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.
25 Results
Useful tips and tricks for your first measurement experience
Resistors, capacitors and inductors are the most basic components in electric circuits. It must be ensured that they work properly and accurately. Therefore, they need to be tested thoroughly during circuit design. This is usually done using LCR meters, which have become indispensable in the lab and in production. This application note looks at how to perform basic capacitor and inductor measurements accurately and reliably.
22-Feb-2024 | AN-No. 1GP142
The LCR meters R&S®LCX100 and R&S®LCX200 precisely measure the complex impedance and the resulting components values over a wide frequency range. Dynamic impedance measurements allow to perform these measurements while sweeping the test signal frequency or other parameters like test signal level and DC bias. This application note provides a PC-based software tool for comfortably setting the sweeps and displaying the results in numerous charts.
14-Mar-2022 | AN-No. 1GP132
This application note proposes a digital level shifter for connecting the I2S interfaces R&S®UPP-B2 and R&S®UPV-B41 to devices under test with a logic voltage different from 3.3 V.
27-Mar-2020 | AN-No. 1GA71
This application note applies to DC power supplies R&S®NGL200, R&S®NGM200, R&S®NGP800, R&S®NGU201 and R&S®NGU401, as well as LCR meters R&S®LCX100 and R&S®LCX200. It provides an overview over ethernet-based remote services provided by the referenced R&S® instruments. These services comprise an instrument web page, VNC remote control and FTP file transfer between the instrument and a remote computer. The application note gives instructions on how to set up the instrument and the remote computer in order to be able to utilize these services.
19-May-2022 | AN-No. 1GP135
This application program supports the logging and fast logging functionality of the power supplies R&S® NGM200, NGU201 and NGU401. Standard logging is also supported with power supply R&S® NGL200 and NGP800. Power supplies R&S® NGA100 and NGE100 are supported in the data collection mode. Charting functionality is available for logged voltage, current and power values.
14-Nov-2019 | AN-No. 1GP122
Source measure units R&S®NGU401 and R&S®NGU201 are capable of precise current measurements from sub-microampere up to ampere. This application note provides a tool which generates a voltage or current sweep using the arbitrary function of the instruments. A fast log captures voltage and current values during the sweep. Subsequently the application program determines the voltage and current value for each sweep step and plots the results in an I-V curve .The tool can be utilized to characterize all kinds of two-pole devices like diodes, LEDs and solar panels.This application note can also be used in connection with DC power supplies R&S®NGM201 and R&S®NGM202.
15-Feb-2021 | AN-No. 1GP129
The application program of this application note provides a tool for cycling battery samples, using two-quadrant DC power supplies from Rohde & Schwarz. The batteries can be repeatedly charged and discharged while collecting information about open-circuit voltage, loaded voltage and internal resistance, depending on the charged and discharged capacity. The tool provides a variety of charts for displaying the collected data. It can be used for characterizing battery samples, as well as for creating battery models which can be used in the battery simulations of R&S®NGU201 and R&S®NGM200.This tool is meant for the use by knowledgeable experts. The application note does not provide instructions on how to properly charge and discharge batteries.
17-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1GP130
Applications requiring higher voltages or currents, or a stack of voltage sources with taps in-between, demand the combination of several DC power supply channels in series or in parallel.All channels of DC power supplies R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 are isolated against the grounding equipment conductor and against the digital ground of the instrument. Therefore, channels can be connected in parallel for increasing the current capability, or in series for achieving higher voltages or dual-voltage supplies.When a large number of power supply channels is used, it is desirable to have a tool for configuring all instruments and channels from one user interface, and for keeping an overview over the states and measurement values from all channels.The application program of this application note provides such a tool. The document contains background information and user manual for the software.
27-Aug-2020 | AN-No. 1GP127
All channels of DC power supplies R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 are isolated against the grounding equipment conductor and against the digital ground of the instrument. Therefore, channels can be connected in parallel for increasing the current capability, or in series for achieving higher voltages or dual-voltage supplies. In the case of parallel and serial connections it is usually desired to switch all channels simultaneously on and off for protecting the supplied circuitry and for avoiding overcurrent on other power supply channels.This application note describes how to connect and configure DC power supplies R&S®NGL200 and R&S®NGM200 for synchronized on and off switching of all channels across multiple power supplies.
15-Jun-2020 | AN-No. 1GP126
Many applications in aerospace and defense as well as in mobile communication require a defined magnitude and phase relation between several signals, for example, to design a smart antenna array and it's distribution network, or to ensure accurate phase alignment between different transmitter or receiver chains of T/R modules. Magnitude can be measured with spectrum analyzers or power meters. For phase measurements, a vector network analyzer is the easiest, fastest and most accurate instrument.This application note shows how to measure the phase accurately between several signals using vector network analyzers of the R&S®ZNA, R&S®ZNB and R&S®ZNBT families.
11-Jul-2019 | AN-No. 1EZ82
High-precision two-quadrant power supplies generate current profiles and simulate batteries
10-Dec-2020
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
The R&S®ZNA vector network analyzer with integrated LO output and direct IF input options is a simple, cost-effective solution for 2-port and 4-port measurements using Rohde & Schwarz mmWave converters.
19-Jul-2021
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
Gated spectrum method with the R&S®PR200
03-Feb-2020
Using VISA (Virtual Instrument Software Architecture) several interfaces allow communication between your computer and instruments. This application note describes the usage of both - R&S® VISA- NI VISA running on Microsoft Windows 10™ with the following connection types: ► USB VCP (Virtual Com Port), also called USB CDC (Communications Device Class) ► USB TMC (Test and Measurement Class)► Ethernet Raw Port Socket► Ethernet in general e.g. VXI11 or HislipAll the examples are shown using the R&S® HMC8042 unless otherwise stated. There may be some difference when integrating other devices. As example some interface types are not available on every unit.This application note does not claim to be complete. All information has been compiled with care. However, errors can’t be ruled out.
28-Oct-2021 | AN-No. 1SL374
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
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
Since June 2017 almost all radio transmitters and receivers sold or put into operation in the European Union have to be tested for immunity against interferers in adjacent frequency bands. ETSI standard EN 303 345 defines the tests to be performed on broadcast sound receivers, and the requirements to be passed.This application note describes the test procedures and provides script files and interferer signals for the Broadcast Test Center R&S®BTC.
29-May-2020 | AN-No. 1GP117
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
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
Software tool for fast and repeatable optimization of signal analyzer RF front-end settings
The signal conditioning in the RF front-end of signal analyzers is crucial to achieve the best performance with respect to image-suppression, noise-floor, dynamic range and other RF-key parameters.Precise signal levelling is especially important for complex measurements like Error-Vector-Magnitude (EVM). To minimize the measurement uncertainty from test system contributions over a wide range of different levels, the RF front-end needs to be adapted continuously according to the signal characteristics, signal power and frequency - ideally using an automatic levelling algorithm.This document describes the approach of a waveform specific, on-site characterization of the signal analyzer: For each waveform and frequency of interest, the instrument is evaluated in a first step. With this additional data, a fast and repeatable auto-levelling can be performed during the actual measurement.
24-Jan-2022 | AN-No. 1EF111
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
Automating measurement setups is advantageous for multiple reasons. It saves time in case of repeated measurements and in hazardous environments, instruments can be operated from a distance. The measurements are repeatable because they are always performed with a defined procedure, leading to higher test confidence.But in remote control applications, users often perceive synchronization and binary transfers as challenging. Therefore, this application note focuses on binary transfer of data to and from the instrument and shows code example to demonstrate the ease of use.
31-Mar-2022 | AN-No. 1SL381