White Papers

Next-generation systems will always be expected to be smaller, lighter and faster. But engineers also face the challenges of full ntegration. Previously spec’d oversized, heavy, and slow interconnect solutions inside increasingly higher-density systems wreak havoc. So the need for robust, miniaturized high-speed interconnect solutions has never been greater.

This new article from CEL “Alphabet Soup: Understanding IoT Acronyms and How to Compare Them” will help product managers and IoT design engineers understand the complex maze of communication standards and protocols used in Internet of Things solutions.  New ideas and protocols are appearing at a rapidly and some companies are pushing technologies that are not yet ready for prime time.

Watch the DesignCon 2017 Keysight Education Forum (KEF) sessions from the convenience of your desk. Get complimentary access to the materials that made KEF a huge success.  View the footage and presentation slides from all 8 workshops including “PCI Express: techniques for 16 Gbit deployment” and more.

New active electronically-scanned arrays (AESAs) are being used for radar systems in satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. As these systems are deployed in new and novel ways, size and performance requirements are becoming critical and are being addressed through innovative architectures and system capabilities. This white paper examines these technology trends and presents several examples where advances in NI AWR Design Environment are supporting next-generation AESA and phased-array radar development.

Cable assemblies are critical to obtaining correct test results and signal integrity. Proper care and handling of cable assemblies and connector interfaces is critical to insuring accurate operation. When connectors are not properly mated or cared for, there is a risk of damaging test ports and mating devices.

To address our rapidly approaching, hyper-connected future and the unprecedented demand on current 4G wireless networks, researchers at the University of Bristol and Lund University set out to test the feasibility of massive MIMO as a viable technology for 5G networks. Using the NI MIMO Prototyping System, the team was able to rapidly test new ideas on their way to implementing the world’s first live demonstration of a 128-antenna, real-time massive MIMO testbed and set two consecutive world records in spectral efficiency.

5G designs that use wide-bandwidth digital modulation require new test technologies. Our latest 5G whitepaper presents a testbed for generating and analyzing millimeter-wave signals with 8 GHz bandwidth. We used it to generate V- and E-band signals and apply digital pre-distortion (DPD) algorithms, achieving impressive improvements in ACPR and EVM.

The power amplifier (PA) – as either a discrete component or part of an integrated front end module (FEM) – is one of the most integral RF integrated circuits (RFICs) in the modern radio. Download this white paper to learn the basics of testing RF PAs and FEMs via an interactive white paper with multiple how-to videos.

In a system or on a lab bench, proper instrument calibration reduces the chances of false test results. Not all calibrations are equal, and six key factors affect quality, usefulness and cost. In Six Axes of Calibration, we highlight the importance and value of each factor.

Hardware abstraction layers (HALs) and measurement abstraction layers (MALs) are some of the most effective design patterns to make test software as adaptable as the hardware. Rather than employing device-specific code modules in a test sequence, abstraction layers give you the ability to decouple measurement types and instrument-specific drivers from the test sequence. Learn how to drastically reduce development time by giving hardware and software engineers the ability to work in parallel.