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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.
1108 Results
The new R&S®DATA-NPT mobile network performance test from Rohde & Schwarz brings innovation to network performance testing. The patent-pending testing solution is a very compact and resource-saving implementation of a new measurement procedure that simultaneously measures the maximum data capacity and the minimum continuous connectivity in a mobile network.
21-Apr-2016
Fading is known from shortwave transmission, where the received field strength level may strongly vary due to atmospheric disturbances. In analog TV, the term 'fading' is practically unknown. Rather, one talks of 'antenna shadows' or 'ghost images'. The effect in question, however, is fading, ie constant reflection of the eletromagnetic waves emitted by the TV transmitter by walls of buildings, mountain slopes and similar reflecting natural or artificial obstacles. In analog TV, fading is of minor importance since the effects thereof can be eliminated almost completely through the directivity and exact orientation of the Yagi roof antenna for stationary TV reception at home. [[ br />Fading effects can also be observed in analog cable TV, for example in a block of flats linked to the cable network with one or several antenna sockets in every flat. If the taps for the sockets are not match-terminated, reflections with constant level and constant phase arise which may cause level reductions of several dB at exactly calculable points in the cable. [[ br />Moreover, the reception of TV signals broadcast via satellite can be impaired by fading. A known phenomenon is flickering of the received picture, produced by planes flying past or a drop in receive field strength caused by an approaching thunderstorm. All the above receive conditions have one thing in common: reception is stationary with a direct line of sight to the TV transmitter. [[ br />Looking at receive conditions in DVB, the effects in cable and satellite reception (DVB-C and DVB-S) are found to be similar as in analog reception. In these two modes reception is stationary, too. Terrestrial transmission (DVB-T) not only provides for stationary operation but also for portable and mobile reception. This considerably accentuates the effects of fading. [[ br />In this application note we investigate fading effects in DVB, with the emphasis on those in DVB-T signals.
06-Feb-2001 | AN-No. 7BM05
The LTE technology as specified within 3GPP Release 8 was first commercially deployed by end 2009. Since then the number of operators implementing the technology is strongly increasing around the globe. LTE has become the fastest developing mobile system technology. The same way GSM and WCDMA have been enhanced with additional features over time, LTE is continuously worked on. Initial enhancements have been included in 3GPP Release 9 and are described in this white paper.
19-Dec-2011 | AN-No. 1MA191
Spectrum that was previously reserved for TV broadcasting is being freed up in many countries for use under the new Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile radio standard (keyword: 'digital dividend'). As a result, numerous coexistence scenarios are possible. So network operators and manufacturers from both the mobile radio and the broadcast sector have a vital interest in avoiding any interference and performing in-depth testing of their products. Rohde & Schwarz offers a wideranging product portfolio for such applications. This Application Note presents Test & Measurement equipment for the broadcast and mobile radio sector and discusses some possible test setups.
08-Dec-2011 | AN-No. 1MA176
Rare faults and intermittent signals are difficult to capture. The R&S®RTO Oscilloscope supports the acquisition and the detailed signal analysis of these signals by using the history mode. The history mode allows the user to look back to previous acquisitions and apply the wide set of analysis functions of the RTO. Furthermore it stores the accurate recoding time of the waveforms for subsequent analysis.
03-Jun-2013 | AN-No. 1TD02
Blocking test, WLAN, Wi-Fi, RF device, performance limit Customize blocking tests and make sure to address parameters like frequency positions, levels or bandwidths when verifying RF device performance. Verifying RF device performance with a blocking test Blocking test, WLAN, Wi-Fi, RF device, performance limit Customize blocking tests and make sure to address parameters like frequency positions, levels
31-Oct-2019
This application note shows how to perform LTE terminal block error rate (BLER) and throughput tests under fading conditions with the R&S®CMW500 Protocol Tester and the R&S®AMU200A Fading Simulator.
27-Mar-2012 | AN-No. 1MA177
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 provided by the R&S®CMW500 wideband radio communication tester to perform LTE transmitter and receiver measurements according to this test specification.
17-May-2013 | AN-No. 1CM94
The measurement speed for spurious signal measurements is mainly defined by the spectrum analyzer sweep speed. With traditional swept spectrum analyzers and tight spurious limits the measurement can easily take hours or even a full day. This application note describes the differences in sweep speed between swept spectrum analyzers and modern spectrum analyzers with a wide-band FFT process, and how this improves the measurement speed for general spurious measurement.
10-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1EF80
This application note explains how to detect, characterize, find and document interferers in cellular networks using the R&S®FSH spectrum analyzer.First it explains how to use the spectrum and interference analysis functions during each step of interference hunting. It also illustrates the explanations with a common interferer example. Then it points out the most common interference sources in cellular networks and gives tips on how to identify them.
21-Oct-2014 | AN-No. 1EF89
Audio Analyzers UPD and UPL with their large variety of functions provide practically all measurement procedures required in audio technology. Thanks to the Universal Sequence Controllers UPD-K1 and UPL-B10, which are available as options, the user is able to considerably expand the range of functions to suit his particular requirements. It is possible, for instance, to add complete measurement functions - eg measurement of ohmic resistance - and to read out, convert or reload sweep results or to add new scale labelling (eg group delay). Another example is the analysis of sweep curves and the display of results in a window next to the curve. As far as softkey labelling and functions are concerned, operation of the sequence control programs is analogous to the softkey control of the UPD/UPL graphics display.
04-Jun-1998 | AN-No. 1GA16
As part of Release 13, 3GPP has specified a new radio interface, the Narrowband Internet of Things (NBIoT). NB-IoT is optimized for machine type traffic. It is kept as simple as possible in order to reduce device costs and to minimize battery consumption. In addition, it is also adapted to work in difficult radio conditions, which is a frequent operational area for certain machine type communication devices. Although NBIoT is an independent radio interface, it is tightly connected with LTE, which also shows up in its integration in the current LTE specifications.In this whitepaper we introduce the NB-IoT technology with an emphasis on the tight connection to LTE.
08-Aug-2016 | AN-No. 1MA266
This white paper summarizes significant additional technology components based on LTE, which are included in 3GPP Release 12 specifications. The LTE technology as specified within 3GPP Release 8 was first commercially deployed by end 2009. Since then the number of commercial networks is strongly increasing around the globe. LTE has become the fastest developing mobile system technology ever. As other cellular technologies LTE is continuously worked on in terms of improvements. 3GPP groups added technology components according to so called releases. Initial enhancements were included in 3GPP Release 9, followed by more significant improvements in 3GPP Release 10, also known as LTE-Advanced. Beyond Release 10 a number of different market terms have been used. However 3GPP reaffirmed that the naming for the technology family and its evolution continues to be covered by the term LTE-Advanced. Therefore LTE-Advanced remains the correct description for specifications defined from Release 10 onwards, including 3GPP Release 12.
04-Aug-2015 | AN-No. 1MA252
All digital oscilloscopes are temporarily blind. During this blind time the user will miss critical signal events at his device under test. Thus, it is necessary to understand the impact of blind time to the measurement. This application note explains the background of blind time and points out why a high acquisition rate is important. It furthermore explains the R&S RTO oscilloscope capabilities and how they help for faster debugging, measurement and analysis.
17-May-2011 | AN-No. 1ER02
Nearly all tests in accordance with the Bluetooth low energy test specification V4.0 [1] can be performed using the R&S®CBT alone. Some tests additionally call for signal generators to provide interference signals. This application note describes the tests performed with additional equipment and presents straightforward solutions based on the R&S®CBTgo software.
18-Jul-2013 | AN-No. 1MA200
Nearly all tests in accordance with the test specification* can be performed with the R&S® CMU200/CBT alone. Some tests additionally call for signal generators to provide interference signals and also require spectrum analyzers. This application note describes the tests performed with additional equipment and presents straightforward solutions based on the CBTgo software.
06-Mar-2013 | AN-No. 1MA106
Data rates in the range of several Gigabit/s are needed to transmit signals like uncompressed video signals. Amendment 802.11ad to the WLAN standard defines the MAC and PHY layers for very high throughput (VHT) in the 60 GHz range. The specification 802.11-2016 has defined additional modulation and codings schemes for the 11ad single carrier part to increase the data rate. The OFDM part is obsolete.This white paper provides an introduction to the technology behind 802.11ad and highlights the test and measurement requirements.
21-Nov-2013 | AN-No. 1MA220
This document describes the typical measurements performed on mixers and how they can be implemented on the ZVA Vector Network Analyzer with the ZVA-K4 Frequency Conversion option. The document describes the concept and setups required to perform Conversion Loss, Isolation, Intermodulation and Reflection measurements.
06-May-2009 | AN-No. 1EZ58
This application notes introduces the Multi-Standard Radio Analyzer function of the R&S®FSW and shows how it performs the measurement on multi-standard radio transmitters. It reveals interactions caused by the coexistence of signals of different cellular standards and localizes the root cause. With an example of a base station signal consisting of three radio access technologies (GSM/WCDMA/LTE FDD) it shows how easy interactions can be found. The R&S®FSW is the ideal tool for trouble shooting tasks with its combination of a large bandwidth and the versatile Multi-Standard Radio Analyzer in one measurement instrument.
17-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1EF83
3GPP Release 9 Technical Specification (TS) 37.141 covers multistandard radio base station conformance testing. Multistandard radio includes four standards of mobile communications: GSM, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, and LTE. This application note introduces the concept of multistandard radio base stations as well as solutions for transmitter and receiver tests based on Rohde & Schwarz signal generators and Rohde & Schwarz signal and spectrum analyzers.
06-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1MA198
Joint solutions of R&S® and COMPRION®
The GSMA specified a global standard for remote provisioning and management of the embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) in the machine-to-machine (M2M) environment as well as the consumer devices via Over the Air (OTA) methodology.This application note describes GSMA compliant remote eUICC provisioning test solution based on R&S® CMW500/CMW290/CMX500 and COMPRION® eUICC Profile Manager software tool. Moreover, an eUICC provisioning method for GSMA Security Accreditation Scheme (SAS) compliant consumer devices by adopting COMPRION® eSIM Test Profile Service is introduced which is essential for RF, protocol testing on R&S®CMW500/CMW290/CMX500 for eSIM capable consumer devices.
03-Jun-2020 | AN-No. GFM342
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 ZVA 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 between output and input.
27-Aug-2012 | AN-No. 1EZ60
radiated conformance testing according to TS 38.141-2, 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 all mandatory radiated RF transmitter tests (TS 38.141-2, chapter 6), according to Release 16.Furthermore, this document provides a brief introduction about the different R&S OTA antenna test solutions and how they are applicable for base station conformance testing. Rohde & Schwarz offers solutions for any test case that is mentioned in this application note.
20-Dec-2019 | AN-No. GFM324
Rohde & Schwarz signal generators can be connected in various ways to system controllers (typically PCs) and external PC peripherals. Although most of these connection operations are also explained in the instrument manuals, it is not always easy to maintain an overview. Operating manuals commonly focus on explaining a dedicated feature of a single instrument. This application note examines a range of typical user tasks and how to solve them with the different instruments.
26-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1GP72
Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is an integral part of 3GPP E-UTRA long term evolution (LTE). As part of MIMO, beamforming is also used in LTE. This white paper discusses the basics of beamforming and explains the ten downlink and two uplink MIMO transmission modes in LTE Release 12.
10-Jul-2015 | AN-No. 1MA186
Even with the introduction of HSDPA and HSUPA, evolution of UMTS has not reached its end. To ensure the competitiveness of UMTS for the next 10 years and beyond, UMTS Long Term Evolution (LTE) is being specified in 3GPP release 8. LTE, which is also known as Evolved UTRA and Evolved UTRAN, provides new physical layer concepts and protocol architecture for UMTS. This application note introduces LTE technology and testing aspects.
14-Sep-2009 | AN-No. 1MA111
A typical application for signal generators and spectrum analyzers is measuring nonlinearities of RF amplifiers. This application note discusses the basics of nonlinearities and describes the nonlinearity measurement using the R&S Value Instruments RF Signal Generator R&S®SMC100A and Spectrum Analyzer R&S®FSC.
20-May-2014 | AN-No. 1MA71
With IT and OT environments converging, security concerns relating to devices and applications deployed in networked test labs, especially in T&M environments, are growing. The demands on IT security here are manifold and include, for example, remote access to in-house infrastructures, equipment rented from external providers, and the continuous deployment of devices across different time zones.
18-Oct-2022