THE RF & ANTENNA LABS

• CST Studio Suite

CST Studio Suite is one of the market leading 3D electromagnetic (EM) analysis software package for designing, analyzing, and optimizing antennas, arrays, EM components, and multi-port systems. With CST Studio Suite we can import complex mechanical files as well as circuit boards to simulation projects.

Sigma Connectivity has multiple licenses, and we can simulate complex structures on our high-performance computer cluster.

• Optenni Lab

Optenni Lab is one of the market leading circuit synthesis software for advanced antenna optimization that features automatic matching circuit synthesis and optimization of multi-port solutions and switched antennas. Optenni Lab is optimized to work directly with CST Studio Suite.

• Ansys SIwave

SIwave is a dedicated PCB and package electromagnetics simulation software. With this tool we can model, simulate high-speed channels, and complete power delivery systems in high-performance electronics. SIwave can also evaluate electro-thermal design.

• Keysight ADS

ADS is a market leading circuit design and simulation software. ADS offers integrated design guidance via templates and with extensive component libraries.

With our AET microwave dielectrometer of open coaxial resonator type, we can offer measurements of the electrical material properties dielectric constant and loss tangent if certain dimensions of the test substrate are met.

Anechoic chambers are designed to measure the direct path of the RF wave between the Device Under Test (DUT) and the measurement antennas. We have several anechoic chambers that are used for different purposes.

• MVG SG 24 (Large)

Our main chamber for verification of the antenna’s and the system’s performance of the DUT is a SG 24. It is a large anechoic chamber from MVG, Microwave Vision Group, with a turntable and ring-mounted 24 dual-polarized probes. In this chamber complete 3D-measurements are done and with the possibility to get the 3D-pattern as well as the 2D-cuts.

In this chamber we can perform measurements in the frequency range from 400MHz to 6GHz on objects of about 1 meter in size. Maximum weight is about 5kg with our polystyrene mast.

If required, we have everything needed to perform measurements on a device in various user positions.

• Passive Mode

Antenna gain, efficiency and radiation pattern measurements can be performed in passive mode when the RF signal from an external source is injected directly into the antenna through a coaxial probe.

Passive mode measurements are performed when we want to get just antenna characteristics, with the rest of the device RF chain excluded from the measurement. This setup is particularly useful in the early stages of product development when hardware and software functionality is not completely developed yet.

Head and hand phantoms can be put on the turntable next to the DUT if antenna measurements in various user positions are requested. We use phantoms from SPEAG.

• Active Mode

We can perform active mode measurements for cellular systems, 4G, including cat M1 and NB-IoT/3G/2G, as well as for the non-cellular protocols Bluetooth and WiFi.

Active mode measurements take the complete RF system into consideration, so other components, such as filters, amplifiers, transmitters, and receivers, influence the measurement results. This type of measurement characterizes the device in a way much closer to real user case.

In SG 24 we perform both radiated transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) measurements. Tx measurements reflect how well the device can send out RF signals. The Tx performance depends, among other things, on antenna design, transmitter characteristics, and amplifier performance. The result is presented as Total Radiated Power (TRP) in dBm. Rx measurements show how well the device can receive RF signals. Rx performance is also vitally dependent on the antenna characteristics, the radio receiver, and as well as on the level of internal noise. The result is presented as Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS) in dBm.

Head and hand phantoms can be put on the turntable next to the DUT if antenna measurements in various user positions are requested.

• Envelope Correlation Coefficient - ECC

For a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) antenna system, we offer the possibility to perform correlation measurements (Envelope Correlation Coefficient). Correlation is a parameter showing how independent antennas constituting the MIMO system are. Independent antennas (= low correlation coefficient) lead to higher system data rates.

• Other anechoic chambers

Sigma has chambers for investigating radiated EMC, both DUT transmitted EMC and susceptibility tests, and stand-alone GPS measurements with roll-over-azimuth positioner for 3D-measurements.

Radiated Spurious Emission, or RSE, is an emission type that needs to be measured and passed during regulatory type approving. We have a dedicated chamber for RSE-measurements that is used for pre-compliance verification of products prior said type approval. Our chamber is a Rohde&Schwarz R-Line compact test chamber.

Scattered Field Chamber, SFC, also known as Reverberation Chamber, is designed to create a large number of reflections and it has stirrers and a turntable to have constantly changing electromagnetic modes, which is the opposite idea of an anechoic chamber. Sigma Connectivity has two SFCs.

In our SFCs we can measure antenna efficiency (passive measurements), and TRP and TIS (active measurements). The chamber can measure the 4G/3G/2G and Bluetooth radio protocols, as well as pulsed or continuous wave transmissions for any frequency between 600MHz and 8GHz, including WiFi and Bluetooth frequencies, if the software of the device under test supports it. It is also possible to perform data throughput measurements for different protocols and propagation models.

Head and hand phantoms can be put on the turntable next to the DUT if antenna measurements in various user positions are requested. We use phantoms from SPEAG.