Impact of Parameters for the In-situ Measurement of the Electric Field Strength of the SSB Signal in a 5G NR System Using the Frequency-Selective Method in Zero-Span Mode

Measuring 5G systems is a major challenge for measurement engineers, who need to be aware of all the limitations of the new generation The parameters of the frequency-selective measurement system (spectrum analyzer - ROHDE & SCHWARZ FSH8) were investigated in the measurement of 5G NR SSB signals (3.4 – 3.8 GHz). The focus was on the setting parameters which, according to the literature, have an influence on the measurement: RBW, VBW, SWEEP TIME and the duration of the measurement. All measurements were carried out in zero-span mode. In the second part of the measurement, these SSB synchronization signal measurement results were compared with the 5G signal measurement results at the same location using the NARDA SRM-3006 device equipped with a decoder for the 5G NR system (FR1) to determine the optimal method for measuring these signals with a spectrum analyzer (SA).The measurement results show that the resolution bandwidth (RBW) has the largest variation in the measured electric field (EF) strength values of the SSB 5G NR signal of 17.20 dB (MH/RMS) and 17.70 (RMS/AGV10). It is therefore necessary to pay particular attention to the setting of this measurement parameter. In addition, the video resolution (VBW) shows a significantly lower field strength variation of 2.50 dB, but also the same deviation from the reference value of 2.50 dB (RMS/AGV10). Other analyzed parameters have a negligible influence on the measurement of the EF strength.No post-processing was performed in the work to determine the final (maximum) value of the EF strength at the points of assumed highest exposure, which is used to assess the impact and compliance with the permissible values according to the relevant standards.