The 2007 IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium offers Keithley two important opportunities. The first, obviously, is to demonstrate the value of our products to a broad range of industry insiders; the second is to gain insights and knowledge from the experts on the fast-changing technologies on which the industry is based and the challenges those evolving technologies will pose for wireless testing in the future.
For example, we’ve learned the industry must be prepared to handle the testing challenges associated with the migration of radio technology from older cell phone technologies (such as GSM or CDMA) toward evolving connectivity technologies.
These include Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (also known as Multi-User OFDM) technology and Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna technology and, ultimately, on the convergence of those technologies in products such as 4G (fourth-generation wireless) cell phones. These 4G products will undoubtedly demand a broad new set of capabilities for product development and production test.
The Wireless World Research Forum (WWRF) defines 4G as a network that operates on Internet technology, combines it with other applications and technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMAX, and runs at speeds ranging from 100 Mbit/s (in cell phone networks) to 1 Gbit/s (in local Wi-Fi networks). No single 4G technology or standard has been defined; instead, testing 4G products will demand a combination of technologies and protocols to enable the highest throughput, lowest cost wireless network possible.
Despite the uncertainty about precisely which technologies will be involved, testing tomorrow’s wireless products will obviously require the use of wide bandwidth sources and analyzers in order to handle the broad range of signal frequencies involved.
Just as obviously, wireless manufacturers will demand test instrumentation that allows them to control their testing costs tightly so they can continue to make a profit even while their hottest, priciest products eventually become commodity items retailed at a far lower price point.
Both of these factors were major considerations in the design of Keithley’s Model 2910 RF Vector Signal Generator and Model 2810 RF Vector Signal Analyzer. These instruments can handle signals with bandwidths up to 40 MHz.
They also both employ a software-defined radio architecture that allows manufacturers to adapt their test lines to new wireless technologies faster and more economically than ever before.
This architecture offers wireless manufacturers the flexibility needed to incorporate new signal structures and instrument features into their production test lines simply by uploading a firmware update to the instrument.
Modifications to a line’s capabilities that once would have taken months to complete and tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of new equipment can now be implemented in minutes at a reasonable cost. This architecture also offers manufacturers the flexibility of testing multiple products or components on a single line.
Similarly, the wireless industry will continue to need ever-higher test throughput to meet customer demand cost-effectively. To address this challenge in the Models 2810 and 2910, Keithley turned to DSP-based measurement capabilities.
The wireless test hardware of tomorrow must offer higher channel counts, wider bandwidth and functionality that is increasingly defined by software rather than hardware. At Keithley, we’re already deep into exploring new ways to meet these challenges.