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.
76 Results
Active, high-impedance probes can be connected to spectrum analyzers, providing a practical and highly precise measurement solution to overcome an otherwise cumbersome RF testing issue. This application note provides information on how to use oscilloscope probes in RF measurements using spectrum analyzers.
04-Jul-2023 | AN-No. 1EF116
Software tool for fast and repeatable optimization of signal analyzer RF front-end settings
The signal conditioning in the RF front-end of signal analyzers is crucial to achieve the best performance with respect to image-suppression, noise-floor, dynamic range and other RF-key parameters.Precise signal levelling is especially important for complex measurements like Error-Vector-Magnitude (EVM). To minimize the measurement uncertainty from test system contributions over a wide range of different levels, the RF front-end needs to be adapted continuously according to the signal characteristics, signal power and frequency - ideally using an automatic levelling algorithm.This document describes the approach of a waveform specific, on-site characterization of the signal analyzer: For each waveform and frequency of interest, the instrument is evaluated in a first step. With this additional data, a fast and repeatable auto-levelling can be performed during the actual measurement.
24-Jan-2022 | AN-No. 1EF111
conducted conformance testing according to TS 38.141-1, Rel. 16
3GPP defines the Radio Frequency (RF) conformance test methods and requirements for 5G NR Base Stations (BS) in the technical specifications TS 38.141. This application note describes how all mandatory RF transmitter tests (TS 38.141-1, chapter 6), according to Release 16, can be performed quickly and conveniently with signal or spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz by either choosing manual operation or a remote control approach. Moreover, some test cases require additional signal generation equipment from Rohde & Schwarz.In Addition, a new Python software library comes with this application note to enable the remote control approach of base station testing. This example requires the RsInstrument module which can be found on pypi.org or installed via 'pip' and is provided as is.
27-Jan-2021 | AN-No. GFM313
In this day and age of internet of things, more and more devices are connected to the local network, making it even more difficult for the IT department to monitor them. Rohde & Schwarz instruments are also increasingly accessed via their LAN interface, which provides additional convenience features such as remote desktop, SMB file transfer or a web interface. To make it easier to monitor the use and status of instruments, some devices offer a software option, the Health and Utilization Monitoring Service (HUMS).HUMS can be accessed via SNMP and REST (HTTP) and provides all necessary information about the health status and utilization over time in many details.This application note describes how to access HUMS and what data is provided.
11-Jan-2021 | AN-No. GFM336
conducted conformance testing according to TS 38.141-1, Rel. 15
3GPP defines the Radio Frequency (RF) conformance test methods and requirements for 5G NR Base Stations (BS) in the technical specifications TS 38.141. This application note describes how all mandatory RF receiver tests (TS 38.141-1, chapter 7), according to Release 15, can be performed quickly and conveniently with signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz by either choosing manual operation or a remote control approach. Moreover, one test case requires a signal or spectrum analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz which is highlighted seperately in the corresponding chapter.In Addition, a new Python software library comes with this application note to enable the remote control approach of base station testing. This example requires the RsInstrument module which can be found on pypi.org or installed via 'pip' and is provided as is.
02-Dec-2020 | AN-No. GFM314
radiated conformance testing according to TS 38.141-2, Rel. 16
3GPP defines the Radio Frequency (RF) conformance test methods and requirements for 5G NR Base Stations (BS) in the technical specifications TS 38.141. This application note describes all mandatory RF receiver tests (TS 38.141-2, chapter 7), according to Release 16.Furthermore, this document provides a brief introduction about the different R&S OTA antenna test solutions and how they are applicable for base station conformance testing. Rohde & Schwarz offers suitable solutions for any test case that is mentioned in this application note.
30-Jun-2020 | AN-No. GFM325
R&S®VISA is a standardized software library that allows fast communications over diverse interfaces with a wide variety of T&M instruments that are detected on the network from PC applications. R&S®VISA also includes a trace tool that simultaneously monitors communications between multiple applications and T&M instruments, and permits targeted analysis with the aid of efficient filters.
26-May-2020 | AN-No. 1DC02
The document gives an overview and user guide about a link budget calculator for the main components of a basic OTA system. The calculator shall guide the user to plan link budgets, especially with respect to SNR requirements for the receive components and the vector signal analyzer. An Excel sheet containing the Link Budget Calculator accompanies the application note.
19-Mar-2019 | AN-No. 1EF104
The ARB Toolbox is an easy-to-use, feature packed software package that is used for many ARB waveform related tasks. Use this software for creating ARB waveform files from custom IQ data; import data from MATLAB .mat files; evaluate waveform content graphically; resample or filter waveforms; create analog modulated signals as ARB files; edit marker data in waveform files; use the composer for the creation of complex multi carrier scanarios.
13-Dec-2018 | AN-No. 1GP88
Miloslav Macko 1MA196 1MA196, Forum, Instrument, Remote, Control, Python, R&S Forum, RS Forum, R&SForum, RSForum R&S®Forum for Instrument Remote Control Using R&S®Forum Application for Instrument Remote Control Miloslav Macko 1MA196 1MA196, Forum, Instrument, Remote, Control, Python, R&S Forum, RS Forum, R&SForum, RSForum R&S®Forum for Instrument Remote Control Related products
28-Jun-2018 | AN-No. 1MA196
Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & Schwarz Instruments
RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz spectrum-, network analyzers, signal generators and oscilloscopes. It allows for automatic instrument discovery, making screenshots, reading traces, file transfer and simple script creation.
24-Dec-2017 | AN-No. 1MA074
Starting from June 2017, almost all radio transmitters and receivers sold or put into operation in the European Union have to be tested for immunity against interferers in adjacent frequency bands. ETSI standard EN 303 340 defines the tests to be performed on digital television receivers and requirements to be passed.This application note describes the test procedures and provides save-recall files and interferer signals for the Broadcast Test Center R&S®BTC.
11-Jul-2017 | AN-No. 1GP116
The Internet of Things (IoT) is considered the driving force of current and future wireless communications. In release 13, 3GPP has specified Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) as a new physical layer. This application note gives a short introduction to NB-IoT and shows the easy measurements with Rohde & Schwarz instruments.
30-Jun-2017 | AN-No. 1MA296
More and more everyday items such as household appliances, vehicles, lights, etc. are now connected to the Internet, forming what is known as the "Internet of Things". Even clothing with sewn-in sensors to measure vital functions can now connect to the Internet and transmit data to cloud services. These different things use a variety of wireless technology standards to establish a connection. Due to its popularity, one of the most important standards is Bluetooth (or Bluetooth Low Energy). Before a new product with Bluetooth functionality can be launched, the qualification process defined by the Bluetooth SIG must be successfully completed. To save time and money, performance tests need to be performed in the development stage. This application note describes how to use the R&S CMW platform to perform the measurements defined in Bluetooth test specification version 5. As an alternative solution, we also cover how to perform almost all of the measurements with a spectrum analyzer and signal generator.The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Rohde & Schwarz is under license.
19-Jun-2017 | AN-No. 1MA282
This application note outlines two different approaches for remote-controlling Rohde & Schwarz instruments out of MathWorks MATLAB:The first one uses VISA connection and direct SCPI commands.The second approach takes advantage of Rohde & Schwarz VXI plug&play instrument drivers and MATLAB Instrument Control Toolbox.
12-Jun-2017 | AN-No. 1MA171
Rapid and accurate verification of beamforming weights is required for example, for codebook generation or beamforming algorithm development or verification. This document describes the unique application of Rohde & Schwarz VNA (Vector Network Analyzers) to fully characterize the passive part of multi-element antennas intended for beamforming.A range of R&S VNA models are optionally equipped with multiple independent sources, whose relative amplitude and phase may be arbitrarily controlled ("defined coherence mode"), in addition to frequency and true time delay. These sources may be connected to individual elements of a multi-element antenna to derive and verify transmit (Tx) mode beamsteering and beamforming operation.The R&S®ZVA in "Defined Coherence Mode" can electronically be switched to / from the conventional S-parameter mode. Therefore, Sparameter and beamforming measurements may be performed efficiently within a single connection cycle of the antenna.Multiple VNA may be daisy-chained, to extend the concept shown to support an arbitrary number of ports.The R&S®Quickstep sequencing software may be downloaded from:https://www.rohde-schwarz.com/software/quickstep/
20-Mar-2017 | AN-No. 1MA278
This Application Note gives 10 useful Tips & Tricks for the users of Rohde & Schwarz attribute-based instrument drivers. It is recommended for the first-time LabVIEW users as well as for the experienced programmers.
30-Jan-2017 | AN-No. 1MA228
RF pulse measurements, to characterize the signal in the frequency domain, are traditionally carried out on an RF spectrum analyzer. For time related pulse parameters, oscilloscopes are widely used. However, the measurement capabilities of state of the art test and measurement equipment has evolved over time and crosses domains. With a combination of R&S®RTO digital oscilloscope and dedicated pulse analysis software R&S®VSE-K6, pulse signals can be analyzed in both domains, frequency and time.The R&S®RTO digital oscilloscopes are unique in that they allow output of I/Q data for processing. This application note focusses on signal measurement using this instrument.Analysis of an L-/S-band ATC RADAR utilizing the R&S®RTO2044 oscilloscope running Vector Signal Explorer Software R&S®VSE and Pulse Analysis personality R&S®VSE-K6 is followed by measurements on an X-band RADAR utilizing R&S®FSW, R&S®FPS, R&S®FSV or FSVA signal & spectrum analyzers with the same dedicated R&S®VSE-K6 software.
18-Oct-2016 | AN-No. 1MA249
LTE is under continuous development. Release 10 (LTE-Advanced) introduced carrier aggregation (CA) as the primary enhancement. Releases 11 and 12 add several new components to LTE. Some are enhancements to existing features (such as improvements to CA), while others are completely new concepts, such as coordinated multipoint (CoMP).This application note summarizes the Rohde & Schwarz test solutions for LTE-Advanced according to Releases 11 and 12 using vector signal generators, signal and spectrum analyzers and the wideband radio communication tester.
14-Jul-2016 | AN-No. 1MA272
3GPP TS36.141 defines conformance tests for EUTRA base stations (eNodeB). Release 14 added several tests, especially for enhanced License Assisted Access (eLAA).This application note describes how all required receiver (Rx) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 7) can be performed quickly and easily by using vector signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz. A few tests additionally require spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz.Examples illustrate the manual operation. A free software program enables and demonstrates remote operation.The LTE base station transmitter (Tx) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 6) are described in Application Note 1MA154.The LTE base station performance (Px) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 8) are described in Application Note 1MA162.
11-May-2016 | AN-No. 1MA195
3GPP TS36.141 defines conformance tests for EUTRA base stations (eNodeB). Release 14 added several tests, especially for enhanced License Assisted Accsess (eLAA).This application note describes how all required transmitter (Tx) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 6) can be performed quickly and easily by using signal and spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz. A few tests additionally require signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz.Examples illustrate the manual operation. A free software program enables and demonstrates remote operation.The LTE base station receiver (Rx) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 7) are described in Application Note 1MA195.The LTE base station performance (Px) tests (TS36.141 Chapter 8) are described in Application Note 1MA162.
11-May-2016 | AN-No. 1MA154
This Application Note gives a short overview how signals with two different modulation schemes can be analyzed using the R&S®FSW (or R&S®FPS) using its Multi-Standard-Radio-Analyzer (MSRA) and Vector Signal Analysis personality. The Application Note focuses on DVB-S2(X) signals, but the approach may be used for similar signals as well, as e.g. used in microwave backhaul links.The Application Note also provides a software tool that automates the configuration and provides the variety of different constellations that are used within DVB-S2(X).
18-Apr-2016 | AN-No. 1EF93
This application note describes the configuration of a Miracast wireless video transmission system and how to measure the delay times between a smart phone or tablet (source) and a television / monitor (sink) display. The accompanying software for Windows 7/8/10, Mac OS X 10.x and MATLAB additionally allows to measure the delay until the video signal is transmitted over the air and optionally until it is available on the HDMI cable of an external Miracast receiver.
01-Oct-2015 | AN-No. 1MA250
This application note explains how to convert different Rohde & Schwarz I/Q file formats among each other using the supplied software tool.
23-Sep-2015 | AN-No. 1EF85
Fading in the baseband of the R&S®SMW200A signal generator is well proven and widely accepted for testing any mobile radio standard. However, there are applications where an RF signal must be faded.A versatile RF Fading Simulator can easily be built using an R&S®FSW, R&S®FSQ, R&S®FSG, R&S®FSV signal analyzer with Digital Base Band Interface or with the instrument combination R&S®TSMW / R&S®IQR and an R&S®SMU signal generator with digital baseband inputs and fading simulator option. Note describes how.
27-Feb-2015 | AN-No. 1MA145
IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) uses Offset QPSK with a half-sine pulse-shaping filter as modulation. This application note describes how to set up the Rohde & Schwarz signal analyzers together with the corresponding vector signal analysis (VSA) personality for modulation quality measurements, especially EVM, for ZigBee.
12-Dec-2014 | AN-No. 1EF55
Current Radar development is focusing the area of signal processing. This is taken into account by this educational note, where the R&S®SMW / SMBV instruments on the transmitter side and R&S®FSW / FSV instruments on the receiver side are combined to a closed loop Radar system, performing radar detection by means of pulse compression and digital signal processing. Appropriate Rohde & Schwarz sofware tools for such applications are described as well as the interface between the tools and the test instruments. Target reader group are engineering students who want to perform tests using pulsed or chirped signals.
20-Nov-2014 | AN-No. 1MA234
Test time is a critical parameter when it comes to evaluating the cost of test.This application note describes typical spectrum analyzer measurements in production environments and discusses different approaches to speed them up.
17-Nov-2014 | AN-No. 1EF90
This application note introduces the IVI High Speed LAN Instrument Protocol (HiSLIP) and outlines its features. HiSLIP is the successor to the VXI-11 LAN remote control protocol. This document also describes guidelines for using this protocol.
12-Nov-2014 | AN-No. 1MA208
3GPP TS25.141 defines conformance tests for W-CDMA base stations (including HSPA+ features). This application note describes how transmitter (Tx) tests (TS25.141 Chapter 6) can be performed quickly and easily by using signal and spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz. A few tests additionally require vector signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz. Example illustrates manual operation. A free software program enables and demonstrates remote operation. The W-CDMA base station receiver (Rx) tests (TS25.141 Chapter 7) are described in Application Note 1MA114.
21-Oct-2014 | AN-No. 1MA67