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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.
752 Results
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
The 3GPP TS 36.521-1 “Radio transmission and reception” LTE User Equipment (UE) conformance specification defines the measurement procedures for LTE terminals with regard to their transmitting characteristics, receiving characteristics and performance requirements as part of the 3G Long Term Evolution (3G LTE) standard.This application note describes how to use the LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD) measurement functionality associated with the Downlink Carrier Aggregation feature of the R&S®CMW500 wideband radio communication tester to perform LTE R10 receiver measurements according to this test specification.
09-Apr-2015 | AN-No. 1CM103
IQWizard is a tool for loading IQ signal files in various formats and measuring IQ signals with a FSx spectrum analyzer or ESx Receiver. The obtained IQ data in memory can be stored in various formats or be transmitted to an R&S® vector signal generator with WinIQSIM™ or WinIQSIM2™.
26-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1MA028
Measurement uncertainties that occur when the R&S FSMR measuring receiver is used to calibrate RF levels are described and quantified in this application note. Several Excel spreadsheets are included. They can be used to simplify calculation of the uncertainty for various configurations.
28-Mar-2006 | AN-No. 1MA92
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
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
Functional Testing
Although data services in the context of eMBB, URLLC and mMTC are the pivotal drivers behind the 5G evolution, legacy services like voice and video communications still represent important services that operators want to offer to their subscribers. As part of the technology evolution, we have seen a major change from circuit-switched 2G networks with an initial focus on telephony to fully packet-switched 4G networks focused on internet data communications.This application note focuses on different details of voice services in 5G networks. Besides some theoretical background this document describes the procedure to setup a 5G network with R&S®CMW500 and R&S®CMX500 radio communication testers and how to carry out different functional voice call tests for 5G networks.
06-Oct-2021 | AN-No. 1SL364
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 performance tests (TS 38.141-1, chapter 8), according to Release 16, can be performed quickly and conveniently with signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz by either choosing manual operation or a remote control approach.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.
24-Oct-2019 | AN-No. GFM315
This application note describes how to use the Rohde & Schwarz software tool ‘RsBatchConvert.exe’ for the conversion of binary data or WinIQSIM generated AMIQ waveforms into the new waveform format. The tool not only rescales I/Q data contained in the file but also changes the K-option requirement from WinIQSIM Kxx to the new WinIQSIM2 K2xx options. Thus, new instruments with installed K2xx options may be used to continue using existing waveform files.
18-Jun-2009 | AN-No. 1GP64
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
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
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. 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
More and more mobile radio networks implement remote radio equipment (RE) that is connected to the base station main unit via a digital interface using standardized transmission protocols such as CPRI. For testing RE devices Rohde & Schwarz offers a complete test solution based on the R&S®EX-IQ-BOX [Model K04]. This key component is a configurable digital interface module that is used to connect Rohde & Schwarz test equipment to a RE under test using CPRI data transmission. This application note explains in detail the instrument setup and configuration needed to successfully test your remote radio head.
05-Aug-2013 | AN-No. 1GP78
Almost every switched-mode power supply (SMPS) needs an EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) input filter to suppress any disturbances of the SMPS on the power lines. This requirement having an input filter in the design ensures that no negative effect will occur in other parts of the systems connected to the power lines. Therefore, the design and the validation of the input filter is a major task during a typical power supply design. The conducted emission (CE) test according to a specific standard is a suitable and a common validation method to release the design at the end of the development cycle. Nowadays, this conducted emission test will be performed as pre-compliance test during the development phase in the lab as well. In this case, the designer will obtain an early feedback whether the design has to be optimized regarding any disturbances present on the power lines. In most cases, the designer has to adjust the input filter to obtain a more effective suppression of disturbances generated by the SMPS. However, the designer needs to know details about the noise spectrum to optimize the input filter as effective as possible. In addition to magnitude and frequency information of the noise source, it would be very helpful to know whether the noise is generated by a common mode source or by a differential mode source. During the standard conducted emission test, common and differential mode noise is a combination in the measurement results and thus not possible to gain deeper insights. This document will describe a method to separate common-mode and differential-mode separation using two oscilloscope channels. This separation approach works without any additional hardware component like a noise separator. The designer will be able to distinguish between common-mode (CM) and differential-mode (DM) noise. This additional information about the dominant mode provides the capability to optimize input filters very efficiently.
17-Sep-2020 | AN-No. GFM353
This document describes how a Windows®-based R&S® T&M instrument is remotely operated by an Apple iPad as if working on it locally. Step-by-step procedures are provided for setting up and configuring the T&M instrument and the iPad. On the iPad, a special App implements the Windows® 'Remote Desktop' functionality. T&M instrument and iPad are connected via WLAN (also denoted as Wi-Fi network).
28-Mar-2013 | AN-No. 1MA216
This application note examines both the theory and practice of state-of-the-art spectrum analysis by discussing specific measurements taken on an integrated RF amplifier.The theoretical portion of this document first describes how modern spectrum analyzers are designed and how they work. That is followed by a brief characterization of today's signal generators, which are needed as a stimulus when performing amplifier measurements. The effects on the spectrum that are caused by the nonlinearity of real devices under test are derived mathematically.The practical portion of this application note contains detailed test and measurement tasks that are suitable for use as lab exercises performed in small groups. The purpose of these tasks is to illustrate the explanations provided in the theoretical section and to provide a deeper understanding of the principles explained there.
05-Mar-2013 | AN-No. 1MA201
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
The R&S EX-IQ-Box serves as a digital baseband interface between a device under test (DUT) and Rohde & Schwarz generators, analyzers and radio communication testers. The DigIConf software supplied with the device controls up to four R&S EX-IQ-Boxes in a test setup and can thus output IQ data for feeding into a DUT while simultaneously receiving IQ output from a DUT.To work together smoothly, the DUT, the R&S EX-IQ-Box and the R&S test instruments have to be configured properly. The purpose of Application Note 1MA168 is to introduce the right 'initial steps' required to get started successfully.
23-May-2012 | AN-No. 1MA168
Vector Network Analyzers of t ZNA and ZNB family are able to measure magnitude and phase of complex S-parameters of a device under test (DUT) in the frequency domain. By means of the inverse Fourier transform the measurement results can be transformed to the time domain. Thus, the impulse or step response of the DUT is obtained, which gives an especially clear form of representation of its characteristics. For instance, faults in cables can thus be directly localized. Moreover, special time domain filters, so-called gates, are used to suppress unwanted signal components such as multireflections. The measured data "gated" in the time domain are then transformed back to the frequency domain and an Sparameter representation without the unwanted signal components is obtained as a function of frequency. As usual, other complex or scalar parameters such as impedance or attenuation can then be calculated and displayed.
30-Jul-2020 | AN-No. 1EP83
This application note is step by step guide on 5G New Radio (5G NR) signal generation and analysis capabilities using the R&S®SMW200A Vector Signal Generator equipped with software option SMW-K144 (5G NR option), in combination with the R&S®FSW Signal and Spectrum Analyzer and the software options FSW-K144 & FSW-K145 (5G NR Downlink & Uplink Signal Analysis). The R&S®VSE Vector signal explorer has also been used for analysis purpose in parallel to the FSW-K144 & FSW-K145 software options.It is assumed that the reader already has a deep understanding of the 5G New Radio standard as well as the testing aspects. If not, then please refer to the 5G eBook more a detailed overview on the fundamentals, procedures, testing aspects of the 5G NR technology.
22-Nov-2019 | AN-No. GFM322
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
Receiver diversity improves reception quality by using multiple antennas with a preferably low correlation factor between each other. This results in a more robust handling of multipath signals, since a deep fade will then not affect all received signals at the same time. However, the compact dimensions of handheld devices can introduce unwanted correlation due to their dense antenna spacing. In this case, the popular diversity test setup consisting of several independent transmitters will no longer serve the needs of a realistic simulation, since correlation effects have to be taken into account here. A clever solution is to operate the R&S®SFU in split-fading mode in combination with a second transmitter. This can be another R&S®SFU, the R&S®SFE, the R&S®SFE100 or the R&S®SMU200A. In this way, two diversity signals of adjustable correlation for any common broadcast standard are coded in realtime, while their individual multipath profile is precisely specified by the extensive features of the R&S®SFU fader module.
19-Oct-2012 | AN-No. 7BM76
This application note is based on collaborative work between Cadence and Rohde & Schwarz.The focus is on understanding as early as possible in the design process performance enhancements through linearization of non-linear devices, in our case the RF power amplifier (PA). In other words, what performance benefits can be reached with linearization techniques such as digital predistortion (DPD). Typically, this is investigated when the device is available and physical RF measurements are conducted. In this application note, it is looked at earlier in the design process while using electronic design automation (EDA) such as Cadence® AWR® Visual System Simulator™ (VSS) software. The goal is to allow an RF designer to evaluate the linearizability of his design without in-depth knowledge of DPD algorithms. In the end, the designer can get closer to the optimal efficiency with earlier access to DPD, while at the same time improving time-to-market.The application note brings code examples and an exemplary setup for VSS software to provide an easy start to replicate and use the described procedure.
20-Apr-2022 | AN-No. 1SL383
Mobile network operators worldwide face cost pressures and escalating network complexity. The advent of 5G-NR has ushered in new use cases and flexibility, but it also comes with more stringent performance and availability requirements.Machine Learning can serve as a catalyst for the market to unearth deep insights that would otherwise remain concealed. It can also significantly streamline everyday tasks by fostering a smarter system that guides users through their routine work processes, rather than obliging them to repeat each (manual) step. Rohde & Schwarz Mobile Network Testing has focused its efforts on delivering Machine Learning use cases that distill relevant insights from drive testing data, thereby offering substantial benefits to users.This educational note explains the motivation and reasoning why this kind of approach is needed, what are the benefits of the machine learning offering and it takes a deeper look into how it can be used in various levels of statistical and technical analysis. Finally, this document provides real measurement results and analysis findings based on the Rohde & Schwarz post processing SW suite SmartAnalytics and its machine learning based features Call Stability Score and Network Utilization Rating.
28-Feb-2024 | AN-No. 8NT10
This paper describes the characterization of aluminum electrolytic capacitors specifically used in AC-DC power converter applications. It will be discussed why this capacitor technology is critical regarding lifetime and why it cannot be substituted simply by any another capacitor technology. Different aging effects of the capacitor will be discussed. Usage of the capacitor in different AC-DC converter topologies will be presented. Simulation circuits will be used to analyze the capacitor in more detail before suitable measurements will be performed to demonstrate a real example of a switching-mode power supply (SMPS).After the introduction into the aluminum electrolytic capacitor basics and theory, this paper will also present all important and possible measurements of capacitor parameters, like capacitance, equivalent series resistance (ESR) and ripple current. This includes in-circuit measurement which can be performed with an oscilloscope. An LCR-bridge is used to obtain high accuracy measurements in addition. A comparison between the two measurement methods will be presented. Furthermore, the required measurement hardware for the in-circuit measurements and the bridge measurement will be discussed and presented.Lastly, two different lifetime calculation methods are presented and a real example is used to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods.Thanks to Mr. Frank Puhane from Würth eiSos GmbH & Co. KG who provided me with all aluminum electrolytic capacitor samples including the prepared capacitor with build-in temperature sensors to perform all measurements. Furthermore, his great expertise was very beneficial and helpful to create this premium application note.
07-Feb-2023 | AN-No. 1SL388
LTE Location Based Services (LBS) involve the process of determining where a device is located. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based solutions are highly accurate and the technology of choice for absolute position accuracy, providing the device has a good line-of-sight, but this is not always the case. A device can be in a highly dense urban environment with reduced satellite visibility or indoors with very low signal levels.These limitations of GNSS systems have meant that LTE cellular based alternatives have been developed within 3GPP Release 9 and onwards.They are described in this white paper.
29-May-2015 | AN-No. 1SP05
Widespread adoption of higher order modulation schemes, larger signal bandwidths and higher operating frequencies, to enable higher data throughput in communication links like 5G, places increasingly tough demands on the frontend. Signal fidelity is often enhanced with linearization.The greater number of RF chains and signal bandwidth in 5G Frontends mean that DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion) may no longer be the default linearization choice; 5G Frontends will be completely different from their 4G predecessors.The key metrics of Efficiency, Linearity, Bandwidth and Output Power remain, as does the question of how to optimally create the signal with just enough fidelity and power, with a minimum of wasted power. The solution set to that question, however, has never been greater.Amongst other topics, this White Paper, (i) proposes a classification of Linearization schemes, (ii) introduces the hard limiter, (iii) illustrates linearization of an exemplary mmWave PA using non-DPD techniques, and (iv) introduces a class of linearized transmitters that create their signal and linearity from efficiently generated components.
25-Feb-2016 | AN-No. 1MA269
The R&S®FSMR3000 (hereinafter FSMR) is a three-in-one instrument incorporating a Measurement Receiver, a Signal and Spectrum Analyser, and a Phase Noise Analyser.This application note demonstrates the use of the FSMR, including the Cross-correlation option (R&S®FSMR3-B60), to measure the Phase Noise characteristics of a raw Signal Generator (R&®SMA100B).The Cross-correlation phase noise measurement improves sensitivity by 5 · log(n) dB, compared with measurements that do not use this option. For example, a measurement using 10 correlations, improves the phase noise floor by 5 dB.
31-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1SL376
The use of Rohde & Schwarz device drivers under VEE software is not complicated. However, a number of factors are involved, the errors that occur are often difficult to diagnose. This application provides easy and detailed support for installation and troubleshooting using National Instruments or Agilent GPIB boards.
20-Dec-2012 | AN-No. 1MA035