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.
1111 Results
Connecting simulation and measurements on physical devices
This application note is based on collaborative work between MathWorks® and Rohde & Schwarz. The focus is on linearization of a non-linear device, in our case the RF power amplifier. It is shown how simulation and the integrated functions of the Rohde & Schwarz instruments R&S®SMW200A and R&S®FSW work hand-in-hand with the simulation capabilities from MathWorks in MATLAB / Simulink. The goal is to provide a toolset to enable proper modeling and linearization approaches to optimize and verify the behavior of the power amplifier when used with complex wideband signals as used in 5G NR or latest satellite links.The application note brings code examples and an exemplary block set for MATLAB / Simulink to provide an easy start to replicate and use the described procedure.
05-Aug-2021 | AN-No. 1SL371
CST® Filter Designer 3D, which is part of the CST Studio Suite® simulation software from Dassault Systèmes, is a complete synthesis tool for filters and diplexers. It provides a range of solutions throughout the design process of coupled resonator filters and even beyond with its VNA based tuning capability. CST Filter Designer 3D assists in tuning filter hardware, significantly reducing the time for optimizing a device to meet the expected specifications. An attractive instrument to obtain fast data reading for realtime filter tuning is the R&S®ZNB vector network analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz.
27-Nov-2019
Generation of wideband digital modulated signals in V-band and above is a challenging task and typically requires a set of multiple instruments. This application note aims at simplifying the task and looks into the analysis part as well. Latest signal and spectrum analyzers like the R&S®FSW67 and R&S®FSW85 are first to allow use in V-band up to 67 GHz and E-band up to 85 GHz respectively without external frequency conversion. Up to 8.3 GHz of modulation bandwidth can be covered using the R&S®FSW-B8001 option. Millimeter wave use of analyzers ranging from 26 GHz up is shown. Application note 1MA217 describes V-band signal generation and analysis up to 500 MHz modulation bandwidth. This application note expands modulation bandwidth up to 2 GHz and covers both V- and E-band examples.
18-Jun-2015 | AN-No. 1MA257
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
The R&S®FSW offers a variety of different bandwidth options and makes it possible to combine these with external harmonic mixers to enlarge the analyzer’s frequency range up to 325 GHz. This application card will give some guidance as to the possible combinations of bandwidth options and mixers in conjunction with the needed IF frequencies.
16-Jun-2020
Today’s digital designs and high-speed data converters require clean clocks with minimal jitter
03-Aug-2017
This application note describes the suitability of the R&S®ZVM and R&S®ZVK as multichannel microwave receivers for antenna measurements and RCS measurements including measurements on pulsed signals. Application examples describe the measurement possibilities on pulsed signals using the R&S®ZVM/ZVK as stand-alone units. In addition, various R&S®ZVM/ZVK-based antenna measurement systems of the March Microwave company are presented in detail.
10-Sep-2004 | AN-No. 1EZ52
Oscilloscopes are basic everyday instruments for engineers and electricians. Maintenance tasks, however, sometimes require very specific measurements that are not available as standard functionality or are difficult to set up manually. With the R&S®RTH-K38 user scripting option, engineers can now design their own measurement function and a simple user interface. This paper describes how to use this unique feature for railway maintenance work.
06-May-2020
RF system noise contributions define receiver capabilities and sensitivity. The noise figure measures how the critical components affect the signal.
28-Jan-2022
Testing radar warning equipment in realistic scenarios is crucial to reliable field performance. This typically involved dedicated instruments or test systems. Commercial vector signal generators (VSG) such as the R&S®SMW200A from Rohde & Schwarz have become a very attractive alternative thanks to their increased available bandwidth and processing power.
13-Aug-2020
Create and simulate detailed traffic situations for the verification of cellular V2X (C-V2X) connectivity.
18-Nov-2019
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.
14-Jul-2017 | AN-No. 1EF97
The R&S®CMW wideband radio communication tester platform (R&S®CMW500, R&S®CMW270) uses high accuracy distance measurements (HADM) with phase based ranging (PBR) for a comprehensive and fully automated test solution to verify Bluetooth® Low Energy physical layer functionality
06-Sep-2023
The R&S®SMBV100A is both, a versatile general-purpose vector signal generator and a powerful GNSS signal simulator. It can simulate up to 24 satellites in realtime for testing GNSS receivers flexibly, reliably, and cost-efficiently. The R&S®SMBV100A supports receiver testing under realistic conditions by offering features such as obscuration simulation and automatic multipath generation. Out of a multitude of possible test scenarios – with predefined or user-specific settings – this application note presents some examples to give an impression of the instrument’s capabilities.
19-Apr-2018 | AN-No. 1GP101
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
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
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
NGM200, NGL200 The R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 can simulate battery cells when testing battery management systems and replace far more expensive dedicated battery simulators. Testing battery management systems with Rohde & Schwarz power supplies NGM200, NGL200 The R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 can simulate battery cells when testing battery management systems and replace far more expensive dedicated battery
08-Jun-2020
Well-matched RF ports are a crucial aspect to any RF system. Matched ports, for example, protect amplifier output ports from reflected power overload. This undesired reflected power could destroy the whole amplifier. Matched ports also maximize power transmission, effectively extending the battery life of wireless products such as those made for the internet of things (IoT).
05-Mar-2020
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
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
With the start and spread of 5G communications services and new form factors such as wearables and foldable phones, an increasing number of flexible printed circuit boards (PCB) that support high frequency signals are being produced. These boards must exhibit excellent frequency characteristics. In the past, a PCB’s frequency characteristics were subjected to sampling inspection using a test coupon. For flexible PCBs, a new method is needed to provide repeatable and proper verification. The Yamaha® MP Series combined with the R&S®ZNBT vector network analyzer measure the high frequency characteristics of a production lot at high speed and high accuracy, enabling 100 % measurement of mass produced rigid and flexible PCBs.
27-Jan-2020
Thanks to their multichannel capability, oscilloscopes are ideal for multichannel applications such as the analysis of MIMO signals (e.g. 5G NR, WLAN), multi-antenna radar signals and differential high-speed digital signals (e.g. USB 3.x). These applications require the oscilloscope channels to be tightly aligned. This means the channel-to-channel residual skew has to be measured accurately so that it can be compensated. The channel-to-channel phase mismatch is reduced to a minimum, which plays a crucial role in achieving reliable measurement results.
06-May-2020
Using R&S®RTP high-performance oscilloscopes and R&S®VSE-K6A phased array measurement option
12-Jul-2021
Gated spectrum method with the R&S®PR200
03-Feb-2020
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
10BASE-T1S Ethernet enables the integration of diverse sensors into an automotive-Ethernet vehicle supply system, for example short-range radar sensors for detecting blind spots or ultrasonic sensors for the parking assistant. For reliable operation of the functions, data transmission over 10BASE‑T1S Ethernet must be assured at all times and in every climatic environment. Functionality must be tested during development and in production. Only 10BASE-T1S Ethernet interfaces that have passed compliance testing in line with IEEE 802.3cg can be deployed in vehicles. Consequently, vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers need measuring equipment that allows them to perform these tests quickly and reliably.
15-May-2020
Power Added Efficiency (PAE) is a key parameter for the characterization of an amplifier.This application notes introduces two alternative methods how to do the Power Added Efficiency measurement. The first one is based on the R&S ZNB vector network analyzer (VNA) measurement function. Alternatively to this, the PAE tracer macro is introduced. This macro offers to make the PAE at an user selected compression point of the amplifier versus frequency. The PAE tracer macro is provided together with this application note.
22-May-2013 | AN-No. 1EZ64
Verify and optimize your product design under realistic fading conditions in a deterministic lab environment that allows repeatable measurements using standardized and user-defined fading profiles.
27-Oct-2020