a signal receiver12, a mover13and at least one probe15respectively connected to the computer14, where the source of signal11, the signal receiver12, the probe15and the DUT16form a closed loop of the test signals.

The mover13is used for accepting a control of the computer14to cause random relative motion of the DUT16and the probe15to generate multiple random test points.

When the probe15is connected to the signal receiver12, the source of signal11is connected to the DUT16; when the probe15is connected to the source of signal11, the signal receiver12is connected to the DUT16, and the probe15is used to collect the electromagnetic field signals of multiple random test points, and directly transmit the signals to the signal receiver or to the DUT and then the DUT to the signal receiver.

The signal receiver12is used to analyze and process the measured values of the electromagnetic field signal collected by the probe and transmit to the computer; the method for analyzing and processing the measured values may specifically include RF signal denoising, sampling, amplitude solution, phase, etc.

The computer14is used to: select any coordinate system that the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT16to be determined presents a sparse feature; in the selected coordinate system, control the mover13to cause a random relative motion between the DUT16and the probe15to generate multiple random test points, determine one or more postures of the probe15, and determine the electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the postures of the probe15; obtain measured values of the electromagnetic field signals collected by the probe15after being analyzed and processed by the signal receiver, and obtain a measured value set; according to the measured value set and the electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the postures of the probes15respectively, and according to the Lorenz reciprocity theorem in electromagnetism, determine the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT through the convex optimization; and obtaining, according to the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT, a far-field pattern of the DUT or an electric field and/or a magnetic field at any point outside the DUT.

The computer14is connected with the source of signal11, the signal receiver12, the mover13and the at least one probe15, and is mainly used for controlling the source of signal11, the signal receiver12, the mover13and the at least one probe15, and for data transmission.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the measured values of the electromagnetic field signals may include one or any combination of frequency, amplitude, phase information, and the like.

Convex optimization is a special optimization algorithm in which the objective function is a convex function and the domain obtained by the constraints is a convex set.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the mover may be: connected to the DUT to control the movement of the DUT; or, connected to the probe to control the movement of the probe; or, connected to both the DUT and the probe to control the movement of the DUT and the probe.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the source of signal may be an independent external signal transmitter, or may be a signal transmitter built in a radio frequency device (for example, a DUT or a probe). The signal receiver can be an independent external signal receiving device, or it can be a signal receiving device built in a radio frequency device (such as a DUT or a probe). The DUT can be any wireless communication device, such as an antenna, radar, cell phone, or the like.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the source of signal and the signal receiver may be combined, or may be separate devices.

In an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, a closed loop of a test signal formed by a source of signal, a signal receiver, a probe, and a DUT, specifically is:

referring to inFIG.1, a signal is emitted by the source of signal, detected by the probe, and then passed through the space, transmitted to the DUT, and then transmitted to the signal receiver by the DUT; or,

referring toFIG.2, the signal is emitted by the source of signal, then radiated by the DUT, then passed through the space, and finally detected by the probe, and then enters the signal receiver.

The computer can monitor the transmitted and received signal parameters, and use these parameters to invert the features of the DUT.

Refer toFIG.3, which is a flowchart of a near-field test method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The near-field test method is applied to a computer as an example. The near-field test method comprising steps of S101to S104as below.

S101, selecting a coordinate system, where electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT to be determined present a sparse feature in the selected coordinate system.

For example, if the electromagnetic field coefficients are plane wave coefficients, any orthogonal coordinate system rotated in three-dimensional space can be used as the coordinate system that can sparsely express the electromagnetic field coefficients.

At S101, in the selected coordinate system, controlling the mover to cause a random relative motion between the DUT and the probe to generate multiple random test points, and determining one or more postures of the probe to obtain electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the postures of the probe respectively.

In an embodiment of the present invention, S101may specifically be:in the selected coordinate system, defining randomly distributed test points, and randomly generating N test points piin the space area Ωcoutside the DUT, where 1≤i≤N, N is a natural number greater than 1;taking the probe center point as the origin, and determining K postures corresponding to the probe in the selected coordinate system, where K is a natural number greater than or equal to 1;according to the specifications of the probe and the K postures of the probe, determining K electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the K postures of the probe respectively.

S102, obtain the measured values of the electromagnetic field signals collected by the probe to obtain a measured value set.

In an embodiment of the present invention, S102may specifically be:

obtaining the measured values of the electromagnetic field signals collected by the probe to obtain the measured value set,={mi(j): 1≤i≤N, 1≤j≤K}, where mi(j)represents the measured value collected by the probe to the DUT when the probe is at the j posture and at the test point pi.

S103, according to the measured value set, the positions of the random test points, and the electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the postures of the probes respectively, and according to the Lorenz reciprocity theorem in electromagnetism, determining the electromagnetic field coefficients v of the DUT through convex optimization.

In an embodiment of the present invention, at S103, specifically:a sparse feature of the electromagnetic field coefficients v of the DUT to be determined by a convex function which is represented by f(v), according to Lorenz reciprocity theorem, there is a random linear relationship Av=between the electromagnetic field coefficients v of the DUT and the measured value set; the random linear relationship Av=can be used as a constraint or a penalty function in the domain optimization; combine the convex function f(v) and the random linear relationship Av=into the algorithm of convex optimization to obtain:when Av=is used as the constraint, the algorithm of convex optimization is written as Expression (1):
Minimizef(v) subject toAv=(1)when Av=is used as the penalty function, the algorithm of convex optimization is written as Expression (2):
Minimizef(v)+P(Av-)  (2)where A is a random matrix, and elements of A are determined by the positions of the random test points and the electromagnetic field coefficients of the probe corresponding to the probe at each posture; P(.) is a convex function, which increases with the increase of the modulus of the vector Av-. As for convex functions f(v) or P(.), please referring to (but not limited to): literature [1]: by Simon Foucart, Holger Rauhut,A mathematical introduction to compressive sensing, Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis, Birkhauser (2013), Pages 5 and 18; literature [2]: by Stuart Gregson, John McCormick and Clive Parini,Principles of Planar Near-Field Antenna Measurements, Published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2007, Page 99: ORF 523 Lecture 7 Spring 2015, Princeton University, Instructor: A. A. Ahmadi); and literature [3]: Jian-Ming Jin,Theory and Computation of Electromagnetic Fields, Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1962; definition and calculation methods of convex functions (for example, f(v) or P(.)) are well-known in the field, and will not be described in detail here. Therefore, Expressions (1) and (2) are both convex programming problems, which can be solved by the algorithm of convex optimization, specifically, Expression (1) can be solved by means of (but not limited to) Iteratively reweighted least squares according to page 493 of literature [1]; Expression (2) can be solved by means of (but not limited to) Primal-Dual Algorithm according to page 482 of literature [1], the calculation is well-known and will not be described in detail here. The variable v is calculated and determined as the electromagnetic field coefficients v of the DUT.

S104, obtaining a far-field pattern of the DUT or an electric field and/or a magnetic field at any point outside the DUT according to the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT.

Because when the type of the electromagnetic coefficient of the DUT is determined, the basis function corresponding to the electromagnetic coefficient of the DUT is determined. For example, when the electromagnetic coefficient of the DUT is a plane wave coefficient, then its basis function is a plane wave vector function. For example, when the electromagnetic coefficient of the DUT is a spherical wave coefficient, then its basis function is a spherical wave vector function.

According to the Lorenz reciprocity theorem in electromagnetism, the measured values of the DUT for the probe in a certain state can be expressed as the linear coupling of the electromagnetic field coefficient (that is, the variable to be determined) of the DUT and the electromagnetic field coefficient (known variable) of the probe in this state.

In the present invention, since a coordinate system is selected that makes the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT to be determined represent sparse feature, the obtained electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUTs show sparse feature, and multiple random test points are selected in this coordinate system, then, the value set has a random linear relationship with the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT to be determined. Therefore, the electromagnetic field coefficient of the DUT can be reduced to a convex optimization whose objective function is a convex function that the electromagnetic field coefficients of the DUT can be determined by an algorithm of convex optimization. And because the probe collects electromagnetic field signals at multiple random test points, when the DUT is a medium-high gain DUT, the method of the present invention can determine the DUT's far-field pattern and other information with much less test points than the traditional algorithm, which can greatly improve the test efficiency. Experiments show that only 1/25 of the sampling points in the traditional planar near-field can be used to restore the far-field pattern of the DUT. If the DUT is a high-gain antenna, the amplitude diagram of the real value of the far-field pattern is shown inFIG.4. Theta axis and Phi axis represent the theta and phi angles (unit is degree) of the spherical coordinate system respectively, and the height represents the amplitude of the far field pattern vector. The amplitude plot of the estimated value of the far-field pattern of the DUT is shown inFIG.5.FIG.6represents the amplitude plot of the difference between the estimated values of the far-field pattern and the real values of the far-field pattern, and the relative error recovered through the algorithm is less than 3%.

The present invention provides a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, where the computer-readable storage medium stores one or more computer programs including instructions, and when the computer programs including instructions is executed by one or more processor, performs steps of the near-field test method of the above embodiment of the present invention.

FIG.7shows a block diagram of a computer in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A computer100includes: one or more processors101, a memory102, and one or more computer programs including a set of computer-executable instructions, wherein the processors101and the memory102are connected by a bus; the one or more computer programs including a set of computer-executable instructions are stored in the memory102and configured to be executed by the one or more processors101, and when are executed to cause the one or more processors101to perform the steps of the near-field test method of the above-mentioned embodiments of the present invention. The computer includes servers and terminals. The computer can be a desktop computer, a mobile terminal, or a vehicle-mounted device, etc. The mobile terminal can include at least one of a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant, or a wearable device.

The steps in the embodiments of the present invention are not necessarily performed sequentially in the order indicated by the step numbers S101to S104. Unless explicitly stated herein, the steps are not strictly limited to the order and may be performed in other orders. Moreover, at least some steps in each embodiment may include multiple sub-steps or multiple stages. These sub-steps or stages are not necessarily performed and completed at the same time, but may be performed at different times. The sub-steps or stages are also not necessarily sequential, but may be performed alternately or alternately with other steps or sub-steps.

Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments can be executed by instructing relevant hardware through one or more computer programs including a set of computer-executable instructions, and the programs including a set of computer-executable instructions can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, when the program is executed, it may include the flow of the method of the above-mentioned embodiments. Wherein, any reference to memory, storage, database, or other medium used in the various embodiments provided in present invention may include non-volatile and/or volatile memory. Nonvolatile memory may include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in various forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous chain Road (Synch link) DRAM (SLDRAM), memory bus (Rambus) direct RAM (RDRAM), direct memory bus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and memory bus dynamic RAM (RDRAM), etc.

The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. In order to make the description simple, all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are not described. However, if there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features It is the range described in this specification.

The above embodiments only represent several embodiments of the present invention, and the descriptions thereof are specific and detailed, but should not be construed as a limitation on the scope of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several modifications and improvements can also be made, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the appended claims.