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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.
190 Results
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
Modern mobile phones can support cellular and noncellular wireless communications standards at the same time. This means, however, that the subsystems must operate in very close proximity to each other within a single device (in-device coexistence). The resulting high level of reciprocal leakage can at times cause considerable interference.This application note employs preliminary theoretical analysis and demonstrates how the problems of indevice coexistence can be measured. For german version please visit .
28-Apr-2015 | AN-No. 1MA255
Unattended observation of spectrum occupancy for finding spurious emissions or seldom-occuring interferers is a common task for spectrum analyzers. Sometimes spectrum data has to be monitored over quite a long period of time. TraceRecorder, a small, free-of-charge software tool for storing measurement data from Rohde & Schwarz spectrum analyzers helps you to perform this measurement task. Running on a PC, it connects to the spectrum analyzer via a LAN interface. For stand alone operation, it is possible to run it directly on a spectrum analyzer, eliminating the need for an additonal computer during data acquisition.
08-Dec-2010 | AN-No. 1MA105
P25 and FRMCS scanning
Key points: Critical Infrastructure: Learn about mission-critical communication for various agencies who deal with Public Safety such as first responders, police, firefighters, medics and its crucial role in ensuring safety of society.Reliability of Communication: Understand the challenges posed by mission-critical communication, highlighting performance and reliability needs and special requirements such as safe group communications.Technology Migration: Delve into the migration of mission-critical communication from long-standing narrow-band technologies to broadband use cases considering migration timelines.Measurement Techniques: Explore network measurement methods for passive testing of legacy MCX technologies planned to be used in the networks for quite some time (a later release of the document will focus on the broadband successors)
12-Mar-2024 | AN-No. 8NT12
This Application Note describes testing S-parameters under pulsed conditions with the R&S®ZVA vector network analyzer and either the ZVAX24 Extension unit with pulse modular option or the R&S®SMF signal generator with pulse modulator as a signal source.In addition a constant power level calibration for applications requiring high drive power for test and measurement of device under test (DUT) is also included. A LDMOS S-band radar power transistor is used as example DUT. The pulse profile mode of the R&S®ZVA is used to analyze the time-dependent behavior of the DUT.
11-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1MA126
EW receivers are tested in the lab at RF to discover problems before flight testing. This eliminates cost and schedule risk. Flight testing can cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour and must be scheduled many months in advance. In contrast, using test equipment to test at RF might require a certain upfront cost but provides a readily-accessible capability to simulate radar threats at RF for a long time. This application note explains how the angle-of-arrival (AoA) capabilities of EW receivers can be tested with commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) RF test equipment. Topics covered are the generation of scenarios, instrument setup, and setup calibration. We will use a radar warning receiver (RWR) as a proxy for a generic EW receiver in this application note.
22-Dec-2021 | AN-No. 1GP125
Measuring the spurious emissions of transmitters used in GSM, DCS 1800 and PCS 1900 networks requires highly complex test setups since con-ventional spectrum analyzers do not have the necessary dynamic range. To obtain this range, notch filters are used to suppress the useful sig-nal. The spectrum analyzers of the FSE family make it possible for the first time to verify com-pliance with stipulated limit values for spurious emissions within the transmission band and out-side the reception band without the use of notch filters. The measurement problem and its solution by means of FSE are described in the following by way of the example of a GSM base station.
16-Jan-2002 | AN-No. 1EF17
A test setup is described for easy demonstration of the Bit Error Rate Test (BERT) function of AMIQ/AMIQ-B1. The test setup contains I/Q Modulation Generator AMIQ/AMIQ-B1 controlled by I/Q Simulation Software WinIQSIM, Vector Signal Generator SMIQ and Spectrum/Vector Signal Analyzer FSE/FSE-B7. The FSE with FSE-B7 is used as online FSK demodulator (setting: Analog demodulation, FM Signal, DC coupling, Real Time On) to demodulate the SMIQ RF signal FSK-modulated by PRBS data. The AMIQ is controlled by WinIQSIM software and receives the demodulated AF output signal from the FSE for BER testing.
29-Sep-1998 | AN-No. 1MA16
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
IoT devices have tight requirements for power consumption in order to achieve expected battery life times of multiple years without a connection to a power supply. In order to verify the power consumption and expected battery life time, voltage and current have to be measured accurately for different operating states of the device under test.This application note explains battery life tests using RT-ZVC in combination with CMWrun and CMW500, including example applications.The solution by Rohde & Schwarz enables precise voltage, current and consequently, power measurements.The RT-ZVC Multi-Channel Power Probe can be driven as part of a test plan combining signaling and power measurements for a detailed view of the power consumption in different signaling states as well as an estimation of overall lifetime given a certain battery capacity.
17-Feb-2017 | AN-No. 1MA281
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruled that no later than February 17, 2009, all analog NTSC broadcasting must come to an end. It is therefore not surprising that the demand for ATSC receivers is high at the time this application note was published. ATSC TV sets and set-tops are subject to the ATSC recommended practice Doc.A/74 “Receiver Performance Guidelines” before they can be sold freely in the markets that adopted the standard. Although the number of tests defined in Doc.A/74 is less extensive then the ones for their DVB-T counterparts (EN62002, MBRAI), some clarification is nevertheless due.
27-Sep-2012 | AN-No. 7BM71
Level or power measurement of especially modulated signals using spectrum analyzers is becoming more and more important . Whereas the first choice in terms of accuracy for power measurement of any carrier (modulated or non-modulated) is a power meter, power measurement of spurious or in the adjacent channel of a transmission system needs a selective power meter with high dynamic range. A power meter, however, is a non-selective device with limited dynamic range and is not appropriate for these types of measurements. The first choice is a spectrum analyzer because of its versatile use as a general-purpose instrument. Compared to a power meter its power measurement accuracy is worse. In general this can be overcome by substitution methods using a power meter, an attenuator and a signal generator. But substitution is time-consuming and requires more investment in test equipment than a single instrument. Therefore it is most important to have a spectrum analyzer like the FSE, which can fulfill at least most of the requirements in terms of measurement accuracy.
13-Jan-1998 | AN-No. 1EF36
During wireless transmission over the air a signal is subject to fading. Since fading can strongly influence the communication, devices such as mobile phones must be tested under real-world conditions to verify their performance. The Rohde & Schwarz vector signal generators R&S®SMW200A, R&S®SMU200A and R&S®AMU200A make it possible to perform such tests. Their integrated real-time fading simulators reproduce well-defined and repeatable real-world test scenarios to bring reality into your laboratory. A multitude of standard-compliant, preconfigured fading scenarios make the configuration as easy as possible.This application note gives a brief introduction to fading and explains how to use the fading simulators in custom applications.
26-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1GP99
Modern automotive radar systems occupy very wide bandwidth in order to have a good location resolution. In most cases the bandwidth is a result of frequency modulation or fast frequency hopping techniques, in some cases also pulse modulation is used. Besides the measurement of the frequency variation over time like deviation and linearity, the verification of emissions according to EN or FCC standards is mandatory. ETSI regulations for measuring peak transmission power from radar operating at 77-81 GHz require 50 MHz resolution bandwidth for the measurements. Publications are available that describe the measurements on pulsed UWB or MB-OFDM signals in detail, for frequency-modulated signals the information is limited.This application note provides information how to perform spectral emission measurements on frequency modulated CW signals with spectrum analyzers using RBW filters with very wide bandwidth, and explains the capabilities and the limiting factors of the Rohde & Schwarz FSW signal and spectrum analyzer to perform this measurement.
28-Jun-2019 | AN-No. 1EF107
Spurious emission search with spectrum analyzers is one of the most demanding measurements in the design, verification and production of RF and microwave devices. RF designers, especially in the aerospace & defense industry need to detect very low level spurs. Very narrow resolution bandwidths are required to measure with a low noise floor, hence increasing measurement time. Even working with very fast spectrum analyzers, a spur search may take several hours or even days.In this paper we will review the basics of spurious measurements and how the parameters used can affect the detection performance. A new technique as used in the R&S®FSW-K50 spurious measurement application which makes spurious search faster and easier to configure.
14-Jul-2017 | AN-No. 1EF97
This white paper introduces a novel attribute based architecture for VXIplug&play instrument drivers. The presented architecture uses the attribute based concept of IVI-C instrument drivers to introduce a two-layer design for VXIplug&play instrument drivers. Moreover the use of attributes is shown for the Rohde & Schwarz Spectrum Analyzer (rsspecan) instrument driver.
01-Dec-2012 | AN-No. 1MA170
Despite the advent of advanced digital transmission methods, analog broadcasting remains highly important. Until now, measurements on FM transmitters in connection with acceptance testing, commissioning and maintenance required using a variety of T&M instruments.The R&S ETL TV analyzer combines these instruments' capabilities in a single unit and can completely replace them. Now, for the first time, acceptance test measurements can be conducted on FM transmitters quickly and easily using just one compact test instrument. The R&S ETL provides the functionalities of a power meter, spectrum analyzer, audio generator, FM measurement demodulator, stereo decoder, audio analyzer and more in just one box.
10-Sep-2013 | AN-No. 7BM105
This application note describes in detail the steps required to make a noise figure measurement on a spectrum analyzer using the “Y Factor” technique. Background equations are presented for each step of the calculation. In addition, guidelines are provided to ensure a repeatable measurement. Measurement uncertainty is then reviewed, including contributions due to the noise source, analyzer, and the DUT itself. Finally, a software utility is presented that automates the noise figure calculation using four measurements from a spectrum analyzer. The utility checks the measurement guidelines and highlights potential problem areas. It then calculates the noise figure for the DUT along with the measurement uncertainty.
25-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1MA178
Digital pre-distortion (DPD) is a common method to linearize the output signal of a power amplifier (PA), which is being operated in its non-linear operating range.Most PAs operate in their non-linear range for efficiency reasons. The drawback of higher efficiency is the non-linear operating range. In order to maintain signal quality, many transmitters employ DPD. Implementing real-time DPD in a transmitter is a challenging task and often ends in PA models, which are specific to the signal transmitted.Even though these complex models are required for transmitter development, they are not needed during PA verification and development.This article describes an approach to generate a pre-distorted signal based on a hard-clipper. The resulting waveform pushes the output of the DUT as close to the hard-clipper as possible.Due to the waveform approach, the algorithm compensates all memory effects.
13-Sep-2017 | AN-No. 1EF99
In the T&M world, instrument remote control over SNMP (simple network management protocol) lives in the shadow of IEEE/GPIB (general purpose interface bus) based remote control, and only a handful of the T&M equipment available worldwide supports the protocol. It is therefore no surprise that for most T&M engineers familiar with text-based commands over IEEE/GPIB (and lately LAN), the SNMP protocol seems a bit odd and to some even complex at first. The SNMP Toolkit for LabVIEW™ from Viodia™ Inc. can save a considerable amount of development time and furthermore helps programmers to overcome the initial complexities of SNMP programming.
18-Oct-2007 | AN-No. 7BM70
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
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
Testing global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers can be done easily, reliably and cost-efficiently by using the R&S®SMBV100A vector signal generator. This GNSS simulator can generate GPS, Glonass, Galileo, and BeiDou signals for up to 24 satellites in real time.This application note explains how to perform automated receiver tests using the R&S®SMBV100A. The presented tests include TTFF, sensitivity, and location accuracy measurements, moving receiver and interference tests, and many more. Basic remote control examples are provided for the individual tests to ease programming. This application note further includes a short guide for parsing NMEA data.
29-Jul-2014 | AN-No. 1GP86
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
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
Development of modern EW systems is a complex and expensive process, that requires thorough testing against all requirements during all phases of development. To keep cost under control, system level testing in the lab is key and brings several advantages: test cases can be reproduced under the exact same conditions as often as necessary. System level testing in the lab is often performed in a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) environment. This application note provides some insight into generating radar signals for hardware-in-the-loop testing with the R&S®SMW200A. An introduction to HIL testing and realtime operation of the R&S®SMW200A is given. The hardware and software interface, the PDW format and synchronization and timing mechanisms are described. Additionally, various example scenarios and detailed information about intermediate calculations are provided. The application note also provides information about system requirements for advanced PDW streaming with multiple emitters on multiple parallel streams.
22-Jan-2021 | AN-No. 1GP124
A whole series of measurements has to be carried out for drafting an acceptance test report for a VHF sound broadcasting transmitter in compliance with ARD Specifications 5/3.1 (= TL 5820-3018 of the Deutsche Bundespost). As in most cases parameters like transmitter output power, frequency stability, spurious modulation, etc. have to be measured in the two stereo channels of the transmitter separately and at different modulation frequencies and frequency deviation, manual-controlled measurements are very time-consuming. In addition, a great variety of test equipment eg AF generator, stereodecoder, level meter, etc. is required for the measurements. FMAB with option FMA-B4 (AM/FM Calibrator / AF Generator) is ideally suitable for these measurements on VHF sound broadcasting receivers. The internal AF generator provides the signals required for the left and the right stereo channel. The MPX signal from the VHF transmitter is decoded by the built-in stereodecoder. As a result many of the tests and measurements required for the acceptance of VHF sound broadcasting receivers can be carried out without any additional test equipment being required. To give an example, a test program running under the graphics user interface Microsoft Windows has been developed for carrying out automatic power and modulation measurements via a PC.
04-Jun-1998 | AN-No. 1EF09
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
More and more everyday items such as household appliances, vehicles, lights, etc. are now connected to the Internet, forming what is known as the "Internet of Things". Even clothing with sewn-in sensors to measure vital functions can now connect to the Internet and transmit data to cloud services. These different things use a variety of wireless technology standards to establish a connection. Due to its popularity, one of the most important standards is Bluetooth (or Bluetooth Low Energy). Before a new product with Bluetooth functionality can be launched, the qualification process defined by the Bluetooth SIG must be successfully completed. To save time and money, performance tests need to be performed in the development stage. This application note describes how to use the R&S CMW platform to perform the measurements defined in Bluetooth test specification version 5. As an alternative solution, we also cover how to perform almost all of the measurements with a spectrum analyzer and signal generator.The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Rohde & Schwarz is under license.
19-Jun-2017 | AN-No. 1MA282
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