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
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
In high-speed digital measurement applications, test fixtures are commonly used to connect devices under test to measurement equipment. Characterization, and analysis in the time and frequency domains that accounts for various constraints helps to remove the influence of these fixtures.
23-May-2023 | AN-No. 1SL393
R&S®RTP, R&S®RTO, R&S®RTE, oscilloscopes, acquired waveform data, python How to work with acquired waveform data in Python using the R&S®RTP, R&S®RTO or R&S®RTE. Working with acquired waveform data in Python R&S®RTP, R&S®RTO, R&S®RTE, oscilloscopes, acquired waveform data, python How to work with acquired waveform data in Python using the R&S®RTP, R&S®RTO or R&S®RTE. Working with acquired waveform
12-Jan-2022
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
The R&S®ZVA vector network analyzer with the R&S®ZVA-K9 option enables absolute group delay measurements on devices with embedded LO without the need for a calibration mixer
17-May-2013
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
R&S®Server-Based Testing helps reduce test times for workloads that can be parallelized. 5G New Radio (5G NR) multicarrier signals are an ideal workload because each component carrier can be analyzed independently and in parallel. In an example EVM measurement, scenario test times are reduced significantly even when receiving I/Q data from just a single instrument.
13-Sep-2021
With a Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscope
29-Dec-2018
Next generation technologies in radar and satellite communication with high data rates call for innovative testing solutions to develop and manufacture RF components like voltage controlled oscillators (VCO). The R&S®FSPN phase noise analyzer increases efficiency and reproducibility of VCO characterization and phase noise measurements from lab to production.Voltage controlled oscillators are oscillators whose output frequency is controlled by means of an external tuning voltage, and they are used in a wide variety of electronic and RF applications like function generators, phase-locked loops including frequency synthesizers used in communication equipment. Different VCO design approaches yield different parameters and performance, and therefore it is important to measure or characterize VCOs under different conditions. This application note provides a short technical introduction to voltage controlled oscillators and explains the most common and the most important measurements made during the VCO characterization process.
17-May-2023 | AN-No. 1SL386
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
With its small footprint, the R&S®ATS1000 antenna test system is the ideal direct far-field OTA system to test phased array antennas. The system tests and optimizes the radiation characteristics of any modules using the AiP technology from 18 GHz to 87 GHz.
12-Mar-2020
This application note describes the noise figure measurement using the R&S Vector Network Analyzers of the ZVA and ZVT series. It explains the concept of measuring noise figure without the need for a characterized noise source. Furthermore, it discusses different measurement applications and the respective setup and implications. Some examples guide through the instrument setups and show measurement results as well.
27-Oct-2010 | AN-No. 1EZ61
Increasing data rates in high-speed digital designs and wireless communications require SerDes PLLs and clock synthesizers with low additive phase noise and high jitter attenuation. Modern designs often follow a two-stage architecture, consisting of a jitter-attenuator and a frequency-synthesizer stage. Due to their high phase noise sensitivity, phase noise analyzers are the instruments of choice for these tests. To stimulate the PLL, an additional signal source with ultra low phase noise is required.
01-Aug-2018
30 dBm + 30 dBm = 60 dBm? It is well known that it is not as easy as that.
This application note supplies a free of charge software tool that can be used to add or subtract an arbitrary number of powers. In addition, the software can be used to convert power and voltage units from the linear to the logarithmic scale (and vice versa), convert linear power and voltage ratios to decibels, and convert a VSWR to other reflection quantities.
10-Dec-2018 | AN-No. 1GP77
Fault identification in single elements of antenna arrays by scanning in near-field range and applying the near-field to far-field transformation method.
24-Mar-2020
Rohde & Schwarz signal generators can generate standard-compliant WLAN IEEE 802.11ax signals for high efficiency (HE) receiver testing.This application note helps to choose the right generator test solutions and explains step-by-step how to generate 802.11ax SISO and MIMO signals. Measurements, such as EVM, are presented to illustrate the signal performance. Furthermore, this document shows how to test 802.11ax receiver specifications and the newly introduced HE trigger-based PPDU specifications according to the IEEE P802.11ax/D1.3 specification draft.
16-Aug-2017 | AN-No. 1GP115
Antennas have become an integral part of consumer electronics, even in small portable devices that rely on an energy source with limited capacity. Consequently, antennas need to be physically small and power efficient.
05-Mar-2020
Frequency converters e.g. in satellite transponders need to be characterized not only in terms of amplitude transmission but also in terms of phase transmission or group delay, especially with the transition to digital modulation schemes. They often do not provide access to the internal local oscillators. This application note describes a method using the R&S®ZNA analyzer family to measure group delay of mixers and frequency converters with an embedded local oscillator very accurately. The key aspect of this new technique is that the network analyzer applies a 2-tone signal to the frequency converter. By measuring the phase differences between the two signals at the input and at the output, it calculates group delay and relative phase.
11-Jul-2019 | AN-No. 1EZ81
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
After a communications satellite is on its target orbit, several routines need to be performed in order to ensure proper performance from the transponders in the payload. The on-orbit measurements are a vital part of the maintenance of a live satellite as well. Operating a satellite channel for an on-orbit measurement rather than the intended application comes with significant opportunity cost and hence test duration needs to be minimized as much as possible. Rohde & Schwarz test and measurement equipment recommended in this paper is market leading not only in terms of measurement accuracy but also offers unparalleled speed of measurement. This application note focuses on satellite post-launch or on-orbit measurement and monitoring strategies used for satellite functionality checks when running maintenance routines. A complementary paper treats pre-launch payload measurements.
25-Nov-2016 | AN-No. 1MA263
Rohde & Schwarz presents a customizable solution for testing barometric performance to ensure z-axis accuracy in line with FCC regulations.
24-Jun-2021
The R&S®CMW500 and R&S®SMBV100B are the ideal team for motor vehicle type approval testing of your eCall and ERA-GLONASS cellular modems and their GNSS receivers in line with the EU2017/79 regulation.
02-May-2022
The verification of emissions according to EN or FCC standards is mandatory to avoid any interference with existing users. Besides the common emission tests with measurement bandwidth up to 1 MHz and mean power measurements, most regulations also require to test peak transmission power within a 50 MHz bandwidth to avoid interference with any existing wideband applications, for example radar receivers. This application note provides information how to perform spectral emission measurements on UWB signals with spectrum analyzers using wide bandwidth RBW filters, and explains the capabilities and the limiting factors of the Rohde & Schwarz FSW signal and spectrum analyzer to perform this measurement. The next sections will give further details.
28-Jun-2021 | AN-No. 1EF109
Over the past few years, electronics developers have developed a variety of approaches to avoid interference on high-speed signals on printed circuit boards. However, with increasing complexity and frequency, PCBs set new limits, supporting frequencies of 40 GHz and higher. Driven by the fast growing 5G market, today’s digital systems operate in these high frequency ranges that come with completely new challenges. With slope steepness’s of just a few picoseconds, any discontinuity in the impedance and impairment of the inductance or capacitance on the PCB or back drill defects on the PCB can have a massive impact on the signal quality. The industry recognizes that there is a growing need for functional high-speed testing of PCBs. The MicroCraft® E2V6151 series combined with an R&S®ZNB vector signal analyzer delivers a fully automated solution.
25-Mar-2020
5G networks will need to offer more capacity and flexibility while lowering the operational expenses of the system. Two new technologies can simultaneously address both the increase in capacity and the increase in energy efficiency: Virtualization & Massive MIMO. This white paper provides an overview of test solutions addressing current and future requirements for antenna verification including both conducted and over-the-air (OTA) test methods, which result from applying Massive MIMO antenna technology.This white papers complements the white paper (1MA276) from Rohde & Schwarz, which introduces fundamental theory behind beamforming antennas and provides calculation methods for radiation patterns, a number of simulation results as well as some real world measurement results for small linear arrays.
11-Nov-2016 | AN-No. 1MA286
Signal Generation and Analysis
This Application Note supplements the video series, describing signal generation and signal analysis for Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) for LTE and 5G NR. The video series is located below this paragraph.In this illustration, a four frame (40 subframes) long LTE sequence will be created, and exemplary MBSFN slots inserted, carrying 5G payloads. That signal sequence will be compiled and played by the SMW signal generator. The FSW signal analyzer LTE and 5G NR personalities are then used to analyze and verify the content of each subframe/slot.Three methods are presented, (1) Manual Entry using the GUI, (2) SCPI command sequence/remote control and (3) configuration file. The latter variants require the download of various files, available at the bottom.The configuration file approach offers the fastest time to initially setup. The SCPI command sequences provides some insight of the functionality and settings at each step, and the supplied MATLAB® script (only core license required) provides a prototype to illustrate the programming of successive slots or subframes. The Manual Entry approach, using the instrument's front panel GUI, provides a step-by-step set-up instruction, which can itself be augmented with SCPI recording, for easy modification and programming.MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.
30-Mar-2020 | AN-No. GFM337
A step by step HOW TO guide to perform manual and automated wireless coexistence testing
At the end of the year 2020, there were over 20 Billion internet of things (IoT) products in the world operating using the licensed and unlicensed frequency bands. This growth trend is projected to keep steady over the coming years as more and more people adopt to a smarter and more connected lifestyle. This will result in a much busier and challenging RF environment than the one we have today. In order to understand the complexity of the RF spectrum, a white paper was published in 2021 from Rohde & Schwarz, which featured RF spectrum activity at multiple locations observed at different times of the day. The locations were selected based on population densities and the amount of known RF transmitters & their frequencies at those locations. It was also concluded that the ISM bands on average have higher channel utilization since most IoT devices take advantage of the unlicensed spectrum. The paper recommended, that while performing wireless coexistence testing, the test conditions should reflect the operational RF environment that the device is intended to operate in. Otherwise, the characterization of RF performance would only reflect ideal case which doesn’t exist in real world operation. Since it is not always possible to test all devices in the real world, relevant test methodologies need to be setup to replicate the real world as much as possible.This will help us get a better understanding of how the receiver of the RF device will behave under different RF conditions. It is also recommended to perform measurements in order to understand the behavior of the device in the future when the spectrum will get even more challenging. Therefore, a through characterization of the capability of the RF receiver to handle in-band and out-of-band interference signals in also of interest.In terms of regulatory compliance requirements for ensuring wireless coexistence performance, the ANSI C63.27 is currently the only published test standard that provides guidance on how to perform coexistence testing on devices. The test complexity is based up on risk imposed on the user’s health in the event of a failure caused by an or a plurality of interference signal. The standard also gives device manufacturers guidance regarding test setups, measurement environments, interference signal types and strategy, performance quality measurement parameters for physical layer using key performance indicator (KPI) and application layer parameters for end-to-end functional wireless performance (FWP).In this application note, the guidance provided by the ANSI C63.27-2021 version regarding test setup, measurement parameter and interference signal have been followed. It will give the reader a clear idea on how to configure standardized test instruments from R&S in order to generate the wanted signal as well as unintended interference signals and conduct measurement to monitor device performance in terms of PER, ping latency and data throughput.This application note provides step-by-step instruction on how to perform measurements using conducted and radiated methodology. Both manual and automated instrument configuration approach is explained in this document.The automation scripts are written using python scripting language and are available for download with this application note, free of charge. Official required to run the scripts are available on the PYPI database.
10-Nov-2022 | AN-No. 1SL392
This Application Note provides guidance on using the “Intermodulation Wizard” through an example measurement.
27-Mar-2013 | AN-No. 1EZ63
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