03.27.24 -- Exploring VCOs, Jitter, And Beyond With Cutting-Edge Analyzers

Advanced radar and satellite communication technologies demand innovative testing solutions for developing RF components such as voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO). The R&S®FSPN phase noise analyzer enhances the efficiency and reproducibility of VCO characterization and phase noise measurements across laboratory and production settings. Examine this concise technical overview of VCOs and key measurements crucial in their characterization process.

The R&S®FSMR3000 (FSMR) is a versatile instrument combining a measurement receiver, signal and spectrum analyzer, and phase noise analyzer. This note showcases FSMR's application, utilizing its cross-correlation option (R&S®FSMR3-B60), to analyze the phase noise of a raw signal generator (R&®SMA100B). With cross-correlation, sensitivity increases by 5 · log(n) dB, significantly enhancing phase noise floor, e.g., 10 correlations can improve it by 5 dB.

Advances in digital signal processing have led to increasingly digital wireless and radar systems, demanding more information in limited bandwidth. Modulation formats in wireless are more intricate, while radar systems aim to track slow-moving targets amidst clutter. Phase noise, a critical RF parameter, now significantly impacts system performance. This note will concentrate on measuring phase noise for pulsed RF carriers, vital for radar systems.

This application note reviews the measurement uncertainty analysis and traceability for phase noise with the new R&S®FSWP phase noise analyzer. It describes the new approach for measuring phase noise with the R&S®FSWP using direct downconversion with cross-correlation and focuses on traceability using a derived primary measurement standard.

Increasing data rates in high-speed digital designs and wireless communications require SerDes PLLs and clock synthesizers with low additive phase noise and high jitter attenuation. Modern designs often follow a two-stage architecture, consisting of a jitter-attenuator and a frequency-synthesizer stage. Due to their high phase noise sensitivity, phase noise analyzers are the instruments of choice for these tests. To stimulate the PLL, an additional signal source with ultra low phase noise is required.

This paper reviews the classical spectrum analyzer measurement of L(f) and its shortcomings and discusses how modern phase noise test sets measure phase noise and avoid the limitations imposed by direct spectrum measurements.