[TechView: Test]
Software Options Make Good Spectrum Analyzers Even Better
Louis E. Frenzel
ED Online ID #19466
July 25, 2008
Copyright © 2006 Penton Media, Inc., All rights reserved.
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New options are available for Anritsu’s popular MS271xB economy microwave spectrum analyzers (see the figure). The three available models have upper frequency limits of 7.1, 13, and 20 GHz. They also have a 10-MHz demodulation bandwidth and support the most common 3G cell-phone and WiMAX standards.
Furthermore, these analyzers feature best-in-class phase noise of –110 dBc/Hz with a 19-kHz offset at 800 MHz. They target applications where designers have to measure the performance of wireless broadband components and devices, increase production yields, and lower the cost of production test.
The new options include software that runs on an external PC and controls any model of the MS271xB via an Ethernet or general-purpose interface bus (GPIB) interface. It combines multiple swept measurements into summary displays of phase noise performance. It also outputs phase noise trace plots on the same scale in different colors. The phase noise plots can be smoothed and compared with user-created limit lines.
With the new software, users also can make jitter measurements to be displayed in seconds, degrees, or hertz. In general, the way in which the data is collected and displayed makes it easier for wireless designers and troubleshooters to predict system error vector magnitude (EVM) and bit error rate (BER).
Another option for all three MS271xB models, the addition of a GPIB interface, permits the analyzers to be readily integrated into manufacturing test systems. A new front-panel connector is also now provided for flash drives. An additional software option, a measurement suite, lets users test and measure components and equipment based on TD-SCDMA, the Chinese 3G cell-phone standard.
Anritsu Company
www.anritsu.com
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