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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.
93 Results
This paper explains how to use the Rohde & Schwarz IVI.NET instrument drivers in Visual Studio environment from the prospective of an occasional C# programmer in need of automating a measurement task.
31-May-2016 | AN-No. 1MA268
Oscilloscopes are increasingly used to analyze pulsed signals such as radar signals for aerospace and defence as well as automotive applications. The oscilloscopes’ wide analysis bandwidth and manifold trigger capabilities, make them a good fit for the increasing demand for higher bandwidths and accurate signal detection in these applications. R&S®VSE vector signal explorer software is a powerful tool for comprehensive analysis of a variety of signals, providing full support to the Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscope advanced trigger system. Adjusting the trigger settings enables pulses and pulse sequences to be isolated and run full pulse analysis using the R&S®VSE vector signal explorer software.
03-Feb-2021
Many serial interfaces use Manchester or non-return-to-zero (NRZ) coding. Oscilloscopes typically offer dedicated software options for debugging and testing the communications interfaces for common standards such as I2C, UART or CAN. The R&S®RTx-K50 option expands the addressable range of interface standards by adding decoding capability for standardized and proprietary Manchester or NRZ coded buses. It allows customizable configuration of the protocol structure that has to be decoded.
19-Oct-2020
Simultaneously measure various current levels from μA to A in all phases of IoT device activity – from sleep to receive and transmit mode
01-Oct-2019
Phase difference is the key parameter when characterizing direction finding (DF) scenarios. To analyze DF equipment, the phase difference needs to be determined before measuring other parameters such as the bearing. The R&S®VSE-K6A multichannel pulse analysis software in combination with a Rohde & Schwarz oscilloscope provides phase difference measurements even in challenging environments, utilizing the test equipment’s advanced trigger capabilities.
02-Mar-2021
R&S®VISA is a standardized software library that allows fast communications over diverse interfaces with a wide variety of T&M instruments that are detected on the network from PC applications. R&S®VISA also includes a trace tool that simultaneously monitors communications between multiple applications and T&M instruments, and permits targeted analysis with the aid of efficient filters.
26-May-2020 | AN-No. 1DC02
Versatile Software Tool for Rohde & Schwarz Instruments
RSCommander is a versatile software tool for a wide range of Rohde & Schwarz spectrum-, network analyzers, signal generators and oscilloscopes. It allows for automatic instrument discovery, making screenshots, reading traces, file transfer and simple script creation.
24-Dec-2017 | AN-No. 1MA074
In general, most of the existing electronic devices are connected to the AC mains and require a power conversion stage to convert the AC-Voltage to a smaller DC-Voltage. Voltages and frequencies of the power grid differ between different regions. However, different types of AC-DC conversion stages exist to supply the electronic equipment with adequate DC-power.In AC-DC conversion combined with power levels less than 50W, the flyback converter is a commonplace chosen topology because of its simplicity and its low cost. The majority of consumer products make use of this converter type like wall brick power supplies or power adapters for any consumer application and other type of stand-by auxiliary power supply like used in white and brown goods. In AC to DC converter application, an electrical isolation between input and output is mandatory. The flyback topology provides this galvanic barrier.Beside the common advantages of a flyback converter, it has inherently parasitic components, which typically produce ringing waveforms with considerably high voltage spikes. Without suppressing this unwanted ringing, it may have some negative effect on other components like the switching elements. This ringing can also influence the EMI emissions adversely. Therefore, it is an important task to adequate suppress and damp the ringing effect. This damping circuit is known as snubber circuit and provides this functionality. In the flyback converter, different snubber structures can be applied and each of the structure has its advantage and disadvantage.The demand having a snubber circuit in the power supply topology leads to specific verification methods during the design to obtain a proper and reliable design. These verification methods are the main focus of the discussions within this document.
23-Jun-2021 | AN-No. 1SL363
Deep memory in an oscilloscope ensures that long waveforms are captured with high resolution right down to the details thanks to a high sustained sample rate. Users can be confident that they are not ‘missing anything’. They benefit from viewing longer periods of time and quickly finding signal anomalies or important events.
21-Mar-2017
Secondary surveillance radar (SSR) bridges the gap between communications systems and classic radar systems. Despite the increasing capabilities of mobile communications, SSR remains a major component in airspace surveillance. State-of-the-art methods such as Mode S reply enhance SSR with broadcast-like capabilities and enable airports in remote locations to surveil the airspace even if no radar is available. More advanced techniques such as automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) utilize the infrastructure provided by a Mode S reply transponder to provide even more information for ground control and other aircraft.
17-May-2021
Getting EMI emissions under control is one of those tasks that R&D engineers do not enjoy doing . EMI must often be taken into consideration as early as the design phase, particularly in the case of power electronics systems with increasing switching speeds of wideband gap semiconductors. While EMI receivers or spectrum analyzers are always the preferred choice for these measurements, they are often not available as standard measurement equipment in the R&D lab. To allow optimization early on in the R&D lab, Rohde & Schwarz provides a free tool to simplify conducted emissions debugging using oscilloscopes.
27-Sep-2021 | AN-No. 1SL372
This document is divided in two parts and starts with an introduction in AC-DC conversion principles in general. It will present the most common circuits used for different power levels. The switching mode power supply (SMPS) converter will be the main focus as they are used everywhere in the electronics. Especially the flyback converter design in different flavors are highlighted. Nevertheless, all measurements are also applicable for other SMPS converter designs operating at higher power levels.In the second part of this document, most relevant testing methods and procedures of an AC-DC converter are highlighted. For each testing section, a fundamental part will be upfront discussed and it is followed by a presentation of a suitable measurement method. In this second part, the device under test (DUT) is considered as black box device and thus the structure is similar. Therefore, the testing parts consists of methods related to input tests, output tests and a combination of both like efficiency. Of course, some test performed at the output of the converter are also relevant for DC-DC converter, e.g. the validation of the output ripple.
14-Nov-2022 | AN-No. 1SL387
This Application Note gives 10 useful Tips & Tricks for the users of Rohde & Schwarz attribute-based instrument drivers. It is recommended for the first-time LabVIEW users as well as for the experienced programmers.
30-Jan-2017 | AN-No. 1MA228
The scope of the subject “radar” has expanded in the recent years in terms of its technical evolution and spreading of applications. This application note along with its corresponding white paper 1MA207 show how to use the R&S radar product portfolio to tackle test and measurement tasks in modern radar technology. Target groups are students who want to become familiar with radar issues as well as radar professionals who want to solve certain test and measurement tasks.
10-Aug-2012 | AN-No. 1MA127
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
Timing components such as low jitter oscillators and clocks are necessary to facilitate increasing data rates in high speed digital designs. As part of the overall system design, the components also have to perform in the system’s non-ideal power integrity environment and limit the power supply induced phase noise and jitter from power rail disturbances. Measuring the power supply noise rejection (PSNR) requires accurate generation and leveling of artificial, sinusoidal disturbances and measurement of resulting phase-noise and jitter impairments.
30-Sep-2020
LTE-Advanced comprises multiple features enhancing the basic LTE technology firstly specified in 3GPP Release 8. LTE including the LTEAdvanced improvements was approved by ITU to comply with IMT-Advanced requirements and thus being a true 4G mobile communication system. The different technology components of LTE-Advanced have different market priorities and require different testing strategies. This application note summarizes the Rohde &Schwarz test solutions for LTE-Advanced (Release 10) using Vector Signal Generators, Signal and Spectrum Analyzers and the Wideband Radio Communication Tester.
03-Sep-2014 | AN-No. 1MA166
This document provides an introduction to SDR as used for military radios and presents the relevant T&M solutions offered by Rohde & Schwarz.
15-Sep-2012 | AN-No. 1MA206
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
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
Comprehensive test solutions guide for production and R&D
Small cell is a compact base station with smaller form factor and lower transmission power in comparison to the conventional macro base station. It covers relatively small area and serves less users. Usually, small cell can be integrated into the existing mobile network. By the evolution of radio access technology, the role of small cell has been changing through the evolution path. In the 2G/3G time, its role was to provide coverage in corner cases. Later during LTE, networks are not just providing coverage but capacity too. Small cells were then used to provide the addition capacity where required without adding additional spectrum. Now in 5G era, network operators use densification as an important strategy to provide seamless 5G services which demand coverage, capacity and performance too. With use cases requiring the 5G millimeter wave (mmW) rollouts, it makes sense to use small cells for densification due to the propagation characteristics of mmW.In this application note, we will shed light on the testing aspects of a small cell throughout the product life cycle with particular focus on the production test solution for the small cell device under test (DUT) in FR2 (frequency range 2, mmW frequency band) in Over the Air (OTA) environment for option 6 split based on radio communication tester R&S®CMP200 and OTA chamber R&S®CMQ200. The document is complemented with more insights into test solutions used in typical R&D test applications towards the second half of the application note.
19-Jun-2023 | AN-No. 1SL395
Increasing demands on power distribution networks have resulted in smaller DC rails, as well as a proliferation of rails that ensure clean power reaches the pins of integrated circuits.
07-Mar-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
This application note explains how to convert different Rohde & Schwarz I/Q file formats among each other using the supplied software tool.
23-Sep-2015 | AN-No. 1EF85
From designing a test setup to performing accurate measurements
Double-Pulse testing is a standard test-method used in power electronics design. Accurate measurements require a careful design of the test setup and the selection of the right measurement instruments. This application note discusses important aspects of double-pulse test setups as well as how to perform accurate measurements.
22-Mar-2021 | AN-No. GFM347
O-RAN radio units (O-RU) contribute significantly to the high power consumption of 5G networks. Making O-RUs energy efficient without sacrificing O-RAN innovations is a top priority.
19-Mar-2024
Before devices can be used in a LoRaWANTM network, they must among other things meet country-specific wireless communications regulations. This application note shows developers and manufacturers of devices with LoRa wireless technology how transmitter measurements are conducted in line with FCC Part 15.247. It also describes how important receiver characteristics can be verified by metrological means. In this context, battery life in particular plays a key role in IoT applications. A further chapter describes how current consumption of LoRa wireless modules can be measured reliably.
29-Nov-2017 | AN-No. 1MA295
Road safety is a global challenge at present and will be in the future. Automotive radar has become a keyword in this area and pushes again a step forward to increase driving comfort, crash prevention and even automated driving.Driver assistance systems which are supported by radar are already common. Most assistant systems are increasing the drivers comfort by collision warning systems, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, lane-change assistance, rear cross-traffic alerts and back-up parking assistance.Today's 24 GHz, 77 GHz and 79 GHz radar sensors clearly need the capability to distinguish between different objects and offer high range resolution. That is possible with increased signal bandwidth.Furthermore, those radar systems need to cope with interference of many kinds like the one from other car's radar.This Application Note addresses signal measurements and analysis of automotive radars that are crucial during the development and verification stages. It also shows a setup to verify the functionality of a radar in case of radio interference.
10-Jun-2016 | AN-No. 1MA267
Rohde & Schwarz recognizes the potential risk of computer virus infection when con-necting Windows®-based test instrumenta-tion to other computers via local area net-works (LANs), or using removable storage devices.This white paper introduces measures to minimize malware threats and discusses ways to mitigate risks while insuring that instrument performance is not compro-mised.The paper discusses the use of anti-virus software. It also outlines how to keep the Windows® 7 operating system properly updated through regular installation of OS patches.
27-Jan-2015 | AN-No. 1DC01
The application note guides developers and manufactures of Sigfox Devices to perform the required and recommended measurements with test solutions from Rohde & Schwarz. The note will help bring ultranarrowband IoT devices and applications using Sigfox technology to the market as fast as possible and help ensure the desired quality and performance.For R&D, Pre-certification and QA, all currently defined Uplink- and Downlink- measurements are shown using the compact R&S®FPL1000 Spectrum Analyzer and R&S®SMBV100A Vector Signal Generator.For Production, use of the R&S®CMW100A Communications Manufacturing Test Set is shown for the most essential Uplink RF tests on Sigfox Devices.Python scripts for giving example SCPI commands demonstrate how measurements shown in manual use can easily be automated.
15-Nov-2017 | AN-No. 1MA294