Overview

♦ Higher measurement bandwidths are envisaged for future channel sounding devices which requires the use of new technologies. Here we present a development of our cooperation partner MEODAT GmbH Ilmenau.

♦ A new real-time Ultra-Wideband (UWB) channel sounder is introduced that allows the measurement of the time-variant radio propagation channel in the extreme wide band ranging from nearly zero to 5 GHz. The RF interface comprises integrated digital circuits in SiGe technology. A Maximum Length Binary Sequence (MLBS) is used as transmit signal. At the receiver, fast track-and-hold and interleaved sampling is applied for data recording. The received signal is correlated with the reference by a DSP. Excellent timing stability, low power consumption and miniature size support synchronous multi-channel operation which is a prerequisite to build a Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) sounder.

♦ Particular demands imposed on a UWB channel sounder

• Ultra wide bandwidth (UWB) provides more information about the channel under test and enables high multipath resolution.
• High measurement rate is required in order to complete a full set of measurements within the coherence time of the channel under test and to enable continuous measurements.
• MIMO capability is desired in order to provide data for polarimetric or smart (array) antenna configurations.
• Software Defined Measurement (SDM) ensures high flexibility.
• Circuit Integration is a must to achieve high bandwidths, small size and light-weight sensor electronics, low power consumption, robustness, and true multi-channel capability.
• This requires low peak power signals and as much as possible digital circuit elements.