Search Application Notes & Cards
Learn how to configure Rohde & Schwarz products to fit your application. Search our database by product, technology, or application to find relevant technical documents.
Search Application Notes & Cards
Learn how to configure Rohde & Schwarz products to fit your application. Search our database by product, technology, or application to find relevant technical documents.
1104 Results
This application note demonstrates the use of the Measurement Receiver to calibrate the signal output level of a Signal Generator.Calibration in this application is a two-step process.► The absolute output level of the signal source, at a fixed level, is measured using a thermal power sensor (e.g. NRP50T), which in turn outputs its reading to the FSMR.► Output power calibration over a wider dynamic range (to lower power) is performed by connecting the FSMR to the signal source directly, and sweeping the power of the signal source.The FSMR offers a nominal total measurement uncertainty of <0.015 dB +/- 0.005 dB per 10dB step. At 1GHz, the power measurement range covers -152 dBm to +30 dBm. It is this intrinsic linearity, that the accuracy of the calibration relies upon.Absolute power measurement uncertainty, for the NRP50T thermal power sensor used in this Application Note, is 0.040 dB to 0.143 dB.This process may be repeated at multiple frequencies. Calibration values are automatically stored and managed by the FSMR. Measurement frequencies for calibrations are stored, will be automatically recalled by the FSMR, by re-selection of those frequencies.
31-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1SL377
The new IP connection security analysis solution for the R&S®CMW500 platform identifies IoT and mobile communications devices’ IP connection vulnerabilities in an early stage of development.
04-Apr-2017
Noise figure is an important parameter that describes the noise contribution of an electronic device. A classical approach to measure the noise figure is to use a noise source which delivers two different input noise powers by switching between a “hot” and a “cold” state and a noise receiver (e.g. a spectrum analyzer).In contrast to this approach, using a vector network analyzer with the “Cold Source” approach eliminates the need for a noise source. A cold source noise power measurement followed by an available gain measurement of the device under test is sufficient to determine the noise figure of the device. This application note describes the “Cold Source” technique for measuring noise figure on the R&S®ZNA family of vector network analyzers.Background equations are provided for an analysis of noise factor, noise figure and noise temperature on a device under test and a cascade of devices.Based on a measurement example the user will be guided through the process of setting up a noise figure channel and performing a noise figure measurement. In addition, various measurement options are reviewed, providing guidance as to when and how each option should be utilized to improve the noise figure results.
23-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1SL378
A new phase noise test instrument covers the frequency range from 1 MHz to 50 GHz with direct down-conversion analog I/Q mixers and baseband signal sampling. The traditional PLL has been replaced by a digital FM demodulator for phase detection and frequency tracking. An additional AM demodulator enables concurrent measurement of phase and amplitude noise. The instrument can measure phase noise as low as -183 dBc/Hz with a 100 MHz carrier frequency and 10 kHz offset within two minutes.
09-May-2016
As part of Release 13, 3GPP has specified a new radio interface, the Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIoT). NB-IoT is optimized for machine type traffic. It is kept as simple as possible in order to reduce device costs and to minimize battery consumption. In addition, it is also adapted to work in difficult radio conditions, which is a frequent operational area for certain machine type communication devices. Although NBIoT is an independent radio interface, it is tightly connected with LTE, which also shows up in its integration in the current LTE specifications.In this whitepaper we introduce the NB-IoT technology with an emphasis on the tight connection to LTE.
08-Aug-2016 | AN-No. 1MA266
The introduction of the transmission of compressed TV signals to MPEG2 and DVB for cable, satellite and terrestrial (COFDM) lead to the creation of many abbreviations that have to be explained to the “uninitiated”. In the previous three lines, three abbreviations whose meanings are not obvious have already been mentioned. A table explaining what these abbreviations mean is therefore essential.
20-Jul-2001 | AN-No. 7BM27
This application notes describes remote operation or monitoring of the spectrum analyzers R&S® FSL3, R&S® FSL6, R&S® FSL18 through a standard web browser. The common cross-platform technology Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is used as a server on the instrument.
07-Jan-2009 | AN-No. 1EF66
This white paper summarizes significant additional technology components based on LTE, which are included in 3GPP Release 12 specifications. The LTE technology as specified within 3GPP Release 8 was first commercially deployed by end 2009. Since then the number of commercial networks is strongly increasing around the globe. LTE has become the fastest developing mobile system technology ever. As other cellular technologies LTE is continuously worked on in terms of improvements. 3GPP groups added technology components according to so called releases. Initial enhancements were included in 3GPP Release 9, followed by more significant improvements in 3GPP Release 10, also known as LTE-Advanced. Beyond Release 10 a number of different market terms have been used. However 3GPP reaffirmed that the naming for the technology family and its evolution continues to be covered by the term LTE-Advanced. Therefore LTE-Advanced remains the correct description for specifications defined from Release 10 onwards, including 3GPP Release 12.
04-Aug-2015 | AN-No. 1MA252
All digital oscilloscopes are temporarily blind. During this blind time the user will miss critical signal events at his device under test. Thus, it is necessary to understand the impact of blind time to the measurement. This application note explains the background of blind time and points out why a high acquisition rate is important. It furthermore explains the R&S RTO oscilloscope capabilities and how they help for faster debugging, measurement and analysis.
17-May-2011 | AN-No. 1ER02
This document describes the adaptive frequency hopping mechanism for improved signaling performance in Bluetooth Basic Rate and Enhanced Data Rate devices.The R&S CMW provides this feature for remote operation in TX, Loopback and Connection test mode. Thereby the R&S CMW acts as a master, while the Equipment under Test (EUT) represents the slave(s) of the piconet.
14-Dec-2016 | AN-No. 1C108
Nearly all tests in accordance with the Bluetooth low energy test specification V4.0 [1] can be performed using the R&S®CBT alone. Some tests additionally call for signal generators to provide interference signals. This application note describes the tests performed with additional equipment and presents straightforward solutions based on the R&S®CBTgo software.
18-Jul-2013 | AN-No. 1MA200
This document provides some technical background and guidance on how to optimize the measurement of one of the key performance parameters of WLAN transmitters - the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM).
IEEE 802.11be Extremely High Throughput (EHT), also known as Wi-Fi 7, is the latest amendment of the IEEE 802.11 standard and is still under development. This amendment focuses mainly on improved throughput. To do so, the most notable changes currently implemented are:► New modulation scheme: 4096-QAM (4K-QAM)► Larger bandwidth: 320 MHz► Support for 16x16 MU-MIMO► Enhanced resource allocation in OFDMAThis places special demands on the measurement equipment.
06-Sep-2022 | AN-No. 1EF114
Welcome to our short video tutorials on how to test radars using Rohde & Schwarz test equipment. Access to most information about radar is pretty restricted, as many radar applications are military or secretive industrial research. To show you some basic Radar tests we have created RADAR demo tools, which functions at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, which is in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical band. So we can even perform our tests in unshielded rooms. The frequencies are also used by radar operating in the ITU "S"-band from 2.3 to 2.5 GHz for air traffic control, weather and marine radar. The videos are suitable for 'from-the-scratch' introduction of R&S RADAR test equipment. They can also be used for plain introduction to the RADAR principle.
03-Feb-2014 | AN-No. 1MA209
Offering bandwidths up to 160 MHz, the signal generators and analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz are ideal for testing IEEE 802.11ac signals
27-Jun-2013
The R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator has the outstanding ability to simultaneously generate up to eight independent signals from a single instrument. The advanced multi-channel architecture allows realizing even complex applications like MSR, carrier aggregation, MIMO or enhanced interference scenarios with a minimum of effort.This application note gives an overview of common multi-channel application examples and how to equip the Rohde & Schwarz signal generator R&S®SMW200A appropriately.
12-Mar-2018 | AN-No. 1GP106
The Doherty Amplifier continues to be rolled out in an increasing number of TxFE (Transmit Frontend) applications, as the quasi-linear amplifier architecture of choice.The advent of 5G, with its inevitable microwave or millimeter wave air interface, increase the design challenges associated with its construction; not least of all because of the potential for increased dispersion in the constituent amplifiers and combiners.This application note describes a measurement-based development methodology by which the Doherty Amplifier may be enhanced, increasing performance and/or performance bandwidth. This methodology is supported with a working example.The methodology may also be extended to balanced, spatially combined and anti-phase (so called "pushpull" or "differential") amplifiers, the latter often itself nested in Doherty configurations.The R&S®Quickstep sequencing software may be downloaded from:
26-Sep-2016 | AN-No. 1MA279
The R&S®RTO / R&S®RTE oscilloscope is a valuable tool for analyzing EMI problems in electronic designs. High input sensitivity, high dynamic range and a powerful FFT implementation are key features for capturing and analyzing unwanted emissions.
26-Feb-2015
Nearly all tests in accordance with the test specification* can be performed with the R&S® CMU200/CBT alone. Some tests additionally call for signal generators to provide interference signals and also require spectrum analyzers. This application note describes the tests performed with additional equipment and presents straightforward solutions based on the CBTgo software.
06-Mar-2013 | AN-No. 1MA106
Data rates in the range of several Gigabit/s are needed to transmit signals like uncompressed video signals. Amendment 802.11ad to the WLAN standard defines the MAC and PHY layers for very high throughput (VHT) in the 60 GHz range. The specification 802.11-2016 has defined additional modulation and codings schemes for the 11ad single carrier part to increase the data rate. The OFDM part is obsolete.This white paper provides an introduction to the technology behind 802.11ad and highlights the test and measurement requirements.
21-Nov-2013 | AN-No. 1MA220
Timing components such as low jitter oscillators and clocks are necessary to facilitate increasing data rates in high speed digital designs. As part of the overall system design, the components also have to perform in the system’s non-ideal power integrity environment and limit the power supply induced phase noise and jitter from power rail disturbances. Measuring the power supply noise rejection (PSNR) requires accurate generation and leveling of artificial, sinusoidal disturbances and measurement of resulting phase-noise and jitter impairments.
30-Sep-2020
EW receiver mission data files can contain hundreds of emitters with thousands of modes and beams that must be tested by simulation at RF. Often, these emitters, their modes and beams are listed on intelligence databases and must be imported from a spreadsheet into to an emitter simulation application such as the R&S®Pulse Sequencer software. For this purpose, the R&S®Pulse Sequencer software offers an internal script editor which allows to import user data and automatically generate emitter, sequence or platform configurations that can then immediately be played into RF without any additional software. Furthermore, the R&S®Pulse Sequencer offers a SCPI recorder tool to collect manual entries during scenario data creation into a list of corresponding SCPI commands. This list of commands can easily be used to create user defined scripts that can either run in the internal script editor or an external software (e.g. Matlab, Python).
01-Jul-2021 | AN-No. 1GP131
In addition to the generic edge trigger, modern oscilloscopes offer triggers that are specialized to address specific problems.
04-Jan-2016
Integrated end-to-end data solution with IP traffic analysis and protocol statistics allows detailed analysis of data traffic generated by IoT and mobile devices.
06-Jun-2017
Balanced RF components are advantageous compared to traditional single-ended components, since they cause less EMI, and are less susceptible to EMI. This application note describes the fundamental concepts of differential and common mode signals and of mixed-mode parameters, which are essential for balanced components. Techniques for the measurement of mixed-mode parameters are presented. Examples show the features implemented in the ZVB for balanced device measurement.
20-Sep-2004 | AN-No. 1EZ53
The required bandwidth span for power amplifiers is growing, driven by the latest 5G and satellite enhancements.Ideally, amplifiers support multiple bands. This makes wideband testing more essential than ever before.
19-May-2020
Primer
A power sensor is a fundamental measurement tool in RF engineering. However, today's marketplace is filled with myriad choices, and many are making bold claims about attributes such as measurement speed and readings per second. As a result, it can be difficult to cut through the hyperbole and determine which sensor will actually meet the requirements of a specific measurement.This primer outlines the basics of RF power sensors and highlights a few key characteristics that will help you select the best one for each application. The narrative has three parts. First, we focus on choosing the right type of sensor: multipath, wideband, average power and thermal can satisfy slightly different measurement needs. The second section covers the five major attributes of sensor performance, and what to look for relative to your requirements. Finally, we outline three ways to integrate a sensor into your measurement application.
26-May-2021
This application note describes how to measure the antenna pattern of a mm-Wave device in the R&S®ATS1000 shielded chamber. This includes the required calibration of the measurement setup and a possible near field to far field transformation when measuring larger devices.
28-May-2018 | AN-No. 1MA304
This document describes the typical measurements performed on mixers and how they can be implemented on the ZVA Vector Network Analyzer with the ZVA-K4 Frequency Conversion option. The document describes the concept and setups required to perform Conversion Loss, Isolation, Intermodulation and Reflection measurements.
06-May-2009 | AN-No. 1EZ58
Spectrum scans are beneficial for many use-cases such as troubleshooting, interference detection and interference hunting, or verification tasks like scheduler verification or other engineering tasks. A time-gated spectrum scan, which is a power spectrum scan which applies a time gate on uplink/downlink slots/symbols and/or the guard period reveals even more details in uplink/downlink or guard period power spectrum. This allows to focus on the uplink / downlink or guard period power spectrum in 5G NR TDD networks. This educational note explains use cases for spectrum measurements, the complexity in 5G TDD and its technology basics, and which problems can be solved with the described solution. The software used is R&S®ROMES4 together with a R&S®TSMx6 drive and walk test scanner.
21-Sep-2023 | AN-No. 8NT08
This application notes introduces the Multi-Standard Radio Analyzer function of the R&S®FSW and shows how it performs the measurement on multi-standard radio transmitters. It reveals interactions caused by the coexistence of signals of different cellular standards and localizes the root cause. With an example of a base station signal consisting of three radio access technologies (GSM/WCDMA/LTE FDD) it shows how easy interactions can be found. The R&S®FSW is the ideal tool for trouble shooting tasks with its combination of a large bandwidth and the versatile Multi-Standard Radio Analyzer in one measurement instrument.
17-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1EF83