TEST & MEASUREMENT APPLICATION NOTES AND WHITE PAPERS

  • VCO Measurements With FSPN Phase Noise Analyzer

    This application note provides a short technical introduction to voltage-controlled oscillators and explains the most common and the most important measurements made during the VCO characterization process.

  • Noise Figure: What Is It And Why Does It Matter?

    Noise figure is a key parameter that quantifies receiver performance by measuring how low a power a signal receiver can detect. This white paper covers the basic principles of noise figure, how to make sense of its specifications, how it is measured, and why this parameter is important in high-performance applications.

  • Power Supply Control Loop Response Measurements (Bode Plot)

    The R&S® RTx-K36 frequency response analysis (Bode plot) option provides a low-cost alternative to low frequency network analyzers or dedicated standalone frequency analyzers. 

  • Top 10 Considerations For Automotive EMC Chamber Design And Testing

    This resource will help you avoid the most common mistakes and outlines the important things to consider to successfully develop or refine an automotive EMC chamber and test design.

  • DPX® Acquisition Technology For Spectrum Analyzers Fundamentals

    Signal detection is the first step in characterizing, diagnosing, understanding, and resolving any problem that relates to time-variant signals. Engineers are requiring better tools to help find and interpret complex signal behaviors and interactions. The Tektronix Digital Phosphor technology, or DPX®, can be used in Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers (RSAs) to reveal signal details that are completely missed by conventional spectrum analyzers and vector signal analyzers. This white paper describes the methods behind the DPX Live RF spectrum display, swept DPX, Time-Domain DPX Displays, DPX Density™ measurements, DPX Density™ and Frequency Edge triggers.

TEST & MEASUREMENT SOLUTIONS

The RFvision-3 is a tunable ultra-wideband spectrum processing solution designed for 1 GHz bandwidth RF spectrum recording with advanced pulse processing. This rack-mount (3U) system is based on the DTA-9590W ultra-wideband tuner and DTA-5000 RAID server with 24 TB SSDs. It operates from 500 MHz to 18 GHz (expandable up to 40 GHz) and features 100 MHz instantaneous bandwidth.

The series of GORE® VNA microwave/RF test assemblies from W.L. Gore are designed to provide the most precise VNA measurements in laboratory conditions, setting the standard for vector network analyzers (VNAs) through 70 GHz. These test assemblies deliver the highest accuracy and greatest time intervals between recalibrations for many applications, including those with vector network analyzers, critical measurements, and laboratory testing.

The dB-9001 from dB Control is a custom-mounted Instantaneous Frequency Measurement (IFM) unit designed to operate in the C, X, and Ku-band frequency range and provide highly accurate measurements at 100 ns to CW pulse width measurements.

The dB-3907 TWT Amplifier (TWTA) is designed to use two wideband, periodic permanent magnet (PPM)-focused TWTs to amplify CW, AM, FM or pulse-modulated signals. The dB-3907 offers higher saturated output power and improved harmonic performance when compared to a single TWT approach.

D-TA Systems offers the MFEL 1000 portable ELINT data collection solution designed to provide automatic spectrum scanning for signal activity (pulse or CW), PDW extraction and de-interleaving to tracks where signal characterization is performed automatically. The system includes a built-in 6 TB (expandable to 18 TB) SSD data storage for I/Q data collection in both on-site and off-site analysis.

The A.H. Systems' line of Current Probe Calibration Fixtures are a great way to keep your broadband Current Probes, and Injection Current Probes calibrated and up to date. Their rugged design ensures long life, and faultless operation over the wide calibration frequency range of 10 kHz to 1000 MHz.

The EVO-RSA-6070A is part of the EVO Series of extended frequency spectrum analyzers from Avcom designed for higher performance and agility in applications with continuously changing requirements. The included SDR-style technology analyzer includes a wide bandwidth receiver and employs FPGA, DSP, and high-performance processors.

Electrostatic discharge testing is utilized worldwide by electronics manufacturers to determine the ESD susceptibility of their devices. It is extremely difficult to estimate the exact cost of ESD loss annually, but it can safely be stated that ESD requires the development and testing of many hardware prototypes and contributes to a high number of warranty claims and loss of consumer confidence if failure occurs in the hands of the customer. Given the high cost in time and materials associated with ESD hardware testing, the ability to simulate the ESD testing process in XFdtd is extremely valuable, allowing engineers to pinpoint locations susceptible to ESD damage and optimize ESD mitigation during the concept and design stage of product development.