The LTE technology as specified within 3GPP Release 8 was first commercially deployed by end 2009. Since then the number of commercial networks is strongly increasing around the globe. LTE has become the fastest developing mobile system technology. As other cellular technologies LTE is continuously worked on in terms of improvements. 3GPP groups added technology components into so called releases. Initial enhancements were included in 3GPP Release 9, followed by more significant improvements in 3GPP Release 10, also known as LTE-Advanced. Beyond Release 10 a number of different market terms have been used. However 3GPP reaffirmed that the naming for the technology family and its evolution continues to be covered by the term LTE-Advanced. I.e. LTE-Advanced remains the correct description for specifications defined from Release 10 onwards, including 3GPP Release 12. This white paper summarizes improvements specified in 3GPP Release 11.

09-Jul-2013 | AN-No. 1MA232

Using S-parameters instead of a fixed offset makes measurements more accurate by accounting for the interaction between the sensor and a component. This shifts the sensor's reference plane from the sensor's RF connector to the input of the device that is being applied externally. This application note explains the fundamentals of using S-parameters and discusses some common applications in which S-parameter correction is useful. It also introduces a command line tool for updating S-parameter data in custom applications or in automated test setups.

27-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1GP70

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01-Oct-2001 | AN-No. 7TS01

Automating measurement setups is advantageous for multiple reasons. It saves time in case of repeated measurements and in hazardous environments, instruments can be operated from a distance. The measurements are repeatable because they are always performed with a defined procedure, leading to higher test confidence.But in remote control applications, users often perceive synchronization and binary transfers as challenging. Therefore, this application note focuses on binary transfer of data to and from the instrument and shows code example to demonstrate the ease of use.

31-Mar-2022 | AN-No. 1SL381

The R&S EX-IQ-Box serves as a digital baseband interface between a device under test (DUT) and Rohde & Schwarz generators, analyzers and radio communication testers. The DigIConf software supplied with the device controls up to four R&S EX-IQ-Boxes in a test setup and can thus output IQ data for feeding into a DUT while simultaneously receiving IQ output from a DUT.To work together smoothly, the DUT, the R&S EX-IQ-Box and the R&S test instruments have to be configured properly. The purpose of Application Note 1MA168 is to introduce the right 'initial steps' required to get started successfully.

23-May-2012 | AN-No. 1MA168

Rare faults and intermittent signals are difficult to capture. The R&S®RTO Oscilloscope supports the acquisition and the detailed signal analysis of these signals by using the history mode. The history mode allows the user to look back to previous acquisitions and apply the wide set of analysis functions of the RTO. Furthermore it stores the accurate recoding time of the waveforms for subsequent analysis.

03-Jun-2013 | AN-No. 1TD02

This application note shows how to determine the quality of a video streamed by an LTE mobile with R&S®CMW500 Radio Communication Tester and R&S®VTE Video Analyzer. The R&S®CMWrun Test Software with CMW-KT051 General Purpose and CMW-KT105 AV Difference Analysis option allows the user to easily automate these tests.

08-Sep-2014 | AN-No. 1MA253

This application note shows how to perform LTE terminal block error rate (BLER) and throughput tests under fading conditions with the R&S®CMW500 Protocol Tester and the R&S®AMU200A Fading Simulator.

27-Mar-2012 | AN-No. 1MA177

radiated conformance testing according to TS 38.141-2, Rel. 16

3GPP defines the Radio Frequency (RF) conformance test methods and requirements for 5G NR Base Stations (BS) in the technical specifications TS 38.141. This application note describes all mandatory radiated RF transmitter tests (TS 38.141-2, chapter 6), according to Release 16.Furthermore, this document provides a brief introduction about the different R&S OTA antenna test solutions and how they are applicable for base station conformance testing. Rohde & Schwarz offers solutions for any test case that is mentioned in this application note.

20-Dec-2019 | AN-No. GFM324

This application note describes the testing of the re-synchronisation capability of DAB receivers according to the European Standard EN 50248 ‘Characteristics of DAB receivers’, using the test system 'Automatic DAB Receiver Test'.

11-Nov-2005 | AN-No. FTK04

The need for an objective evaluation of mobile network quality and performance drives two fundamentally different approaches, crowdsourcing and mobile network testing. The crowdsourcing market is highly saturated. More than 20 companies have a significant focus on crowdsourcing mobile network measurements. To get measurement results, they use different concepts that serve different purposes. This application card describes the structure of the crowdsourcing space and analyzes the pros and cons of both approaches.

06-Oct-2022

Most of the HSDPA tests specified in the TS 34.121 for 3GPP Release-5 / -7 and -8 can be performed with an R&S®CMW500. This document provides a step-by-step guide on how to use a stand-alone R&S®CMW500 to perform HSDPA Tests (from Rel.5 up to Rel.8 / DC-HSDPA+) measurements on transmitter characteristics and receiver characteristics in line with TS 34.121 V9.5.0, clauses 5 and 6. A set of save files based on R&S®CMW500 firmware V3.0.10 for user equipment supporting Operating Band I with Power Class 4 is attached to this application note for easy recall of important settings while performing tests in line with the relevant specifications.

17-Aug-2012 | AN-No. 1CM96

The R&S® IQ File Cutter can load IQ data from supported IQ file formats and export part of the signal to another file. This is helpful when dealing with long measurement recordings, of which only parts are of interest and should be extracted for further analysis.

11-May-2020 | AN-No. GFM338

This application note describes how to generate and analyze wideband digitally modulated signals in the mm-wave range.Rohde & Schwarz measuring equipment and some 3rd party off-the-shelf accessories are used for both signal generation and analysis. Measurement results are shown which demonstrate the typical performance for millimeter wave signals in terms of error vector magnitude (EVM) and adjacent channel power (ACLR).Two test setups and their measurement results on a commercial V-band transceiver module are presented.

02-Sep-2014 | AN-No. 1MA217

Most of the tests specified in the 3GPP standard TS 34.121 [1] Release 6 (Rel-6) can be performed with the R&S®CMW500. This document provides a step-by-step guide on how to use a stand-alone R&S®CMW500 to take Rel-6 measurements on transmitter characteristics and execute performance tests according to TS 34.121 V9.7.0, clauses 5 and 10. Test cases that require fading simulation can also be carried out with the aid of a standalone R&S®CMW500 that has been configured with a built-in fading simulator option. That greatly reduces test setup complexity. Furthermore, the R&S®CMW500's wizard enables easy configuration of the test setup for various HSUPA subtests as specified by TS34.121 [1]. The procedure detailing how the wizard is used is also explained for each test case. The test cases mentioned in this application note are carried out using Rel-6 user equipment (UE) that supports Operating Band I and Power Class 3.

27-Nov-2013 | AN-No. 1CM97

Due to the fact that Microsoft does not maintain the Visual Studio .NET 2003 anymore Rohde & Schwarz has to use the successor compiler product Visual Studio .NET 2005 for building the test case packages. All CRTU-G customers having proprietary test case packages, developed based on Visual Studio .NET 2003, can migrate them to Visual Studio .NET 2005. This is required when the proprietary test case packages are going to be enhanced on a platform with installed Visual Studio .NET 2005.

28-Nov-2007 | AN-No. 1CM63

This application note describes remote operation or monitoring of the real time spectrum analyzer R&S® FSVR through a standard web browser. The common cross-platform technology Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is used as a server on the instrument.

27-Jul-2010 | AN-No. 1EF74

Determining the noise figure of a component can be difficult in unshielded lab environments. Measuring small noise figures (less than 3 dB) and reproducing the results is sometimes not possible. These difficulties are caused by interference effects (electric fields) that can occur in any environment. A suitable remedy is a measurement environment able to shield the Device Under Test (DUT) against all interfering fields in the range up to 3 GHz. When used in conjunction with a spectrum analyzer and Noise Measurement Software FS-K3, the Shielded Box ZA-SB10 provides a complete noise measurement system.

16-Oct-2002 | AN-No. RSH01

When monitoring transmission systems it is often necessary to control the monitoring equipment and to check the measurement results from a remote station. The user may also be interested to know which transmission data cause an error or violate a standard. Rohde & Schwarz offers several instruments that meet all these requirements in the field of digital TV transmission. This application note gives an overview of the design and use of a DTV monitoring system made up of the above-mentioned instruments and meeting the requirements.

15-Feb-2002 | AN-No. 7BM38

All models of the receiver family ESXS are equipped with a remote-control interface to IEC 625-2 (IEEE 488.2). Via this bus almost all instrument settings can be effected, measurements triggered and test results read in by the PC.

18-Jan-2002 | AN-No. 1EE05

This application note describes how to integrate R&S®ZVA/ZVB/ZVT vector network analyzers with AWR's electronic design automation (EDA) software. Measured data can be exported using the AWR® TestWave™ tool via GPIB/LAN and verified with simulated data. Basic filter design is simplified with the AWR® iFilter™ filter synthesis wizard, an optimization tool that can be introduced to correlate measured data with simulated data.

01-Jun-2010 | AN-No. 1MA163

This application note describes how to characterize RMS jitter with the R&S FSUP signal source analyzer. The instrument can distinguish random jitter and periodic jitter easily and measure all parameters of interest. New feature: A filter function can be used for jitter calculation to simulate the frequency response of the PLL in the DUT.

05-Apr-2011 | AN-No. 1EF71

This application note describes the techniques to measure the dielectric properties of materials using a vector network analyzer. It also shows methods for converting the s-parameters to dielectric properties.

23-May-2012 | AN-No. RAC-0607-0019

A new calibration method, presented by John R. Juroshek (NIST), offers fast and accurate determination of the equivalent source match of three-port devices like power-splitters and directional-couplers. The measurement result is directly displayed as normal trace on the R&S ZVM or R&S ZVK and can be stored in the most common data-formats for further processing and documentation.

13-Dec-2002 | AN-No. 1EZ51

White noise of a defined power is superimposed on the DVB signal. From the noise and the modulated DVB signal, the S/N respectively the C/N ratio in dB (with consideration of the 'roll off' factor) can be calculated. After conversion, the corresponding BER is obtained for each S/N value.

08-May-2002 | AN-No. 7BM03

Assessing the functionality and performance of 5G VoNR service

30-Jun-2021

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is an integral part of 3GPP E-UTRA long term evolution (LTE). As part of MIMO, beamforming is also used in LTE. This white paper discusses the basics of beamforming and explains the ten downlink and two uplink MIMO transmission modes in LTE Release 12.

10-Jul-2015 | AN-No. 1MA186

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20-Jul-2001 | AN-No. 7BM21

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20-Jul-2001 | AN-No. 7BM24

While RF communication signal distortions in nonlinear transmission paths have been predicted theoretically and studied experimentally for various signals, it is interesting to examine a wideband nonlinear system reaction to a wideband 3G signal and a narrowband 2G signal. Research and testing have demonstrated that, while most vital signal parameters remain within the limits specified by applicable standards even if composite signal power approaches specified maximum power, a relatively high level of spurious emissions caused by cross- and intermodulation can result. To avoid degrading both existing and new systems, this and other signal quality issues must be considered when designing and deploying multitechnology systems.

03-Nov-2006 | AN-No. 1MA110