Radio frequencies in bands around 28 GHz are being discussed as candidates for mobile communications of the fifth generation (5G). Beam steering will be a key feature in the context of 5G. It will be a major challenge to test the beam steering capabilities of base stations and user equipment in every phase from research and development through production. Conducted measurements will be mainly replaced by over-the-air measurements of electromagnetic radiation. Rohde & Schwarz offers the R&S®NRPM Over-the-Air (OTA) Power Measurement Solution that perfectly fits such measurement needs.Part of this solution are the R&S®NRPM-A66 antenna modules. They have integrated diode detectors. Thus, there are no cables between the antenna and the detector as in traditional setups. This avoids high and potentially unknown RF losses. The R&S®NRPM-A66 antenna modules with their integrated diode detectors are factory calibrated, which means that the user does not have to calibrate them to achieve highly accurate measurement results.This application note contains theoretical background on OTA power and pattern measurements. It gives step-by-step instructions for the verification of the power level and the radiation pattern of a device under test (DUT) in comparison to a golden device, and it presents an approach for verifying the accuracy of beam steering.

29-Aug-2017 | AN-No. 1GP118

Protecting the public: the ARDRONIS counter drone solution from Rohde & Schwarz prevents drone related security threats at major events.

18-Dec-2024

Rohde & Schwarz has a tool that can configure all instruments and channels from one interface to maintain an overview of the states and measurement values for all channels.

28-Apr-2023

The scope of this application note is to give a comprehensive guide on how the R&S®FSW signal and spectrum analyzer with the option R&S®FSW-K18 may be used to create a Hammerstein model for the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator’s output stage. This model can then be applied to counteract inherent non-linearities and memory effects and improve the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) at high output powers of the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator.

28-Aug-2023 | AN-No. 1GP139

Drivers rely more and more on advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) based on radar technology. The radar sensor delivers information about the surrounding traffic environment. It is a must for every radar sensor to detect wanted signals from real objects also in the presence of unwanted interferers. The R&S®AREG100A provides a powerful solution for testing the immunity of radar sensors against interferers.

14-Aug-2018

Today’s cars are highly integrated and interconnected. Up to 150 embedded electronic control units (ECUs) in a car secure a convenient and safe driving experience. Examples of ECUs include transmission control modules, ECUs for air conditioning systems, and even self-updating 5G-ready telematics control units.

06-Jul-2020

This application note explains how to create screenshots of Rohde & Schwarz instruments using instrument drivers. The presented examples are written in C (LabWindows/CVI), C# programming language and LabVIEW. The examples are available at the instrument driver download site.

11-Dec-2009 | AN-No. 1MA160

Sequencer Software Tool

20-Feb-2015

Transformers are passive devices that are primarily used to convert or "transform" alternating current (AC) from one voltage level to another. One very common application of transformers is in AC to DC power supplies, in which mains voltage is stepped down before being rectified and filtered to produce DC. There are numerous other applications for transformers, such as providing electrical isolation or for impedance matching.This educational note provides a brief technical introduction to measurements made on the types of transformers used in electronics. These transformers are typically physically small, work on relatively low voltages or powers, and are used for “indoor” applications. Although many of the testing concepts described below also apply to the larger, higher-power "outdoor" transformers used for electrical power distribution, the specific tests and test procedures for these types of transformers are often specified by standards bodies such as the IEEE and may differ substantially from the types of measurements described here.Read this educational note and dive into the discussion about the six most important transformer measurements: turns ratio, mutual inductance, phase angle, primary and secondary inductance, leakage inductance, and interwinding capacitance.

28-Feb-2024

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 has introduced Angle of Arrival (AoA) and Angle of Departure (AoD) to enrich the direction finding (DF) feature. This application note gives the guidance of how to perform the BLE 5.1 DF RF tests according to the RF test specification of BT 5.1 by using the Rohde & Schwarz test solutions.

30-Oct-2019 | AN-No. GFM327

With the R&S®RTO-K17/RTE-K17 High Definition Option the user will see more signal details with up to 16 bit vertical resolution.In combination with the superior analog front end of the R&S®RTO and R&S®RTE, the user has a versatile instrument in his hands to analyze a wide range of applications. From Switch Mode Power Supplies to Radar RF, the user can inspect all with one scope.

13-Apr-2015 | AN-No. 1TD06

Rohde & Schwarz offers a powerful tool for remote control of their oscilloscopes - the RsInstrument Python module. This module enables users to control and automate their Rohde & Schwarz test & measurement instruments, including oscilloscopes, through Python scripts or interactive console communication.

14-Dec-2023

Fault identification in single elements of antenna arrays by scanning in near-field range and applying the near-field to far-field transformation method.

24-Mar-2020

Power amplifiers in digital TDMA mobile phones are fed with current only during the active slot to save power. Using conventional measuring equipment, the noise figure, an important parameter in power amplifiers, can only be determined with the amplifier in continuous operation. However, continuous operation can lead to amplifier overload and produce distorted results. Now there is a convenient way of determining the noise figure of amplifiers with pulsed power supply: using a Spectrum Analyzer (FSP or FSE or FSIQ or ESI), Noise Measurement Software FS-K3 and a function or pulse generator.

19-Dec-2000 | AN-No. 1MA32

The R&S®RF Ports Alignment Software together with the R&S®SMW-K545 option provides a standard and tailored solution for calibrating and aligning the amplitude, group delay and phase between the RF ports of multiple coupled dual-path or single-path R&S®SMW200A vector signal generators. In addition, the R&S®Pulse Sequencer Software supports users to calculate the required signals for interferometric direction finding (DF) test cases. The R&S®SMW200A signal generator hardware together with the aforementioned software packages enables precise angle of arrival (AoA) simulation for testing the true performance of interferometric direction finders or emitter location systems.

08-Jul-2022

Ethernet communications has been introduced in automotive networks to enable fast and cost efficient data communications, e.g. for the rearward camera or audio/video streaming. In the OPEN alliance (www.openSIG.org), the automotive industry has standardized the BroadR-Reach® physical layer as the automotive Ethernet communications standard. It will be part of the IEEE 802.3 standard. BroadR-Reach® uses full duplex twisted pair communications, enabling 100 Mbit/s data transfer. For interface verification the OPEN Alliance has specified a BroadR-Reach® conformance test with six test cases.

27-Mar-2015

This application note describes essential test setups and test procedures for 3GPP power amplifiers especially for production lines.

04-Sep-2002 | AN-No. 1MA40

From the expert’s desk

15-Jan-2021

LLC resonant converters achieve very high efficiency levels due to soft switching. However, during the power-on phase such a converter might behave differently until the controller has reached a steady state. Measuring the inrush current and the power-on time ensures that they are within standards and comply with the data sheet.

29-Nov-2018

radio signals, radio services, sensitive radiocommunications systems, radio-controlled landing systems, automatic landing systems, air traffic control, UMS100, ARGUS Automatic monitoring of radio signals at airports interfering with radio services Automatic monitoring of radio signals at airports interfering with radio services radio signals, radio services, sensitive radiocommunications systems, radio-controlled

04-Sep-2006

Determining the delay of the video signal in relation to the audio signal aids evaluation of the quality of screens with an audio output. In some cases, such delays can reach as much as 100ms, which can cause significant irritation. This delay occurs because videosignal processing requires more computing power than audio-signal processing. The measurement solution described in this application note analyzes delays of up to +-400ms at a resolution in the order of µs.

21-Apr-2010 | AN-No. 7BM77

This application note gives a short summary on how to use harmonic mixers in combination with Rohde & Schwarz Signal and Spectrum Analyzers. Focus of this application note is the use of conversion loss tables with different R&S analyzers. It also provides a tool to convert different formats of the conversion loss tables.

06-Aug-2010 | AN-No. 1EF75

This application note provides information about measurements on pulsed signals with a spectrum analyzer. Examples show the practical realisation of measurements like pulse width, peak power and mean power, and the limitations of spectrum analyzer measurements. A method for long time average power measurement is explained.

16-Jan-2003 | AN-No. 1EF48

Automotive radar is vital to the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) that will help achieve Net Zero (zero accidents, zero fatalities) targets in the automobile industry. In a driving environment, radar sensors must detect real objects even when there is interference. The R&S®AREG800A automotive radar echo generator is essential to any solution that tests radar sensor immunity to interference.

15-Jun-2023

R&S®RadEsT – electronic corner reflector

08-Apr-2025

The simulation of impulsive noise for tests on set-top boxes for digital TV (DTV) has so far been a highly complex task regarding the reproducibility of test signals. Using state-of-the-art technology from Rohde & Schwarz, this task can be accomplished with a simple test setup

07-Jul-2003 | AN-No. 7BM45

RF physical layer specifications (such as 3GPP TS36.104) describe a variety of requirements that the end equipment needs to meet. This application note provides insight into some of these specifications and how test & measurement equipment can simplify the task of deriving requirements for RF sub-systems.

10-Apr-2013 | AN-No. 1MA221

This application note describes the configuration of a Miracast wireless video transmission system and how to measure the delay times between a smart phone or tablet (source) and a television / monitor (sink) display. The accompanying software for Windows 7/8/10, Mac OS X 10.x and MATLAB additionally allows to measure the delay until the video signal is transmitted over the air and optionally until it is available on the HDMI cable of an external Miracast receiver.

01-Oct-2015 | AN-No. 1MA250

The converters offered for the R&S®ZVA family extend the network analyzers' frequency range up to 325 GHz. This Application Note describes typical measurements on millimeter-wave mixers and millimeter-wave frontends. It also discusses a signal identification method that enables spurious measurements to be performed in the millimeter-wave range using an R&S®ZVA network analyzer in conjunction with a converter.

17-Nov-2008 | AN-No. 1EZ57

The option ZVR-B7 allows an enhanced power calibration of the source and of the receiver channels of a ZVR, then being active instead of the standard factory power calibration. Using an external power meter, the power level of input or output wave quantities will be adjusted to a desired value at an arbitrary reference plane.

29-Jul-1998 | AN-No. 1EZ41