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.
1108 Results
R&S®CMWcards is an intuitive and user-friendly software application that makes NB-IoT OTDOA positioning design verification easier than ever.
26-Nov-2018
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
The constantly decreasing size of components and the available board space form a challenge to place adequate test connections for RF instruments. Recent improvements in the availability and use of high performance differential building blocks in RF circuits intensify the problems of connecting test equipment. Using oscilloscope probes is a possibility to perform measurements by connecting to printed circuit board lines and chip contacts where only a minimal area is required to make contact. This application note provides information on how to use oscilloscope probes in RF measurements using spectrum analyzers, and show the results of differential measurements with a spectrum analyzer.
28-Jun-2013 | AN-No. 1EF84
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
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
The application note address test and measurement possibilities for DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X signals in the Ku & Ka -band. The AN includes detailed description of measurement setups, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X signal generation, up-conversion and signal quality (Error Vector Magnitude and Modulation Error Ratio) analysis in the Ku & Ka-band using Rohde & Schwarz instruments.This paper is intended towards satellite equipment manufacturers, network operators, government & authorities, CE receiver chip set manufacturers, car manufacturer and automotive infotainment system manufactures.
08-Mar-2016 | AN-No. 1MA273
LTE-M (also known as Cat M1) is a machine type communication (MTC) standard for IoT applications, specified by 3GPP. This application note provides and overview of the technology, the details of the standard and summarizes the R&S®TSMx scanner features for LTE-M measurements.
26-Jul-2019 | AN-No. 8NT04
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
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
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
In the satellite sector, components, subsystems and entire satellites must be qualified in a thermal vacuum chamber before they can be used in space. This qualification proves that equipment can not only survive but also function in the harsh conditions encountered during launch and in space.
05-Oct-2022
Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) is an integral part of LTE. Vector signal generators and signal & spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz support LTE measurements with up to 4 antennas. This Application Note covers 2x2 MIMO in the LTE downlink. Remote control programming is demonstrated by examples for a free-of-charge program.
09-Oct-2014 | AN-No. 1MA143
Vector Network Analyzers (VNA) are gaining popularity in the Signal Integrity community as time domain measurement and analysis tools. VNAs with 8 ports or more can provide significant decreases in test time by migrating from a 4-port measurement system to an 8-port measurement system. For tight tolerance DUTs that are barely within the test limit lines, small increases in accuracy can be realized by testing all of the test parameters at once, because the entire test setup is at the same temperature. This application note discusses the thermal advantages of testing an 8-port DUT with the R&S ZNBT VNA. The use of the ZNBT to assess and debug two differential pairs in a 20-inch backplane is presented.
18-Mar-2020 | AN-No. 1EZ83_0E
Modern societies worldwide depend on the performance, reliability and security of critical infrastructures and networks. There is a plethora of “new verticals” such as manufacturing, warehouse, mining, ports or other critical infrastructure, just to name a few. These “new vertical” use cases all have one common requirement: the mobile network needs to provide a superior performance compared to a commercial mobile network. In such environments 5G brings new capabilities to build fast and secure campus or private networks tuned to higher performance, which can increase productivity and efficiency. To be successful in these business-critical use cases, the wireless networks need to be as reliable as the wired ones. This educational note describes the different test methods to be able to verify the superior network performance and to help finding root causes of potential problems limiting the performance. We distinguish between passive tests and active tests.
11-Aug-2023 | AN-No. 8NT09
For NB-IoT applications to function correctly, sufficient network coverage is required. Coverage must be measured to ensure a robust NB-IoT connection. Rohde & Schwarz mobile network testing provides a unique combined test solution that accurately measures the DL coverage using network scanners. It measures the device/network interaction, UL behavior, protocol, signaling load and energy efficiency during communications using NB-IoT devices connected to R&S®ROMES.
20-Feb-2018
The application note guides developers and manufactures of Sigfox Devices to perform the required and recommended measurements with test solutions from Rohde & Schwarz. The note will help bring ultranarrowband IoT devices and applications using Sigfox technology to the market as fast as possible and help ensure the desired quality and performance.For R&D, Pre-certification and QA, all currently defined Uplink- and Downlink- measurements are shown using the compact R&S®FPL1000 Spectrum Analyzer and R&S®SMBV100A Vector Signal Generator.For Production, use of the R&S®CMW100A Communications Manufacturing Test Set is shown for the most essential Uplink RF tests on Sigfox Devices.Python scripts for giving example SCPI commands demonstrate how measurements shown in manual use can easily be automated.
15-Nov-2017 | AN-No. 1MA294
Receiver diversity improves reception quality by using multiple antennas with a preferably low correlation factor between each receive path. The result is a much more robust reception, since a deep fade will not affect all received signals at the same time.However, the complex geometry and positioning constraints for antennas of the receiving devices can introduce an unwanted correlation between channels. The popular diversity test setup consisting of several independent transmitters does not serve the needs of a realistic simulation, because radio channel correlation is not simulated.This application note explains a compact and versatile MIMO test solution for any common broadcast standard with real time fading including the simulation of channel correlation for a 1x4 MIMO system.The test setup allows very precisely specified individual multipath profiles.
11-Oct-2017 | AN-No. 1GP114
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
For establishing a WLAN connection between R&S®CMW and device under test (DUT), the WLAN properties at the R&S®CMW have to be adapted to the test conditions. These can vary in several aspects, particularly due to the different WLAN standards and characteristics of the DUT. This document describes the critical parameters and provides step-by-step procedures for the configuration.
08-Dec-2015 | AN-No. 1C106
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
Energy efficiency of RF Frontends (RFFE), especially transmitters, continues to gain greater prominence.Meeting the efficiency challenge is increasingly difficult at higher operating frequencies and bandwidths, such as those proposed for 5G.There is a group of transmitter RFFE architectures whose signal output is constructed from two, or more, efficiently generated components. This signal construction in effect, means that such architectures use predictive, post-correction linearization. Their predictive nature enables distortion to be completely eliminated.The capabilities of multi-channel signal synthesis setups with R&S®SMW200A, in combination with the R&S®FSW analyzer enable measurement, hence development, of these types of transmitters.The document focusses on devices for the 3.5 GHz NR (5G New Radio) candidate band, but its findings are equally applicable to developments and measurements for, for example, K-band satellite applications or mmW NR candidate bands, where efficiency is an even more crucial design target.
01-Aug-2017 | AN-No. 1MA289
The R&S® Broadcast Test Center BTC supports the new “Next Generation Broadcast Standard ATSC 3.0” with BTC firmware version 2.20 and later.This application note describes the necessary settings in the user interface of the R&S® Broadcast Test Center BTC.
27-Mar-2018 | AN-No. 1GP119
Its excellent realtime baseband performance in combination with its ability to easily import the scattering parameters of an active/passive twoport interconnection network via s2p-files make the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator ideal for high-precision RF and microwave tests requiring deembedding of the device under test (DUT).
11-Oct-2017
With continuously increasing data rates, signal inte grity aspects of high-speed digital designs and the components used become more and more challenging. Particularly at higher data rates, vector network analyzers (VNA) are increasingly replacing traditional time domain reflectometry (TDR) setups for testing passive components such as connectors, cables and PCBs. Users benefit from the higher accuracy, speed and ESD robustness of the VNA, making the VNA the instrument of choice in this field.
20-Sep-2016
Comprehensive test solutions guide for production and R&D
Small cell is a compact base station with smaller form factor and lower transmission power in comparison to the conventional macro base station. It covers relatively small area and serves less users. Usually, small cell can be integrated into the existing mobile network. By the evolution of radio access technology, the role of small cell has been changing through the evolution path. In the 2G/3G time, its role was to provide coverage in corner cases. Later during LTE, networks are not just providing coverage but capacity too. Small cells were then used to provide the addition capacity where required without adding additional spectrum. Now in 5G era, network operators use densification as an important strategy to provide seamless 5G services which demand coverage, capacity and performance too. With use cases requiring the 5G millimeter wave (mmW) rollouts, it makes sense to use small cells for densification due to the propagation characteristics of mmW.In this application note, we will shed light on the testing aspects of a small cell throughout the product life cycle with particular focus on the production test solution for the small cell device under test (DUT) in FR2 (frequency range 2, mmW frequency band) in Over the Air (OTA) environment for option 6 split based on radio communication tester R&S®CMP200 and OTA chamber R&S®CMQ200. The document is complemented with more insights into test solutions used in typical R&D test applications towards the second half of the application note.
19-Jun-2023 | AN-No. 1SL395
The amendment 802.11ad to the WLAN standard defines the MAC and PHY layers for very high throughput (VHT) in the 60 GHz range. This application note provides a brief examination of key 802.11ad parameters, describes the required measurements and test setups and contains several important recommendations for over-the-air (OTA) measurements.
17-May-2017 | AN-No. 1MA260
This application note helps the user to configure a Rohde & Schwarz vector signal generator for LTE FDD repeater conformance testing. It explains step by step how to set up the baseband signal for the various test cases defined in the 3GPP Technical Specification 36.143.The R&S®SMx vector signal generators provide predefined, LTE-conform test models and are therefore ideal for LTE repeater conformance testing. The test cases in TS 36.143 can be set up with a single instrument which provides all necessary test signals including the four specified repeater stimulus signals.
26-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1GP85
Radio frequencies in bands around 28 GHz are being discussed as candidates for mobile communications of the fifth generation (5G). Beam steering will be a key feature in the context of 5G. It will be a major challenge to test the beam steering capabilities of base stations and user equipment in every phase from research and development through production. Conducted measurements will be mainly replaced by over-the-air measurements of electromagnetic radiation. Rohde & Schwarz offers the R&S®NRPM Over-the-Air (OTA) Power Measurement Solution that perfectly fits such measurement needs.Part of this solution are the R&S®NRPM-A66 antenna modules. They have integrated diode detectors. Thus, there are no cables between the antenna and the detector as in traditional setups. This avoids high and potentially unknown RF losses. The R&S®NRPM-A66 antenna modules with their integrated diode detectors are factory calibrated, which means that the user does not have to calibrate them to achieve highly accurate measurement results.This application note contains theoretical background on OTA power and pattern measurements. It gives step-by-step instructions for the verification of the power level and the radiation pattern of a device under test (DUT) in comparison to a golden device, and it presents an approach for verifying the accuracy of beam steering.
29-Aug-2017 | AN-No. 1GP118
The scope of this application note is to give a comprehensive guide on how the R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer with the option R&S®FSW-K18 may be used to create a Hammerstein model for the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator’s output stage. This model can then be applied to counteract inherent non-linearities and memory effects and improve the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) at high output powers of the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator.
28-Aug-2023 | AN-No. 1GP139