Despite the advent of advanced digital transmission methods, analog broadcasting remains highly important. Until now, measurements on FM transmitters in connection with acceptance testing, commissioning and maintenance required using a variety of T&M instruments.The R&S ETL TV analyzer combines these instruments' capabilities in a single unit and can completely replace them. Now, for the first time, acceptance test measurements can be conducted on FM transmitters quickly and easily using just one compact test instrument. The R&S ETL provides the functionalities of a power meter, spectrum analyzer, audio generator, FM measurement demodulator, stereo decoder, audio analyzer and more in just one box.

10-Sep-2013 | AN-No. 7BM105

Since June 2017 almost all radio transmitters and receivers sold or put into operation in the European Union have to be tested for immunity against interferers in adjacent frequency bands. ETSI standard EN 303 345 defines the tests to be performed on broadcast sound receivers, and the requirements to be passed.This application note describes the test procedures and provides script files and interferer signals for the Broadcast Test Center R&S®BTC.

29-May-2020 | AN-No. 1GP117

The compact R&S®CMA180 Radio Test Set allows straighforward tests on devices that use analog or digital modulation and demodulation formats. This application note focusses on the use of the digital radio capabilities for measurements on radio transceiving devices in terms of their functionality and parameter characterization. Also shown is how to use the instrument with the various software tools available from Rohde & Schwarz for creating and evaluating digitally modulated signals. Various software examples are provided as free download along this paper. This application note addresses readers who develop, produce or optimize digital radio transmitting and receiving devices or maintain analog radio communication equipment alongside those with digital modulation.

10-Feb-2017 | AN-No. 1MA277

Rohde & Schwarz recognizes the potential risk of computer virus infection when connecting Windows®-based test instrumentation to other computers via local area networks (LANs), or using removable storage devices.This white paper introduces measures to minimize malware threats and discusses ways to mitigate risks while ensuring that instrument performance is not compromised.

16-Feb-2017 | AN-No. 1EB01

Starting from June 2017, almost all radio transmitters and receivers sold or put into operation in the European Union have to be tested for immunity against interferers in adjacent frequency bands. ETSI standard EN 303 340 defines the tests to be performed on digital television receivers and requirements to be passed.This application note describes the test procedures and provides save-recall files and interferer signals for the Broadcast Test Center R&S®BTC.

11-Jul-2017 | AN-No. 1GP116

The application note address test and measurement possibilities for DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X signals in the Ku & Ka -band. The AN includes detailed description of measurement setups, DVB-S2 and DVB-S2X signal generation, up-conversion and signal quality (Error Vector Magnitude and Modulation Error Ratio) analysis in the Ku & Ka-band using Rohde & Schwarz instruments.This paper is intended towards satellite equipment manufacturers, network operators, government & authorities, CE receiver chip set manufacturers, car manufacturer and automotive infotainment system manufactures.

08-Mar-2016 | AN-No. 1MA273

Broadcasting transmitters are subject to particularly stringent standards with respect to broadcast signal quality, because even small faults can lead to service disruptions for many viewers. A single instrument, the R&S®ETL TV analyzer, performs all required ISDB-T transmitter measurements, from the initial acceptance testing for the transmitter, to measurements performed during commissioning and preventive maintenance.

13-May-2013 | AN-No. 7BM103

The R&S® Broadcast Test Center BTC supports the new “Next Generation Broadcast Standard ATSC 3.0” with BTC firmware version 2.20 and later.This application note describes the necessary settings in the user interface of the R&S® Broadcast Test Center BTC.

27-Mar-2018 | AN-No. 1GP119

Receiver diversity improves reception quality by using multiple antennas with a preferably low correlation factor between each receive path. The result is a much more robust reception, since a deep fade will not affect all received signals at the same time.However, the complex geometry and positioning constraints for antennas of the receiving devices can introduce an unwanted correlation between channels. The popular diversity test setup consisting of several independent transmitters does not serve the needs of a realistic simulation, because radio channel correlation is not simulated.This application note explains a compact and versatile MIMO test solution for any common broadcast standard with real time fading including the simulation of channel correlation for a 1x4 MIMO system.The test setup allows very precisely specified individual multipath profiles.

11-Oct-2017 | AN-No. 1GP114

Nearly all analog NTSC broadcasting has ended in the US, Canada and South Korea. The digital switchover to ATSC in Mexico is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. ATSC receivers must fulfill the recommendations described in “ATSC Recommended Practice: Receiver Performance Guidelines” (document A/74:2010) before they can be sold freely in the markets that have adopted the standard. In addition, Recommendation ITU-R BT.2036-1 (07/2016), titled “Characteristics of a reference receiving system for frequency planning of digital terrestrial television systems”, includes the planning factors for an ATSC reception system, with a reference to ATSC Recommended Practice A/74:2010, because operation is in a more dynamic environment.

29-Sep-2016 | AN-No. 1GP111

This document provides information on how to perform manual testing based on current R&S TA-TRS QuickStep V4.05 platform in order to adapt to the new released EN 303 345 for broadcast sound receivers. It serves as a bridged document before new standard software package released by R&S for upgrade.

14-Apr-2021

1TD04 1TD04, DC/DC, Oscilloscopes The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a power supply using an oscilloscope. The main measurements taken are the input frequency, output voltage, output current, and the switching frequency. Initial Evaluation of a DC/DC Switch Mode Power Supply 1TD04 1TD04, DC/DC, Oscilloscopes The objective of this paper is to evaluate the performance of a

26-Nov-2013 | AN-No. 1TD04

This application note describes how to determine the uncertainty bounds for a given artificial network impedance for an estimate of the combined standard measurement uncertainty using the Rohde & Schwarz Software “AN Impedance Uncertainty Contribution”.

17-Dec-2010 | AN-No. 1EE23

High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) optimize UMTS for packet data services in downlink and uplink, respectively. Together, they are referred to as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Within 3GPP Release 7, 8, 9 and 10, further improvements to HSPA have been specified in the context of HSPA+ or HSPA evolution. This White Paper introduces key features of HSPA+ and outlines the changes to the radio interface.

14-Feb-2012 | AN-No. 1MA205

Performing a multi-port calibration of a vector network analyzer (VNA) is straight forward by using either a calibration unit with the corresponding numbers of ports or single calibration standards. This paper shows how to perform a n-port multi-port calibration by using calibration unit with a lower number of ports than available of the vector network analyzer.

06-Feb-2013 | AN-No. 1EZ70

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 document provides an introduction to SDR as used for military radios and presents the relevant T&M solutions offered by Rohde & Schwarz.

15-Sep-2012 | AN-No. 1MA206

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

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

This application note gives a short summary on the Allan variance as a measure of frequency stability and an example on how to calculate it, with measurement results from R&S spectrum analyzers. A software program to sample data from R&S spectrum analyzers and calculate the Allan variance is available.

11-Feb-2009 | AN-No. 1EF69

Widespread adoption of higher order modulation schemes, larger signal bandwidths and higher operating frequencies, to enable higher data throughput in communication links like 5G, places increasingly tough demands on the frontend. Signal fidelity is often enhanced with linearization.The greater number of RF chains and signal bandwidth in 5G Frontends mean that DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion) may no longer be the default linearization choice; 5G Frontends will be completely different from their 4G predecessors.The key metrics of Efficiency, Linearity, Bandwidth and Output Power remain, as does the question of how to optimally create the signal with just enough fidelity and power, with a minimum of wasted power. The solution set to that question, however, has never been greater.Amongst other topics, this White Paper, (i) proposes a classification of Linearization schemes, (ii) introduces the hard limiter, (iii) illustrates linearization of an exemplary mmWave PA using non-DPD techniques, and (iv) introduces a class of linearized transmitters that create their signal and linearity from efficiently generated components.

25-Feb-2016 | AN-No. 1MA269

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

The new R&S®DATA-NPT mobile network performance test from Rohde & Schwarz brings innovation to network performance testing. The patent-pending testing solution is a very compact and resource-saving implementation of a new measurement procedure that simultaneously measures the maximum data capacity and the minimum continuous connectivity in a mobile network.

21-Apr-2016

Fading is known from shortwave transmission, where the received field strength level may strongly vary due to atmospheric disturbances. In analog TV, the term 'fading' is practically unknown. Rather, one talks of 'antenna shadows' or 'ghost images'. The effect in question, however, is fading, ie constant reflection of the eletromagnetic waves emitted by the TV transmitter by walls of buildings, mountain slopes and similar reflecting natural or artificial obstacles. In analog TV, fading is of minor importance since the effects thereof can be eliminated almost completely through the directivity and exact orientation of the Yagi roof antenna for stationary TV reception at home. [[ br />Fading effects can also be observed in analog cable TV, for example in a block of flats linked to the cable network with one or several antenna sockets in every flat. If the taps for the sockets are not match-terminated, reflections with constant level and constant phase arise which may cause level reductions of several dB at exactly calculable points in the cable. [[ br />Moreover, the reception of TV signals broadcast via satellite can be impaired by fading. A known phenomenon is flickering of the received picture, produced by planes flying past or a drop in receive field strength caused by an approaching thunderstorm. All the above receive conditions have one thing in common: reception is stationary with a direct line of sight to the TV transmitter. [[ br />Looking at receive conditions in DVB, the effects in cable and satellite reception (DVB-C and DVB-S) are found to be similar as in analog reception. In these two modes reception is stationary, too. Terrestrial transmission (DVB-T) not only provides for stationary operation but also for portable and mobile reception. This considerably accentuates the effects of fading. [[ br />In this application note we investigate fading effects in DVB, with the emphasis on those in DVB-T signals.

06-Feb-2001 | AN-No. 7BM05

The LTE technology as specified within 3GPP Release 8 was first commercially deployed by end 2009. Since then the number of operators implementing the technology is strongly increasing around the globe. LTE has become the fastest developing mobile system technology. The same way GSM and WCDMA have been enhanced with additional features over time, LTE is continuously worked on. Initial enhancements have been included in 3GPP Release 9 and are described in this white paper.

19-Dec-2011 | AN-No. 1MA191

Especially with test receivers not comprising a built-in disk drive (ESHS10, ESVS10, ESVD, ESVB and ESPC) it is necessary to store instrument settings before a firmware update or before changing the battery of the static memory to be able to restore the settings later on. Frequently it is desirable to exchange settings or comprehensive data like transducer sets between receivers, or receivers have to be set up to suit different applications.

18-Jan-2002 | AN-No. 1EE20

This application note shows how to configure, calibrate and perform conducted EMS (Electro Magnetic Susceptibility) measurements according to IEC / EN 61000-4-6 and EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) measurements according to CISPR 16-2-1 with the R&S®EMC32 software tool.

19-Jul-2013 | AN-No. 1MA212

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

This application note describes in detail the steps required to make a noise figure measurement on a spectrum analyzer using the “Y Factor” technique. Background equations are presented for each step of the calculation. In addition, guidelines are provided to ensure a repeatable measurement. Measurement uncertainty is then reviewed, including contributions due to the noise source, analyzer, and the DUT itself. Finally, a software utility is presented that automates the noise figure calculation using four measurements from a spectrum analyzer. The utility checks the measurement guidelines and highlights potential problem areas. It then calculates the noise figure for the DUT along with the measurement uncertainty.

25-Jul-2012 | AN-No. 1MA178