In general, most of the existing electronic devices are connected to the AC mains and require a power conversion stage to convert the AC-Voltage to a smaller DC-Voltage. Voltages and frequencies of the power grid differ between different regions. However, different types of AC-DC conversion stages exist to supply the electronic equipment with adequate DC-power.In AC-DC conversion combined with power levels less than 50W, the flyback converter is a commonplace chosen topology because of its simplicity and its low cost. The majority of consumer products make use of this converter type like wall brick power supplies or power adapters for any consumer application and other type of stand-by auxiliary power supply like used in white and brown goods. In AC to DC converter application, an electrical isolation between input and output is mandatory. The flyback topology provides this galvanic barrier.Beside the common advantages of a flyback converter, it has inherently parasitic components, which typically produce ringing waveforms with considerably high voltage spikes. Without suppressing this unwanted ringing, it may have some negative effect on other components like the switching elements. This ringing can also influence the EMI emissions adversely. Therefore, it is an important task to adequate suppress and damp the ringing effect. This damping circuit is known as snubber circuit and provides this functionality. In the flyback converter, different snubber structures can be applied and each of the structure has its advantage and disadvantage.The demand having a snubber circuit in the power supply topology leads to specific verification methods during the design to obtain a proper and reliable design. These verification methods are the main focus of the discussions within this document.

23-Jun-2021 | AN-No. 1SL363

5G is the fifth generation of wireless communication technology supporting cellular networks. From GSM (2G) through to LTE (4G), each generation addresses technical challenges not overcome by its predecessor. As with previous generations, 5G requires new mobile devices and new base stations (BTS).Unlike previous generations, the use of radio beams in 5G requires completely new approaches with regard to the compliance, coverage, and quality of service testing.The new air interface is called 5G NR ("new radio"). This application note describes the measurement challenges of 5G NR and makes clear the benefits of using a monitoring receiver for measuring 5G signals.Real-world examples explain how to perform various key 5G measurements. The final section covers further 5G measurement possibilities using R&S products. "Over-the-air" (OTA) measurements are essential in 5G. This means staff from regulators and operators must work in unknown radio environments that vary according to location (e.g. urban or suburban) and mission (e.g. 5G BTS compliance testing or interference hunting). Measurement equipment must operate in a wide range of scenarios (close to the mast and far from the mast) and offer user-friendly functionality that enables the required measurements.Considering current global deployment trends, this paper focuses on the FR1 frequency band (sub 6 GHz).

07-Jun-2021 | AN-No. 1SL366

This application Note is based on CMW500, SMBV100B and Vector CANoe.Car2x Software and guides to how to simulate the specific Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) wireless environment in respect to road transport scenarios and transmitted messages around the Device Under Test (DUT) like a Telematics Control Unit (TCU). It shows how to verify and validate the C-V2X application of the DUT in laboratory environment. The virtual simulation scenario is not limited to the requirements of CSAE53-2017 specification, and it could be modified by user according to this operating guide with CANoe.Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) is a new generation of information and communications technologies that connect vehicles to everything. The objective of V2X is to increase road safety and manage traffic efficiently.C-V2X is designed to offer low-latency vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-roadside infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communications services to add a new dimension to future advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). C-V2X as one communications standard defined by 3GPP in Release 14 uses LTE technology as the physical interface for communications. The standard describes two types of communications. The vehicle-to-network (V2N) communications type, exploits the cellular Uu interface, uses traditional cellular link to enable cloud services to be integrated into end-to-end solutions, e.g. to allow road and traffic information for a given area to be distributed to the vehicles.The second type is referred to as direct or PC5/Sidelink (V2V, V2I, V2P) communications, where data transmission takes place over the PC5 interface. In that type, C-V2X does not necessarily require a cellular network infrastructure. It can operate without a SIM and without network assistance and uses GNSS as its primary source for time synchronization.Verifying system functionality and performance exclusively by field testing in a real-world environment can be time-consuming, costly and very challenging. Requirements regarding functionality, and consequently the required assistance functions, are constantly changing. Due to this fact, test solutions are needed during the development and introduction phase to verify compliance with the standards. The PC5 direct communications type allows exchange of time sensitive and safety relevant information. Using a mobile communication tester like the R&S® CMW500 together with a C-V2X scenario simulation tool delivers reproducible test scenarios. This is essential for the standardization of verification processes for C-V2X in order to obtain reliable and comparable results, and it helps to demonstrate that end-to-end functionality between two C-V2X devices from different vendors works properly.

02-Jun-2021 | AN-No. GFM341

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

The test case wizard enables the signal generator to set up all required parameters for conformance testing of 5G NR base stations in no time with just a few clicks.

25-May-2021

The UWB (Ultra-Wide Band) technology is a low power wide-band technology specified for device to device communication.It is an optimal RF positioning technology that enables accurate and secure peerto-peer distance measurement between mobile devices with robust resistance to interference while consuming very low energy and coexisting well with other radio communication systems.This application note describes how to use the UWB measurement functionality provided by R&S®CMP200 radio communication tester to perform HRP UWB PHY measurements for R&D and production purposes.

19-May-2021 | AN-No. GFM362

Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) bridges the gap between communications systems and classic radar systems. Despite the increasing capabilities of mobile communications, SSR remains a major component in airspace surveillance. State-of-the-art methods such as Mode S reply enhance SSR with broadcast-like capabilities and enable airports in remote locations to surveil the airspace even if no radar is available. More advanced techniques such as automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) utilize the infrastructure provided by a Mode S reply transponder to provide even more information for ground control and other aircraft.

17-May-2021

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) uses radar wavelengths for airborne or spaceborne ground mapping. The resolution of the SAR ground map depends on the range and cross-range SAR processing resolution. Cross-range resolution is determined by integrating pulses along a flight path for a period of time to create a synthetic aperture. Longer synthetic apertures result in finer cross-range resolution. Range resolution is achieved by radar waveform bandwidth in the form of a linear frequency modulated (LFM) chirp. Wider bandwidth enables finer range resolution.

16-Apr-2021

This document provides information on how to perform manual testing based on current R&S TA-TRS QuickStep V4.05 platform in order to adapt to the new released EN 303 345 for broadcast sound receivers. It serves as a bridged document before new standard software package released by R&S for upgrade.

14-Apr-2021

This application note describes Methods of Implementations (MOI) for precise, fast and error-free compliance testing of high-speed backplanes and direct attach copper cables (DAC) according to InfiniBand EDR and HDR specifications, based on 25 Gb/s and 50 Gb/s signaling per lane with vector network analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz.

07-Apr-2021 | AN-No. GFM357

This application note describes Methods of Implementations (MOI) for precise, fast and error-free compliance testing of high-speed backplanes and direct attach copper cables (DAC) according to IEEE 802.3bj, IEEE 802.3by, IEEE 802.3cd and IEEE 802.3ck, based on 25 Gb/s, 50 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s signaling per lane with vector network analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz.

07-Apr-2021 | AN-No. GFM356

Analyzing high speed datacom interfaces is an important task and ensures signal integrity. One major challenge of this analysis is the connection between the physical interface and the oscilloscope, as most of the datacom interfaces do not provide test connections suitable for RF. A test fixture is required as a bridge between the high speed datacom IF and the RF connector of the oscilloscope, but this will affect the signal integrity measurement. The R&S®RTP and R&S®RTO2000 oscilloscopes with the advanced jitter option can analyze and separate jitter contributions. Additionally, the option can evaluate the impact of test fixtures and traces inherently and give the user a good understanding of the impact of their test setup.

31-Mar-2021

This application note introduces the reader to the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition project and their special demands for the electrical drive train. Common motor technology like brushless motors and their typical control methods widely used in the industry are also discussed within this document.However, the main focus of this paper is a demonstration of a power measurement method of a three-phase inverter by means of a 4-channel oscilloscope. Not only the theory of the power measurement is presented but also the conducted measurement is presented including tips and tricks to obtain the best measurement results.The measurement solution provided by Rohde & Schwarz was mandatory for the TUM Hyperloop team to overcome challenges in optimization of the electrical drive train used in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition project.Many thanks to Mr. Johannes Ungar and Faruk Centinkaya (TUM Hyperloop) for contributing significantly to this application note. By combining their expertise in electrical drive trains used in the Hyperloop Project and with a Test & Measurement solution from Rohde & Schwarz, we have achieved synergies that will be beneficial for any design and test engineers in the industry.

31-Mar-2021 | AN-No. GFM360

This application note belongs to a series of application notes which explains how to test EW receivers at RF in the lab with commercial, off-the-shelf signal generators and software. The series will cover all relevant use cases. This application note will discuss threat simulation and verification. Further application notes will address calibration and verification of multi-channel setups for simulation of angle of arrival, generation of radar signals in a hardware in the loop (HIL) environment with PDW Streaming, and automated threat creation and sequencing.

23-Mar-2021 | AN-No. 1GP123

From designing a test setup to performing accurate measurements

Double-Pulse testing is a standard test-method used in power electronics design. Accurate measurements require a careful design of the test setup and the selection of the right measurement instruments. This application note discusses important aspects of double-pulse test setups as well as how to perform accurate measurements.

22-Mar-2021 | AN-No. GFM347

Phase difference is the key parameter when characterizing direction finding (DF) scenarios. To analyze DF equipment, the phase difference needs to be determined before measuring other parameters such as the bearing. The R&S®VSE-K6A multichannel pulse analysis software in combination with a Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscope provides phase difference measurements even in challenging environments, utilizing the test equipment’s advanced trigger capabilities.

02-Mar-2021

Source measure units R&S®NGU401 and R&S®NGU201 are capable of precise current measurements from sub-microampere up to ampere. This application note provides a tool which generates a voltage or current sweep using the arbitrary function of the instruments. A fast log captures voltage and current values during the sweep. Subsequently the application program determines the voltage and current value for each sweep step and plots the results in an I-V curve .The tool can be utilized to characterize all kinds of two-pole devices like diodes, LEDs and solar panels.This application note can also be used in connection with DC power supplies R&S®NGM201 and R&S®NGM202.

15-Feb-2021 | AN-No. 1GP129

Oscilloscopes are increasingly used to analyze pulsed signals such as radar signals for aerospace and defence as well as automotive applications. The oscilloscopes’ wide analysis bandwidth and manifold trigger capabilities, make them a good fit for the increasing demand for higher bandwidths and accurate signal detection in these applications. R&S®VSE vector signal explorer software is a powerful tool for comprehensive analysis of a variety of signals, providing full support to the Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscope advanced trigger system. Adjusting the trigger settings enables pulses and pulse sequences to be isolated and run full pulse analysis using the R&S®VSE vector signal explorer software.

03-Feb-2021

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

Development of modern EW systems is a complex and expensive process, that requires thorough testing against all requirements during all phases of development. To keep cost under control, system level testing in the lab is key and brings several advantages: test cases can be reproduced under the exact same conditions as often as necessary. System level testing in the lab is often performed in a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environment. This application note provides some insight into generating radar signals for hardware-in-the-loop testing with the R&S®SMW200A. An introduction to HIL testing and realtime operation of the R&S®SMW200A is given. The hardware and software interface, the PDW format and synchronization and timing mechanisms are described. Additionally, various example scenarios and detailed information about intermediate calculations are provided. The application note also provides information about system requirements for advanced PDW streaming with multiple emitters on multiple parallel streams.

22-Jan-2021 | AN-No. 1GP124

From the expert’s desk

15-Jan-2021

Performing precompliance measurements on power supplies requires using a line impedance stabilization network (LISN) for results that can be compared to limit values. While LISNs are standard in any precompliance lab, often no LISN is available for early R&D testing. If high accuracy is not your goal and you just need a simple tool for debugging, you can build your own LISN. Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscopes with powerful FFT analysis, are ideal for optimizing EMI filters or debugging unwanted emissions during development.

14-Jan-2021

based on SCPI command sequences

MINX – the Measurement Instrument Network eXplorer – is a fast, non-invasive discovery and configuration software from Rohde & Schwarz for LAN and USB T&M instruments.Agnostic of instrument model or manufacturer, MINX provides an intuitive graphical user interface with access to powerful configuration, control, results collection and remote display functions.Test or research engineers can quickly setup a collection of instruments to initialise, measure and download results. Universities can configure and manage many instruments together, copying instruments and saving class setups.Besides these core functions, MINX provides an extension mechanism making even more sophisticated instrument operations available by just the click of a single button. Such extended functions are SCPI-based command sequences which can be added by the user on a per-instrument basis and require no software update.This application note describes the different kind of extendable function groups. It will be pointed out how extended functions can be added or edited and which format the script must comply in order to get directly available in MINX.

12-Jan-2021 | AN-No. GFM344

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

Analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) have taken giant steps in speed and accuracy over the past years: Such devices allow high-speed video processing and even software defined radio (SDR) applications, where digitization is being performed at ever-higher intermediate frequencies (IF). This has clearly raised the bar for ADC test equipment, especially regarding the noise performance of the analog input signal and sample clock sources used in the test setup. The R&S®SMA100B offers outputs for the analog input signal of the ADC as well as the clock input signal in one single instrument - both with outstanding signal purity.

11-Jan-2021 | AN-No. 1GP66

A simple concept with Azure IoT

Cloud development, microservice architectures and container virtualization are becoming more and more standard. Software components are repacked into containers, networked with each other and then brought into the cloud. The topic is also becoming increasingly interesting for test & measurement.But how do you connect your existing measurement equipment to the cloud, with instruments in some cases not even having an internet connection?This document describes an approach how to establish a remote connection between the instrument and the cloud using an IoT broker. The implementation is done using an Azure IoT Hub and software in .NET Core.

15-Dec-2020 | AN-No. GFM319

This document describes Bluetooth Low Energy RF over-the-air RX and TX measurements using advertising channels for communication with Bluetooth Low Energy devices.With the R&S®CMW-KD611 software option, the R&S CMW tester is able to perform a large number of Bluetooth Low Energy RF tests without operating in the Direct Test Mode.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.

14-Dec-2020 | AN-No. 1C109

High-precision two-quadrant power supplies generate current profiles and simulate batteries

10-Dec-2020

Filter tuning was never easier and faster. SynMatrix advanced computer-aided tuning enables real time filter optimization in an easy guided process using the R&S®ZNB vector network analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz. The SynMatrix solution offers a feature-rich GUI for R&D and lab use, as well as a simplified version for production applications.

03-Dec-2020

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