By combining two of its innovative instruments, Rohde & Schwarz now offers manufacturing facilities a flexible solution that can test multiple antenna orientations simultaneously with high speed and measurement accuracy, repeatability and low energy consumption. The R&S TS7124 RF shielded box and the R&S CMW100 communications manufacturing test set can be configured to create customized radiation patterns and can be employed to test virtually any wireless communications technology.

The R&S TS7124 is the only shielded box in the market that allows the placement and adjustment of multiple antennas inside the box, which gives test engineers the ability to generate customized radiation patterns and measure the radiated power for each orientation.

The R&S TS7124 offers shielding in excess of 80 dB at 6 GHz. Its frequency range from 300 MHz to 6 GHz makes it suitable for a variety of wireless communications applications, such as detecting production errors in mobile devices or antenna pattern errors, performing end-to-end tests on WLAN routers.

The R&S CMW100 is the perfect complement to the R&S TS7124 because it can test up to eight RF ports, optimizing test time and capacity. Connecting ports to one of the multiple antennas inside the chamber leads to extremely fast radiated power and sensitivity measurements. As a result of the highly reproducible environment inside the R&S TS7124 shielded box and the high measurement accuracy of the R&S CMW100, customers can detect antenna failures in production quickly and precisely.

Production test environments are particularly demanding of instruments because of the time and space constraints as well as their heavy duty cycle. But the new Rohde & Schwarz turnkey solution meets all these requirements.

The R&S TS7124 can be installed in a 19" rack. Its 300 mm x 334 mm x 355 mm (W x H x D) interior dimensions offer sufficient space for testing large DUTs. Users can create their own radiation patterns and measure the radiated power for selected orientations. Its robust design permits more than a million open-and-close cycles without any impact on the shielding effectiveness. The special "soft close" feature makes additional protection during automated operation unnecessary. The new, optionally available Vivaldi antennas ensure reliable and reproducible measurements.

The R&S CMW100 is also well-suited for production test environments. It can be mounted either vertically or horizontally – a feature that offers unprecedented flexibility for production line design. The open architecture of the R&S CMW100 makes it possible to quickly integrate the latest computer technologies, ensuring the best test performance.