An ever-increasing requirement for data on mobile networks, driven by a myriad of applications from HD video on the move to autonomous vehicles and Industrial IOT, means a part of the new 5G network is to be deployed at mmWave frequencies, with a 26 GHz pioneer band defined for the UK between 24.25 - 27.5 GHz.This near 10-fold increase in frequency over 4G networks opens several challenges, both in the design and implementation of the required sub-components, network infrastructure and end user equipment, and in parallel in the test and measurement approaches used to drive these developments.In this presentation, we will introduce some of the main challenges in test and measurement of a device at these frequencies. We will then present the testing of a 26-28GHz pioneer band dual channel amplifier evaluation module using 5G NR test waveforms.

26-Nov-2018

This Application Note describes testing S-parameters under pulsed conditions with the R&S®ZVA vector network analyzer and either the ZVAX24 Extension unit with pulse modular option or the R&S®SMF signal generator with pulse modulator as a signal source.In addition a constant power level calibration for applications requiring high drive power for test and measurement of device under test (DUT) is also included. A LDMOS S-band radar power transistor is used as example DUT. The pulse profile mode of the R&S®ZVA is used to analyze the time-dependent behavior of the DUT.

11-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1MA126

The constantly decreasing size of components and the available board space form a challenge to place adequate test connections for RF instruments. Recent improvements in the availability and use of high performance differential building blocks in RF circuits intensify the problems of connecting test equipment. Using oscilloscope probes is a possibility to perform measurements by connecting to printed circuit board lines and chip contacts where only a minimal area is required to make contact. This application note provides information on how to use oscilloscope probes in RF measurements using spectrum analyzers, and show the results of differential measurements with a spectrum analyzer.

28-Jun-2013 | AN-No. 1EF84

The present R&S®SMW-K506 Interface Control Document contains information on► the R&S descriptor word format, including ARB descriptor words and control descriptor words in deterministic and instant mode► Timing requirements and limitations of the interface► Properties of the network interface (Connector designation: HS DIGIQ).It is intended for use by customers using descriptor words to control the R&S®SMW200A in real-time. The interface control document specifies the interface between the customer’s hardware used for provision of descriptor words and the R&S®SMW200A HS DIGIQ interface. Additional information on descriptor word processing inside the R&S®SMW200A is provided.

17-Mar-2022 | AN-No. 1GP134

Welcome to our short video tutorials on how to test radars using Rohde & Schwarz test equipment. Access to most information about radar is pretty restricted, as many radar applications are military or secretive industrial research. To show you some basic Radar tests we have created RADAR demo tools, which functions at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, which is in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical band. So we can even perform our tests in unshielded rooms. The frequencies are also used by radar operating in the ITU "S"-band from 2.3 to 2.5 GHz for air traffic control, weather and marine radar. The videos are suitable for 'from-the-scratch' introduction of R&S RADAR test equipment. They can also be used for plain introduction to the RADAR principle.

03-Feb-2014 | AN-No. 1MA209

Timing components such as low jitter oscillators and clocks are necessary to facilitate increasing data rates in high speed digital designs. As part of the overall system design, the components also have to perform in the system’s non-ideal power integrity environment and limit the power supply induced phase noise and jitter from power rail disturbances. Measuring the power supply noise rejection (PSNR) requires accurate generation and leveling of artificial, sinusoidal disturbances and measurement of resulting phase-noise and jitter impairments.

30-Sep-2020

This application note belongs to a series of application notes which explains how to test EW receivers at RF in the lab with commercial, off-the-shelf signal generators and software. The series will cover all relevant use cases. This application note will discuss threat simulation and verification. Further application notes will address calibration and verification of multi-channel setups for simulation of angle of arrival, generation of radar signals in a hardware in the loop (HIL) environment with PDW Streaming, and automated threat creation and sequencing.

23-Mar-2021 | AN-No. 1GP123

The Universal Radio Communication Tester R&S®CMU200 can perform most of the CDMA2000 1xEV-DO access terminal (AT) tests specified in the standard IS-866-A on its own. Some tests require additional instruments. This application note shows how to perform these tests easily with the remote-control software CMUgo, using the R&S®CMU200 in combination with R&S®SMU, R&S®AMU, R&S®SMJ or R&S®SML signal generators, and R&S®FSQ, R&S®FSU, R&S®FSP, R&S®FSL or R&S®FSMR spectrum analyzers.

05-Jan-2012 | AN-No. 1MA123

The R&S®FSW offers a variety of different bandwidth options and makes it possible to combine these with external harmonic mixers to enlarge the analyzer’s frequency range up to 325 GHz. This application card will give some guidance as to the possible combinations of bandwidth options and mixers in conjunction with the needed IF frequencies.

16-Jun-2020

Designing and implementing an active phased array antenna requires precise characterization of individual components and the integrated performance of the array. To ensure an accurate test of the intended adaptive nature of the active phased array antenna, the embedded algorithms need to be tested as well.This application note aims to explain test procedures and give recommendations towards characterization of the relevant parameters for active phased array antennas and their passive subsystem, as often used in applications for Mobile Communication and RADAR. This application note describes transmit signal quality testing, multi-element amplitude and phase measurement techniques both in receive and transmit cases and introduces a new automated test methodology antenna radiation pattern measurement over frequency. This paper also describes the test system used for transmit and receive module (TRM) characterization in active array antennas.

04-Jul-2016 | AN-No. 1MA248

Create and simulate detailed traffic situations for the verification of cellular V2X (C-V2X) connectivity.

18-Nov-2019

Today’s complex circuits must integrate several components that feed on different power levels. A robust circuit that ensures interoperability of these components needs carefully designed, clean and stable power distribution networks for power timing. At lower voltage levels, tolerance is defined in percentages and can make precise measurements challenging.

22-Apr-2024

Test Solutions Based on R&S®CMX500 Platform

The evolution of mobile communication enters 5G New Radio (NR) era with pivotal features. Voice call service is however still considered as an indispensable element for mobile devices and worldwide network operators continue to maintain the voice service for their subscribers. In comparison to other Over-the-Top (OTT) voice services, such as WhatsApp©, Teams© etc., Voice over NR (VoNR) and Voice over LTE (VoLTE) maintain QoS, support well established handover mechanism and emergency call, and do not require to pre-install OTT app on the phone.In order to provide premium voice service and enhance the superb user experience, audio tests on mobile devices are essential before the product launch. Different audio test aspects among which acoustic, functional, performance and field tests need to be considered.This application note describes the performance test with focus on VoNR audio quality measurement via electrical interface of the mobile device. The test solution is based on R&S®CMX500 with its integrated POLQA algorithm.

26-Jul-2023 | AN-No. 1SL401

conducted conformance testing according to TS 38.141-1, 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 how all mandatory RF transmitter tests (TS 38.141-1, chapter 6), according to Release 16, can be performed quickly and conveniently with signal or spectrum analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz by either choosing manual operation or a remote control approach. Moreover, some test cases require additional signal generation equipment from Rohde & Schwarz.In Addition, a new Python software library comes with this application note to enable the remote control approach of base station testing. This example requires the RsInstrument module which can be found on pypi.org or installed via 'pip' and is provided as is.

27-Jan-2021 | AN-No. GFM313

5G New Radio (NR) FR1 MIMO or beamforming downlink signal analysis especially the phase measurement of each MIMO layer and the determination of the phase difference between the MIMO layers are essential for the 5G base station product design.In this application note, it describes two test solutions from R&S® to cope with the 5G FR1 downlink MIMO signal analysis challenges either using R&S®RTP/RTO oscilloscope or R&S®NRQ6 frequency selective power sensor as RF frontend to capture the signal and together with R&S®VSE as post-processing tool for the IQ analysis.The aim of this application note is to walk the user through the necessary steps on both test solutions to enable the 5G FR1 downlink MIMO signal analysis.It is assumed that the reader has certain pre-knowledge of 5G NR physical layer. In case a refreshment is needed, please refer to the for further reading.

26-Jun-2020 | AN-No. GFM343

Signal Generation and Analysis

This Application Note supplements the video series, describing signal generation and signal analysis for Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) for LTE and 5G NR. The video series is located below this paragraph.In this illustration, a four frame (40 subframes) long LTE sequence will be created, and exemplary MBSFN slots inserted, carrying 5G payloads. That signal sequence will be compiled and played by the SMW signal generator. The FSW signal analyzer LTE and 5G NR personalities are then used to analyze and verify the content of each subframe/slot.Three methods are presented, (1) Manual Entry using the GUI, (2) SCPI command sequence/remote control and (3) configuration file. The latter variants require the download of various files, available at the bottom.The configuration file approach offers the fastest time to initially setup. The SCPI command sequences provides some insight of the functionality and settings at each step, and the supplied MATLAB® script (only core license required) provides a prototype to illustrate the programming of successive slots or subframes. The Manual Entry approach, using the instrument's front panel GUI, provides a step-by-step set-up instruction, which can itself be augmented with SCPI recording, for easy modification and programming.MATLAB® is a registered trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.

30-Mar-2020 | AN-No. GFM337

A turnkey 5G Field-to-Lab solution based on R&S®CMX500

5G New Radio (NR) is the fifth-generation radio interface and radio access technology (RAT) which was officially published by 3GPP in release 15. With the 5G technology, it enters a new era to meet the ever-increasing demands of mobile communications not only in the conventional cellular communication world, but also in the vertical industries.Since the commercialization of 5G NR, worldwide 162 networks have been deployed as per the report of GSA. On the path to the 5G NR network commercialization and service launch, field test is one of the essential user centric processes that User Equipment (UE) vendors should go through. Sophisticated features and versatile deployment options have to be thoroughly checked to ensure the reaching of certain confidence level before the official launch.However, field test is often linked with some challenges, such as► High costs due to the extensive drive tests► Time tedious analysis of a drive test that lowers the efficiency► Lack of test repeatability that makes the regressing tests impossibleWhat if providing an alternative solution in a laboratory environment to cope with all above mentioned challenges during the field test? R&S® as a world-wide well established test measurement equipment manufacturer and solution provider developed a 5G field-to-lab (F2L) turn-key solution, R&S®CM360°. It features► the simulation of the network with the real network configurations to avoid the cost intensive drive test by utilizing mobile radio tester R&S®CMX500► intuitive tools to visualize, drill down the problems and therefore enhance the debugging efficiency based on R&S®SmartAnlytics► the specialized key performance indicator (KPI) tests configured through real network data offered on R&S®CMX500 that guarantee the test reliability and repeatabilityThis application note aims to demonstrate the status of quo R&S®CM360° F2L solution.

16-Jul-2021 | AN-No. 1SL369

Automated Solution with High Efficiency

5G New Radio (NR) presents dramatic challenges to the testing of User Equipment (UE) Power Amplifier (PA). Multiple frequency bands, flexible 5G operation mode, multiple PA performance metrics and the MIPI control interface increases the potential PA testing workload significantly. Manually repeating these tests under so many different scenarios can be costly and time consuming. An automated testing solution can help the test engineer to highly improve the testing efficiency.In this application note, it introduces an example of automated testing of 5G UE PA with R&S signal generator, signal and spectrum analyzer, vector signal explorer software, power meter along with power supply.The entire application note is organized with following structure:Chapter 2 outlines the challenges to 5G UE PA testing.Chapter 3 introduces the setup for 5G signal generation and analysis. For 5G signal generation, a batch program of converting *.CSV files with IQ vectors to ARB waveform files is introduced. For 5G signal analysis, the R&S®VSE software is recommended, which enables the separation of RF signal collection and measurement to improve testing efficiency.Chapter 4 provides the informative content about the integration of MIPI control interface for the PA ON/OFF state switching and register configuration.Chapter 5 gives a guide on the implementation of a quick power servo, in which the techniques to speed up the PA power level adjustment are discussed.Chapter 6 summarizes the automated testing procedure.

09-Aug-2021 | AN-No. 1SL365

EN-DC Mode According to 3GPP 38.521-3

5G New Radio (NR) is a radio access technology (RAT) specified by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in release 15 technical standard which was first published in 2018. It is designed to enhance the spectrum efficiency to meet the diverse needs of wireless communication applications, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC) and ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC).Two deployment modes are defined for 5G NR technology► non-standalone (NSA) mode involving both E-UTRA (access technology used for LTE) and 5G NR RAT► standalone (SA) mode allows the user equipment (UE) to access 5G core network (5GC) over LTE or 5G NR RATAll 5G NR air interface related core specifications as well as associated test specifications are included in the 3GPP 38 series specifications. In an UE product lifecycle, UE vendor is obliged to go through the device certification process by passing all the required conformance tests which include RF, protocol, performance tests before official launch of the product. RF conformance testing is of course essential for the market access. The conformity of 3GPP specification has to be ensured even in the early product R&D phase.This application note aims to guide the R&D reader through the 5G NR Frequency Range 1 (FR1) NSA RF UE conformance test according to 3GPP38.521-3 based on mobile radio tester R&S®CMX and associated web user interface R&S®CMsquares in interactive operation mode, i.e. manual operation mode, through test configuration examples. After reading this application note, the reader should be able to conduct 3GPP RF conformance tests with proper settings manually and understand measurement results in R&S®CMsquares.

25-Jun-2021 | AN-No. 1SL368

This application note is step by step guide on 5G New Radio (5G NR) signal generation and analysis capabilities using the R&S®SMW200A Vector Signal Generator equipped with software option SMW-K144 (5G NR option), in combination with the R&S®FSW Signal and Spectrum Analyzer and the software options FSW-K144 & FSW-K145 (5G NR Downlink & Uplink Signal Analysis). The R&S®VSE Vector signal explorer has also been used for analysis purpose in parallel to the FSW-K144 & FSW-K145 software options.It is assumed that the reader already has a deep understanding of the 5G New Radio standard as well as the testing aspects. If not, then please refer to the 5G eBook more a detailed overview on the fundamentals, procedures, testing aspects of the 5G NR technology.

22-Nov-2019 | AN-No. GFM322

Solutions and Tipps for NR FR1 in TDD Downlink Mode

5G New Radio (NR) is a radio technology specified by 3GPP and was first released in 3GPP release 15. It is designed to target three use cases, i.e. enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communication (mMTC) and ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC). Among these three use cases, eMBB represents actually a further evolution of mobile broadband communication from LTE standard. According to the technical performance requirement defined by IMT-2020, by deploying 5G technology, peak data rates of eMBB application are expected to reach 20 Gbps in downlink (DL) and 10 Gbps in uplink (UL) direction, respectively. Typical use cases of eMBB are data hungry applications, such as high resolution 8K video streaming, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) etc.Verification of a 5G capable user equipment (UE) with respect to its achievable maximum data throughput under controllable and deterministic test conditions is an essential process during the design phase of the product. Performance centric verification through identification of the data throughput bottleneck, product benchmarking against a golden device enhances tremendously the user experience in the end.This document focuses on 5G NR frequency range 1 (FR1) with TDD duplex mode in E-UTRAN New-radio Dual Connectivity (ENDC) operating mode. As 5G NR physical layer offers a plethora of flexibility, the motivation here is to provide a kind of guideline of relevant parameter settings to stimulate device under test (DUT)'s max throughput capacity. The status quo of the R&S solutions at the time when the application note is created are described. Shown feature sets are constantly evolving, so the screenshots used and the parameters shown may change.

07-Jul-2022 | AN-No. 1SL379

Generation of wideband digital modulated signals in V-band and above is a challenging task and typically requires a set of multiple instruments. This application note aims at simplifying the task and looks into the analysis part as well. Latest signal and spectrum analyzers like the R&S®FSW67 and R&S®FSW85 are first to allow use in V-band up to 67 GHz and E-band up to 85 GHz respectively without external frequency conversion. Up to 8.3 GHz of modulation bandwidth can be covered using the R&S®FSW-B8001 option. Millimeter wave use of analyzers ranging from 26 GHz up is shown. Application note 1MA217 describes V-band signal generation and analysis up to 500 MHz modulation bandwidth. This application note expands modulation bandwidth up to 2 GHz and covers both V- and E-band examples.

18-Jun-2015 | AN-No. 1MA257

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 RF receiver tests (TS 38.141-2, chapter 7), 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 suitable solutions for any test case that is mentioned in this application note.

30-Jun-2020 | AN-No. GFM325

Comprehensive test solutions guide for production and R&D

Small cell is a compact base station with smaller form factor and lower transmission power in comparison to the conventional macro base station. It covers relatively small area and serves less users. Usually, small cell can be integrated into the existing mobile network. By the evolution of radio access technology, the role of small cell has been changing through the evolution path. In the 2G/3G time, its role was to provide coverage in corner cases. Later during LTE, networks are not just providing coverage but capacity too. Small cells were then used to provide the addition capacity where required without adding additional spectrum. Now in 5G era, network operators use densification as an important strategy to provide seamless 5G services which demand coverage, capacity and performance too. With use cases requiring the 5G millimeter wave (mmW) rollouts, it makes sense to use small cells for densification due to the propagation characteristics of mmW.In this application note, we will shed light on the testing aspects of a small cell throughout the product life cycle with particular focus on the production test solution for the small cell device under test (DUT) in FR2 (frequency range 2, mmW frequency band) in Over the Air (OTA) environment for option 6 split based on radio communication tester R&S®CMP200 and OTA chamber R&S®CMQ200. The document is complemented with more insights into test solutions used in typical R&D test applications towards the second half of the application note.

19-Jun-2023 | AN-No. 1SL395

Functional Testing

Although data services in the context of eMBB, URLLC and mMTC are the pivotal drivers behind the 5G evolution, legacy services like voice and video communications still represent important services that operators want to offer to their subscribers. As part of the technology evolution, we have seen a major change from circuit-switched 2G networks with an initial focus on telephony to fully packet-switched 4G networks focused on internet data communications.This application note focuses on different details of voice services in 5G networks. Besides some theoretical background this document describes the procedure to setup a 5G network with R&S®CMW500 and R&S®CMX500 radio communication testers and how to carry out different functional voice call tests for 5G networks.

06-Oct-2021 | AN-No. 1SL364

conducted conformance testing according to TS 38.141-1, Rel. 15

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 how all mandatory RF receiver tests (TS 38.141-1, chapter 7), according to Release 15, can be performed quickly and conveniently with signal generators from Rohde & Schwarz by either choosing manual operation or a remote control approach. Moreover, one test case requires a signal or spectrum analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz which is highlighted seperately in the corresponding chapter.In Addition, a new Python software library comes with this application note to enable the remote control approach of base station testing. This example requires the RsInstrument module which can be found on pypi.org or installed via 'pip' and is provided as is.

02-Dec-2020 | AN-No. GFM314

The R&S®CMX500 radio communication tester is ideal for testing the maximum possible IP throughput for mobile device transmitters and receivers.

13-Jun-2022

Ensure that your M2M device equipped with an embedded SIM can deliver permanent and ubiquitous connectivity around the globe

22-Aug-2019

The test case wizard enables the signal generator to set up all required parameters for conformance testing of 5G NR base stations in no time with just a few clicks.

25-May-2021

Thanks to their multichannel capability, oscilloscopes are ideal for multichannel applications such as the analysis of MIMO signals (e.g. 5G NR, WLAN), multi-antenna radar signals and differential high-speed digital signals (e.g. USB 3.x). These applications require the oscilloscope channels to be tightly aligned. This means the channel-to-channel residual skew has to be measured accurately so that it can be compensated. The channel-to-channel phase mismatch is reduced to a minimum, which plays a crucial role in achieving reliable measurement results.

06-May-2020