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
Modern radio communication systems have to provide higher and higher data rates. As conventional methods like using more bandwidth or higher order modulation types are limited, new methods of using the transmission channel have to be used. Multiple antenna systems (Multiple Input, Multiple Output – MIMO) gives a significant enhancement to data rate and channel capacity. This application note gives an introduction to basic MIMO concepts and terminology and explains how MIMO is implemented in different radio communications standards.
02-Jul-2009 | AN-No. 1MA142
With recent enhancements in semiconductor technology the microwave frequency range beyond 50 GHz becomes more and more attractive especially for wideband communication applications like 802.11ad, microwave links or automotive RADAR. Low phase noise is essential for these applications to work properly. Accurate measurement of phase noise is needed to improve the performance. However, test setups at these frequencies become difficult, especially when cross correlation of two receive paths is needed to suppress additional phase noise added by the local oscillators or mixer stages. Two external harmonic mixers in combination with a commercially available phase noise tester are used for phase noise analysis. Signal sources with frequencies up to 500 GHz can theoretically be measured with this setup.
05-Feb-2018 | AN-No. 1EF101
In order to clearly visualize and make repeatable measurements on signals with amplitudes of less than 1/100 of a division, and stabilize signals captured over very long periods, the R&S®RTO oscilloscope’s powerful combination of measurement and math channel capabilities allows corrective offset adjustments on individual acquisitions more than one hundred times per second.
10-Sep-2015
Multiple antenna systems, known as MIMO systems, form an essential part of today’s wireless communications standards. This multi-antenna technology efficiently boosts the data throughput without requiring additional bandwidth, and has thus become a key technology. Rohde & Schwarz offers high-performance MIMO test solutions which provide static conditions without fading as well as simulation of complex fading scenarios.This application note explains how to set up 4x4 and 8x8 MIMO systems using the R&S®SMBV100A signal generator for measurements under static conditions without fading.For simulation of complex fading scenarios please refer to application note 1GP97.
10-Mar-2010 | AN-No. 1GP50
This application note describes how to remotely control the R&S SGMA RF sources SGT100A and SGS100A with a special focus on their high-speed remote control capabilities via LAN based FAST Socket or FAST PCI Express (PCIe) connections which allow round trip setting times of only 100μs.It therefore provides a brief introduction into the general remote control capabilities, explains the interaction of the different SW protocol layers and drivers, and in detail describes how to establish a high-speed remote control connection. Finally, a comparison of the measured setting time performance of the different remote control approaches is provided.
12-May-2016 | AN-No. 1GP107
The R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator combined with the R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer offers fast and simple power amplifier testing including envelope tracking and digital predistortion, effectively replacing complex test setups.
22-Feb-2015
Fading in the baseband of the R&S®SMW200A signal generator is well proven and widely accepted for testing any mobile radio standard. However, there are applications where an RF signal must be faded.A versatile RF Fading Simulator can easily be built using an R&S®FSW, R&S®FSQ, R&S®FSG, R&S®FSV signal analyzer with Digital Base Band Interface or with the instrument combination R&S®TSMW / R&S®IQR and an R&S®SMU signal generator with digital baseband inputs and fading simulator option. Note describes how.
27-Feb-2015 | AN-No. 1MA145
The signal purity of clock sources has a direct impact on system performance. To ensure proper operation, it is necessary to verify that the purity meets the design requirements.
30-Sep-2021
The required bandwidth span for power amplifiers is growing, driven by the latest 5G and satellite enhancements.Ideally, amplifiers support multiple bands. This makes wideband testing more essential than ever before.
19-May-2020
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
Simulation can be a big time-saver when designing EMI filters for DC/DC converters. Power supply control chip vendors offer various filter design tools that provide reasonable design choices for filter simulation before any hardware prototype is available. However, simulated results can differ significantly for different tools if simulated models are not accurate or do not cover all the relevant components. Performing a hardware measurement to evaluate the effectiveness of a simulated EMI filter is therefore indispensable.
21-Sep-2021
This application note shows how to use Rohde & Schwarz signal generators and analyzers for testing early 5G New Radio components, chipsets and devices. Methods for easy creation and analysis of custom OFDM are explained. The solution provides● a single user interface for signal generation and analysis configuration● Flexible OFDM configuration and signal generation incl. flexible pilot and data allocation● User defined modulation schemes including complex scenarios, e.g. 5G NR PSS
23-Oct-2017 | AN-No. 1MA308
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
EMI compliance is becoming a major concern for advanced power electronics due to increasing switching speeds. Correlated time-frequency measurements help optimize gate driving and minimize electromagnetic emissions early on during development.
27-Apr-2023
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
Today’s digital designs and high-speed data converters require clean clocks with minimal jitter
03-Aug-2017
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
The R&S®TSStream multi-TS streaming software streams a number of MPEG transport stream files simultaneously over a single IP interface. The individual transport streams result in a high overall bit rate. To make the streams available on a standard PC, the R&S®TSStream software does not play the transport stream files directly from the hard disk but first loads them into the RAM. The maximum number and length of the transport streams depends solely on the PC's available RAM.
16-Mar-2017 | AN-No. 1GP113
This application note describes the basic frequency filter measurements that are often required during service repairs, during development of simple circuits and for training purposes. These measurements do not always require high-end T&M equipment. Instruments in this class typically offer a very wide range of measurement functions coupled with the best-possible RF performance. However, these features are not necessary for simple applications. This application note therefore describes measurements using instruments from the cost-effective Rohde & Schwarz Value Instruments series. The instruments in this series offer the measurement accuracy demanded by quality-conscious users plus easy operation and all of the functionality needed for everyday measurement tasks.
27-Mar-2015 | AN-No. 1MA243
LTE is becoming the predominant wireless technology. Among several new features of this standard, the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology offers various advantages. It improves the throughput, extends the reach, reduces interference and improves the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) with beamforming. LTE supports various modes in order to optimize the transmission settings. An LTE MIMO base station consists of a baseband unit, a remote radio head (RRH) and an array of up to eight antennas. The RRH upconverts the digital signals of the baseband unit into analog signals for each antenna.
16-Aug-2016
The R&S CMW500/270 can generate and measure standard-compliant WLAN IEEE 802.11ac signals with bandwidths from 20 MHz up to 160 MHz.This document explains the CMW solution for the signals with 160 MHz bandwidth and describes the required configurations step by step.
21-Oct-2013 | AN-No. 1CM101
For measurement settings below 10 mV/div, oscilloscopes typically reduce the measurement bandwidth in order to keep the trace noise as low as possible. The R&S®RTO is different: It offers the full bandwidth even for the most sensitive settings, and an A/D converter with more than 7 effective bits (ENOB) digitizes the signal.
13-Jul-2012
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
Enhanced Mobile Broadband, Massive Machine Type Communication, Ultra-reliable and low latency communication have been identified as the requirements to be supported by the 5thGeneration of Mobile Communication, short 5G. 5G is extensively discussed in the wireless industry. A lot of research and pre-development is being conducted worldwide, including an analysis of the waveforms and access principles that are the basis for current LTE and LTE-Advanced networks.In this application note we discuss potential 5G waveform candidates, list their advantages and disadvantages and compare them to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which is used in LTE/LTE-Advanced.
10-Jun-2016 | AN-No. 1MA271
This application note describes remote operation or monitoring of the signal and spectrum analyzers R&S® FSV3, R&S® FSV7, R&S® FSV13, R&S® FSV30 through a standard web browser. The common cross-platform technology Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is used as a server on the instrument.
15-Jan-2009 | AN-No. 1EF67
The power efficiency of the drive electronics is a key parameter when developing electric drive systems. The conduction loss of the electric drive electronics is of special interest. One important parameter for determining the conduction loss is the RDS(on) of the MOSFET. When a switching MOSFET is off, it has a high drain-to-source voltage, but when it is turned on, the voltage drops to just a few hundred millivolts. A highresolution oscilloscope is needed to measure these low voltages. Probe compensation and correct probing are also vital for accurate RDS(on) measurements.
19-Mar-2015
Verification of baseband data is an important step in the early development phase of LTE/LTE-A-ready products. Comparison values for baseband data (test vectors) from other sources can be very useful in order to verify the correct implementation of the standard. Option K81 for the R&S®SMx200A vector signal generator offers sample data for LTE at the bit level. The reference data enables users to test their own implementation of the specification. The LTE bit stream verification program shown here uses data generated by this option and offers a (bitwise) comparison with bit streams generated for an LTE downlink signal. Therefore it demonstrates, how easy the option R&S SMx-K81 can be integrated into the simulation and design process during the development of LTE/LTE-A handsets or base stations.
02-Feb-2011 | AN-No. 1MA161
PESQ measurements employ a level adaptation algorithm and are hence widely insensitive to absolute level. However, if the tests are performed via a speech codec, the driving level of the codec has an influence on the MOS result. Therefore careful alignment of the level is required. This application note provides an application program which runs on the Audio Analyzer R&S UPV or R&S UPV66 and can be used to calibrate signal levels for the PESQ measurement.
30-Jun-2011 | AN-No. 1GA50
Noise figure is an important parameter that describes the noise contribution of an electronic device. A classical approach to measure the noise figure is to use a noise source which delivers two different input noise powers by switching between a “hot” and a “cold” state and a noise receiver (e.g. a spectrum analyzer).In contrast to this approach, using a vector network analyzer with the “Cold Source” approach eliminates the need for a noise source. A cold source noise power measurement followed by an available gain measurement of the device under test is sufficient to determine the noise figure of the device. This application note describes the “Cold Source” technique for measuring noise figure on the R&S®ZNA family of vector network analyzers.Background equations are provided for an analysis of noise factor, noise figure and noise temperature on a device under test and a cascade of devices.Based on a measurement example the user will be guided through the process of setting up a noise figure channel and performing a noise figure measurement. In addition, various measurement options are reviewed, providing guidance as to when and how each option should be utilized to improve the noise figure results.
23-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1SL378