This application note describes how to generate 3GPP (UTRA-FDD) signals for receiver tests under fading conditions for user equipment. The test setup requires an R&S®CMU200 Universal Radio Communication Tester with option R&S®CMU-B17 IQ-IF interface and an R&S®SMIQ Vector Signal Generator. The test setup can be calibrated with either a R&S®NRP-Zx USB power sensor or an NRP, NRVD, or NRVS Power Meter. To calibrate the baseband and RF path and configure performance tests according to the 3GPP test specification 34.121 easily, the program 3GFadLevCor is included.

01-Mar-2005 | AN-No. 1MA76

This application note provides basic information about settling time measurements and describes how frequency settling time measurements can be easily and convenient performed using a modern spectrum analyzer with integrated signal analysis capabilities.The analog demodulation measurement application R&S®FSxx-K7 performs frequency and phase settling time measurements using a modern wideband concept, and results are obtained easily and convenient with an integrated settling time measurement capability.

18-Jun-2022 | AN-No. 1EF112

The Internet of Things (IoT) is considered the driving force of current and future wireless communications. In release 13, 3GPP has specified Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) as a new physical layer. This application note gives a short introduction to NB-IoT and shows the easy measurements with Rohde & Schwarz instruments.

30-Jun-2017 | AN-No. 1MA296

The R&S®CMW-B400B audio board offers the flexibility to measure and quantify audio applications with the R&S®CMW270/280/500 radio communication testers.

20-Jun-2013

Its dual-path concept and high-power signal generation up to 20 GHz make the R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator ideal for efficient testing of blocking characteristics

30-May-2014

The R&S®FPS-K18 amplifier measurement option in combination with the R&S®FPS signal and spectrum analyzer and the R&S®SGT100A SGMA vector RF source enables high-speed amplifier characterization.

13-Jun-2016

Using the optional three-port or four-port adapter (ZVR-B8 and ZVR-B14), PORT 1 and PORT 2 of the network analyzers of the ZVR family (ZVRL, ZVRE and ZVR) can be expanded to up to four ports. Thus automatic measurements on three- and four-port DUTs can be easily performed without any reconnection of ports being required. With the electronic switches in the adapters, switchover between the various ports is fast to the extent that the known high measurement and display speed of the analyzers of the ZVR family is fully maintained.

04-Aug-1998 | AN-No. 1EZ37

A key challenge for embedded devices with DDR memories is to maintain signal integrity in the presence of power and ground rail fluctuations. This becomes even more important as supply voltages decrease and switching speed increases leading to tighter power rail tolerances and jitter requirements.

05-Apr-2017

With the wideband extension R&S®ESW-B1000, the R&S®ESW EMI test receiver allows never seen testing speed with up to 970 MHz of FFT bandwidth. External applications can now take advantage of the wide bandwidth. ESW firmware 3.20 adds a new method for exporting trace data from the instrument, regardless if the instrument is equipped with the wideband extension or not. SCPI commands allow live trace export of multiple traces simultaneously. This application note describes the use and applications of SCPI commands to request trace data of up to 4 traces simultaneously from the R&S®ESW receiver, even allowing CISPR detectors. The commands enable trace export while the instrument measures continuously and therefore theoretically enable infinite measurements.

25-Jul-2024 | AN-No. 1EE27

Fading in the baseband of the R&S®SMW200A signal generator is well proven and widely accepted for testing any mobile radio standard. However, there are applications where an RF signal must be faded.A versatile RF Fading Simulator can easily be built using an R&S®FSW, R&S®FSQ, R&S®FSG, R&S®FSV signal analyzer with Digital Base Band Interface or with the instrument combination R&S®TSMW / R&S®IQR and an R&S®SMU signal generator with digital baseband inputs and fading simulator option. Note describes how.

27-Feb-2015 | AN-No. 1MA145

This application note explains the fundamentals of the cell search and cell selection and reselection procedures required for both modes of UMTS Long Term Evolution: FDD and TDD. It describes how to generate and analyze the required signals using Rohde & Schwarz test and measurement solutions. The application note also shows how to perform interoperability tests and terminal conformance tests according to the baseline of the 3GPP specifications for protocol conformance and Radio Resource Management (RRM).

17-Sep-2009 | AN-No. 1MA150

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

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

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

In this day and age of internet of things, more and more devices are connected to the local network, making it even more difficult for the IT department to monitor them. Rohde & Schwarz instruments are also increasingly accessed via their LAN interface, which provides additional convenience features such as remote desktop, SMB file transfer or a web interface. To make it easier to monitor the use and status of instruments, some devices offer a software option, the Health and Utilization Monitoring Service (HUMS).HUMS can be accessed via SNMP and REST (HTTP) and provides all necessary information about the health status and utilization over time in many details.This application note describes how to access HUMS and what data is provided.

11-Jan-2021 | AN-No. GFM336

When measuring audio components with unknown transients, the experienced engineer watches the settling of the DUT before accepting a measured result to be valid. The settling function in the UPL/UPD simulates this process and automates it by continuously comparing the measured value with a number of measured values stored before. A measured value is only accepted as being valid if it is within the tolerance limits entered by the user. This application note explains the settling process and gives hints for practical use.

03-Jun-1998 | AN-No. 1GA12

Phase stability over time is a key characteristic for phase-coherent signals. A common 1 GHz reference signal maintains high phase stability between the RF outputs of multiple R&S®SGT100A SGMA vector RF sources.

09-Jan-2017

Sequencer Software Tool

20-Feb-2015

This application note explains how to detect, characterize, find and document interferers in cellular networks using the R&S®FSH spectrum analyzer.First it explains how to use the spectrum and interference analysis functions during each step of interference hunting. It also illustrates the explanations with a common interferer example. Then it points out the most common interference sources in cellular networks and gives tips on how to identify them.

21-Oct-2014 | AN-No. 1EF89

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

This application note describes Methods of Implementation (MOI) for precise, fast, and error-free compliance testing of USB 3.2 Legacy Cable Testing for USB Type A, Type B, and Micro family connector types. Based on 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps signaling per lane with vector network analyzers from Rohde & Schwarz.

09-Nov-2023 | AN-No. 1SL408

In high-speed digital measurement applications, test fixtures are commonly used to connect devices under test to measurement equipment. Characterization, and analysis in the time and frequency domains that accounts for various constraints helps to remove the influence of these fixtures.

23-May-2023 | AN-No. 1SL393

Noise sources used for noise figure and gain measurements are typically controlled by the spectrum analyzer or noise figure meter instruments and are calibrated with their ENR value (Excess noise ratio). While this external control and the use of ENR values is common in noise figure test, it may be difficult in system applications where the noise source control is not available, and the use of ENR values is replaced with the values for the noise output power of the noise source. The calculation of the output power for the noise source requires to know the P_hot value (hot power) which is not a common specification for noise sources used in test and measurement applications.This application note describes a technique to perform a calibrated noise power measurement (P_hot) with spectrum analyzers and noise sources. The next sections will give further details.

31-May-2022 | AN-No. 1EF113

More and more mobile radio networks implement remote radio equipment (RE) that is connected to the base station main unit via a digital interface using standardized transmission protocols such as CPRI. For testing RE devices Rohde & Schwarz offers a complete test solution based on the R&S®EX-IQ-BOX [Model K04]. This key component is a configurable digital interface module that is used to connect Rohde & Schwarz test equipment to a RE under test using CPRI data transmission. This application note explains in detail the instrument setup and configuration needed to successfully test your remote radio head.

05-Aug-2013 | AN-No. 1GP78

In addition to frequency, power and long-term stability, short-term stability or its equivalent, phase noise, is an important characteristic of signal sources. For example, the phase noise of conversion oscillators of receivers obtained in the presence of a strong signal determines adjacent-channel sensitivity. In the case of transmitters, the phase noise of the oscillator together with the modulator characteristics is responsible for the power generated in adjacent channels. The phase noise of oscillators or synthesizers and the relevant measurements therefore play an important role in radio transmission systems.

16-Jan-2002 | AN-No. 1EF16

When analyzing the robustness of data transmission systems, jitter is a key indicator. It is recommended to use jitter measurement instruments for both the time and frequency domain in order to differentiate between fast and slow moving artifacts.

22-Aug-2017

The R&S®SMW200A vector signal generator offers a remote emulation feature that makes it possible to control the instrument by commands other than the built-in native SCPI commands. This feature allows the user to replace signal generators, e.g. from other manufacturers, with the R&S®SMW200A without having to change the remote control code. This application note describes how to use the remote emulation feature in general. Furthermore, it describes in detail the remote emulation for each supported instrument, limitations of the individual emulations and the remaining differences between the emulated and the original commands.

29-Apr-2016 | AN-No. 1GP110

As well as static tests, modern mobile communication standards also stipulate measurements under fading conditions, sometimes with additional white gaussian noise AWGN. Rohde & Schwarz supports these tests with the combination of the R&S®CMU200 Radio Communication Tester and the R&S®SMU200A or R&S®AMU200A Vector / Baseband Signal Generator and Fading Simulator. Applying fading and noise always raises the crest factor of a signal considerably. Thus, automatic path attenuation inside the Rohde & Schwarz baseband fader prevents the new signal peaks from being clipped at I/Q full scale. Any additional attenuation in the baseband, however, makes the RF output fall below its intended level. This application note shows how to achieve an accurate RF output level by compensating for the I/Q attenuation - without modifying the test setup or using additional instruments.

09-Jan-2009 | AN-No. 1MA135

The strict requirement of network synchronization is as old as digital cellular mobile networks. As soon as cells have a neighbor relationship, network synchronization is mandatory in both the frequency and time domains in order to ensure UE QoE and performance (Handover, MIMO, data throughput, etc.). This educational note describes how 5G NR with its extremely flexible specifications is affected by these synchronization requirements, and how it can be measured?

17-Aug-2021 | AN-No. 8NT05

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