Advanced Techniques for Spurious Measurements with R&S®FSW-K50

Spurious emission search with spectrum analyzers is one of the most demanding measurements in the design, verification and production of RF and microwave devices. RF designers, especially in the aerospace & defense industry need to detect very low level spurs. Very narrow resolution bandwidths are required to measure with a low noise floor, hence increasing measurement time. Even working with very fast spectrum analyzers, a spur search may take several hours or even days.

In this paper we will review the basics of spurious measurements and how the parameters used can affect the detection performance. A new technique as used in the R&S®FSW-K50 spurious measurement application which makes spurious search faster and easier to configure.