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RF and radio system development is becoming more complex at a time that technical support is becoming more diffused. Design Accelerator hardware development tools can speed design and development. This paper presents how Design Accelerators reduce design time, an analysis of how different types of accelerator boards serve different development needs (from designing waveforms or developing software, to proving concepts and prototyping), as well as an exploration of the different levels of integration available in accelerator boards.

A VNA measures reflection coefficients of RF devices and systems. To be very meticulous, each measurement should be accompanied by an uncertainty with a specified statistical confidence interval. To understand the measurement uncertainty, or accuracy, it is important to understand the contributing factors, which are explored in this white paper.

Our daily activities rely on a wide range of radio-frequency (RF) receivers. These are designed to achieve certain performance requirements and meet published specifications though often in a test lab environment. Learn how to ensure reliable operation, testing with nonideal or impaired signals and more from Rohde & Schwarz experts.

Conformance tests are performed on serial data interfaces such as USB, HDMI and PCI Express to ensure interoperability between electronic devices and accessories. In cases where signal integrity problems are encountered, the R&S®RTP oscilloscope supports root cause analysis by providing powerful tools such as eye diagrams, jitter and noise separation as well as time domain reflectometry.

Advancements within the telecom industry and digital communication methods complicate an RF measurement system’s capability to accurately characterize system components. This resource reviews how the air interface layer has changed throughout this digital evolution and explains how measurement systems often need to be upgraded to meet the new performance criteria.

Positioning technologies will continue to play an essential role in wireless communications. The influence of these technologies is transitioning to a “must-have” approach requiring resilient and reliable provisioning of location estimates. Register now for a concise description of 5G-relevant positioning technologies, related test challenges and how to solve them.

Imagine if it was possible to build multi-channel microwave radio systems leveraging optical rather than copper interconnects. Several benefits of this paradigm shift seem likely to follow including:

• Streaming sample, control & configuration data, as well as reference clock and synchronization signals via fiber simplifies radio front-end design, signal distribution whilst simultaneously reducing cable mass
• Eliminating copper signal wiring in future radio designs offers increased architectural freedom and flexibility whilst reducing crosstalk and inter-channel interference for better performance.
• The optical concept substantiates a valuable separation of front-end analog design from back-end digital signal processing heralding the arrival of fully digital antennas with enhanced operation arising from advanced electronic beam steering.

In this article, a comparison focused on the power efficiency of analog, digital, and hybrid beamforming architectures is presented. A detailed equation-based model for the power consumption of the three architectures was developed for a receive phased array. The model clearly illustrates the contributions of various components to the total power consumption and how the power scales with various array parameters. A comparison of power consumption per beam-bandwidth product for the different array architectures shows the advantage of the hybrid approach for millimeter wave phased arrays with a large number of elements.

This educational note provides performance parameters to consider when evaluating signal generators for your receiver testing in order to ensure that the signal generator provides a level of performance that has minimal effect on your receiver measurements.

Traditional fabrication approaches of Microwave/mmWave devices have material, geometry, tolerance, and/or repeatability challenges. New 3D printable resins with desirable Microwave/mmWave characteristics are enabling 3D DLP manufacturing of low-loss and low-dielectric constant material for prototyping and production. This whitepaper discusses applications of this 3D dielectric structure fabrication process.