6G OTA Measurements at Sub-THz Band Using a Compact Robotic System

As development in the sub-THz band (100–300 GHz) for antenna designs, specifically towards radio systems for potential sixth generation (6G) wireless communications is progressing, accurate characterisation of these complex antennas requires more sophisticated measurement setups. Robotic scanning systems have ushered in configurability to the measurement setups; however industrial sized robots cannot be accommodated in a lab environment for R&D measurements. Compact robots will be required to conduct over-the-air (OTA) performance measurements for 6G radios, and this work presents the development of such a system to cater for upcoming academic and industrial needs. Initially, the system has been characterised to perform sub-THz far-field (FF) OTA measurements. The E- and H-plane co-polar patterns are determined using the measurement setup and compared to electromagnetic (EM) and planar near-field (NF) measurements illustrating good matching of the main and side lobes at 110–170 GHz band, thereby validating the performance of the developed robotic measurement system.