IBS Pocket Guide (Volume 2)

RF Testing of Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS)

Copyright© 2020 Consultix

All Rights Reserved

No part of this guide may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means
without prior written consent of Consultix.

Trademarks
Consultix is a trademark of Consultix Company. All other trademarks mentioned in this
document are the property of their respective holders.
Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 4
CW Testing .................................................................................................................................................... 5
CW Test types for DAS .................................................................................................................................. 6
1- DAS Continuity/Loss .......................................................................................................................... 6
2- Downlink & Uplink Levelling ............................................................................................................. 7
3- Coverage Mapping ............................................................................................................................ 8
DAS Sweep Testing........................................................................................................................................ 9
1- Segment Sweep Test ....................................................................................................................... 10
2- System Sweep Test ......................................................................................................................... 10
3- DTF (Distance to Fault) Interpretation ............................................................................................ 11
4- DTF Optimization ............................................................................................................................ 12
Maximize Sensitivity ................................................................................................................................... 13
1-Baseline Noise Floor Testing ................................................................................................................ 13
2-Final gain/attenuation Settings ........................................................................................................... 14
How can Consultix help? ............................................................................................................................. 15
CW Transmitters ..................................................................................................................................... 15
CW Receivers .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Sweep Testers & Spectrum analyzer ...................................................................................................... 15
Introduction
DAS networks require multi-phase testing for successful deployment; starting from the design phase -
which significantly determines the cost of the network infrastructure-through reaching out the on-air
acceptance phase.

Commissioning prominently is the most critical phase in DAS roll out as for a system to be optimized, it
must be validated for ultimate RF transport and performance via the commissioning process.

A DAS to be properly commissioned, its infrastructure must be functional and trouble free. All
infrastructure issues should be demarcated and resolved at this phase.

In this pocket guide we illustrate the most commonly adopted test procedures in DAS deployment to
ensure ultimate performance and eliminate any defect before it diffuses in the next phases.

First, we start with CW measurements which comprises multiple test scenarios starting from the design
phase (explained in IBS Pocket guide Part 1), infrastructure testing until performing the coverage
mapping after installation.

Then comes another vital step which is sweep testing to reveal any RF defect along the path from the
BTS to the antenna.

And finally, we illustrate RF level testing using a spectrum analyzer or a receiver to adjust gain and
attenuation level of the system in order to maximize sensitivity.
CW Testing
CW stands for Continuous Wave. Which simply means an RF carrier which is transmitted from point A to
Point B.

A Transmitter: To transmit an RF signal with a known output power installed in the proposed
antenna/BTS location (simulating the presence of a base station or signal source in that location)

A Receiver: To measure the signal on the other end of the DAS or in different locations around the
building or even in the city (in case of outdoor model tuning) and compare the received level with the
transmitted one for further analysis

Software: To control the measurement process, correlate the measurements with their location and
perform any other needed post processing

The main aim of the process is to measure the overall system performance (Path loss or coverage)
whether for design, planning or commissioning purposes

Figure 1. Different kinds of Consultix CW transmitters for low and high power DAS testing

Figure 2. Consultix CW receiver with Android SW

CW Test types for DAS
1- DAS Continuity/Loss

After the DAS is installed, it’s often required to ensure that all the DAS segments are properly connected
and that signal can flow through them with the expected losses (in another word, Continuity test). Such
Continuity / Loss problems may arise due to:

● Human error during installa on (such as loose connectors, badly terminated cables...etc)

● Also, wrong or faulty parts

● Wrong direc onal coupler connec ons

● And finally, devia on from design guidelines.

Failure to verify continuity and identify loss during commissioning will mean that once the system goes
live it will exhibit weird coverage performance which will be much harder to identify and troubleshoot
after the radio equipment is connected / site goes live.

Figure 3. Simplified passive DAS example

2- Downlink & Uplink Levelling
BTS equipment are traditionally very high power for the needs of the DAS, which meant that initially
they needed to be attenuated in order to brought down to DAS appropriate levels. Moreover,
whenever there are multiple signal sources then the output powers from them have to be
attenuated in order to bring them all down to the same level (or according to the design, in order to
ensure proper power leveling between multiple operators, multiple technologies...etc.). This is the
job of the “Attenuation Tray” which is found in the DAS Head End room.

CW Testing is required to ensure that the attenuation tray is properly setup with the correct
attenuation values (for each frequency!).

The typical setup is with the transmitter connected instead of the BTS/Radio Equipment while
measurements made on the other side after the RRU using a receiver or spectrum analyzer to verify
and adjust the attenuation values.

And same test is repeated in the reverse direction for UL measurements.

Figure 4. Injecting CW signal for downlink adjustment

 3- Coverage Mapping

Figure 5.a Injecting CW signal for coverage mapping

Also known as Post-Build CW testing which is conducted after everything is installed and functioning
properly. The purpose of this test is to ensure that the DAS infrastructure achieves the design coverage
requirements.

Inject a CW signal into the headend RF interface as explained in the figure below, and this should be
with the actual power that will be eventually operational at this point.

And using a walk-test receiver, verify that the actual coverage across the whole floor is met.

Figure 5.b CW walk testing for post-build coverage mapping

DAS Sweep Testing

Here a sweep tester (AKA cable/antenna analyzer) is used to detect any mismatch along the RF path.

Mismatches occur when there's a problem with a coaxial component (cables, connectors or even an
antenna…) that causes a change of impedance along the signal path, this makes a part of the signal
getting reflected back to the source and the total transmitted power falls below what’s required by the
design. This results in loss of coverage, dropped calls, degraded MIMO performance and suboptimal
performance allover.

Connectors will be the main source of mismatches (since a lot can get wrong with them very easily) so
they should be your first suspect, followed by the cables themselves… Antenna faults do happen but
they are far in-between.

The importance of Sweep testing is that such problems are practically unavoidable. Even with good,
brand-new coaxial components, a lot can go wrong during installation, lose or poorly installed
connectors, cables bent beyond their most allowed radius even nails that go through the cable itself and
the situation of course gets worse with older installations.

Sweep testing is a special topic, so reader can refer to our article “30 sweep testing tips” for the best
practices in this regard. However here we will address its adoption in DAS projects
 1- Segment Sweep Test
The first test explained here is the Segment Sweep Test. The objective of this test is to verify the path
from the RAN equipment to Headend as below.

Figure 6. Connection of tester during segment sweep

2- System Sweep Test

Once all the segment sweeps are complete, its required to conduct Distance-To-Fault Return Loss (DTF-
RL) system sweeps. This is performed from each DAS remote unit out to the associated antennas. This
includes the whole feeders, jumpers and passive components.

Figure 7. Connection of tester during System sweep

 3- DTF (Distance to Fault) Interpretation
To get more familiar with DTF measurements and translate its data easily, let’s take a real example here,
consider this setup of 2 splitters, 2 antennas and one open end.

Figure 8. Simplified example of a DAS

 Marker 1 below which is at 1.9 meters, is expressing the first splitter here.
 Marker 2 at around 3 meters is expressing the first antenna attached to that splitter
 Marker 3 at 8.8 meters is expressing the first splitter here.
 Marker 4 meter at 15 meters is expressing the final point of the setup which is the open end.

Figure 9. DTF Testing of the system example above

 4- DTF Optimization
In the same example lets see what happens when user chose the wrong cable settings in the sweep
tester.

In the first curve, the wrong cable is selected, while in the second curve the right cable is selected.

We see the results of all markers in the summary table below.

Try to recognize how similar the measurements with right cable settings are similar to the actual
distances

Figure 10.a. DTF with wrong cable settings Figure 10.b. DTF with right cable settings

Marker Actual Distance With wrong Cable settings With right cable settings

M1 1.8 meters 1.94 meters 1.8 meters

M2 2.85 meters 3.08 meters 2.91 meters

M3 8.05 meters 8.78 meters 8.11 meters

M4 14.05 meters 15.11 meters 13.93 meters

Table 1. Marker readings of the two DTF curves above

Maximize Sensitivity
Uplink noise can be a serious limiting factor to active DAS systems, degraded Uplink sensitivity can
seriously degrade performance and customer experience as the uplink sensitivity decreases.

1-Baseline Noise Floor Testing

With DAS fully connected and powered on, a base line uplink noise floor measurement should be
conducted for each path between the RAN and DAS Remote(s) for each sector.

This measurement will be utilized as the baseline reference for future adjustments related calibration of
DAS OEM system parameters and settings necessary to maximize uplink sensitivity.

Figure 11. Receiver is connected to measure Noise Floor

Table 2. Measured Noise Floor at each path

2-Final gain/attenuation Settings
The purpose of this step is to make the necessary final gain/attenuation settings adjustments to the DAS
OEM equipment to ensure minimum noise contribution of the DAS while achieving optimal signal levels
at the BTS referenced to Baseline Noise Floor measurements.

This objective shall be accomplished by incrementally turning on each remote unit (measuring and
adjusting system parameters, firmware or hardware to minimize noise contribution upon addition of
each remote). This step shall be repeated until all remote units have been added for that sector.

Figure 12. Receiver is connected during sensitivity adjustments

Table 3. Noise level before and after remote antenna units are added
How can Consultix help?
CW Transmitters
A variety of handheld low-power transmitters and portable high-power transmitters that fit in every test
scenario with models ranging from 60 MHz to 28.6 GHz

CW Receivers
Pocket size receivers with multi-channel scanning capability from 150 MHz to 3.9 GHz and Android
application for measurement collection, floor mapping and exporting.

Sweep Testers & Spectrum analyzer

Compact Cable/antenna Analyzers and Spectrum Analyzers up to 4 GHz; cost-effective and field-friendly.
[Link]