Vector signal generator aids RF characterisation

5 May 2004 Test & Measurement

Engineers are offered a complete platform for accelerating RF product design, validation and manufacturing test with the release of National Instruments' 2,7 GHz NI PXI-5670 RF vector signal generator. The new PXI-5670 module offers true 16 bit resolution arbitrary waveform generation at 100 MSa/s (400 MSa/s interpolated), up to 256 MB of memory and 22 MHz realtime bandwidth. This gives engineers a highly precise, flexible vector signal generator with the performance required for rapid prototyping and automated test, says the company.

The RF vector signal generator offers signal generation from 250 kHz to 2,7 GHz and can produce analog and custom digital modulation as well as standard digital modulation formats such as ASK, FSK, MSK, PSK and QAM. The module's deep memory of up to 256 MB offers extended playback time for complex modulated signals, which addresses research and development needs for simulation of signal transmission in real-world conditions. The module has advanced timing and triggering capabilities, and the software flexibility makes it a good fit for emerging applications including software defined radio, radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor networks.

The PXI-5670 module includes the NI Modulation Toolkit for LabView 7 Express and the NI-RFSG instrument driver. The Modulation Toolkit offers functions for signal generation, analysis and visualisation of analog and digital modulation, both standard and custom.

Some of the standard measurement functions include error vector magnitude (EVM), modulation error ratio (MER) and Rho. The toolkit also offers functions to inject impairments into a communications system including IQ gain imbalance, quadrature skew and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Visualisation functions include trellis, constellation and two- and three-dimensional eye diagrams.

For more information contact National Instruments South Africa, 0800 203 199.

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