Aeroflex Adds WLAN 802.11ac Signal Generation and Analysis
June 20, 2012. Aeroflex announced at the International Microwave Symposium that it has added IEEE 802.11ac capability to its S-Series RF signal generator and analyzer product line, first introduced in 2010. Designed for use by engineers in wireless local area network (WLAN) research, design, and manufacturing, the new 802.11ac capability is available for the SGD RF digital signal generators (Option 119) and the SVA vector signal analyzers (Option 110).
The S-Series product line’s standard features include a wide bandwidth at 200 MHz; level and frequency settling times of 100 µs; and very low phase noise performance (-135 dB/Hz at 1 GHz, 20-kHz offset).
The S-Series’ wide bandwidth is suitable for WLAN R&D. For manufacturing, the fast settling times enable rapid device throughput. Using Aerolock, the S-Series instruments can be locked together to build complex test set-ups. Two instruments are combined within a width of 19”, allowing both transmit and receive functions in one small space. Customers praise the S-Series for reducing the total time spent—from setting up the measurement—to obtaining meaningful results.
“The need for increased device speed, data rates, network capacity, and wide bandwidth have put pressure on the instrument’s hardware to maintain modulation accuracy and increased bandwidth. The S-Series is highly accurate and with 200 MHz factory-calibrated bandwidth, we can easily cover the needs of 802.11ac with plenty of room for future technologies,” said David Asquith, Aeroflex’s product line manager for the S-Series.
The SGD’s WLAN signal generation suite is now updated for 802.11ac, supporting bandwidths of 20, 40, 80, 80+80, and 160 MHz and up to eight spatial streams. Using an embedded version of Aeroflex’s IQCreator® waveform creation software, 802.11ac waveforms are quickly created and played from within the signal generator.
Testing 256QAM modulation demands lower EVM within the test system. To achieve low EVM, Aeroflex created a new type of factory calibration to maintain its orthogonality (the 90° relationship between I and Q) as the baseband frequency increases. Aeroflex’s calibration mechanism creates an effective digital filter that pre-distorts the baseband signal before it is applied to the IQ modulator. This new method gives the SGD its 200-MHz of factory-calibrated signal bandwidth and enables testing of the very latest wireless devices.
The SVA offers high linearity and low noise, and it includes a built-in spectrum analyzer. The SVA’s WLAN measurement suite with 802.11ac capability includes measurement tools enabling analysis of WLAN OFDM, DSSS, and DSSS-OFDM RF signal characteristics in accordance with IEEE 802.11a, b, g, n, and ac. In addition to support for 802.11ac, generic measurement capabilities are included as standard, and a range of optional modulation analysis suites extend measurement support to a variety of communications standards within the same application framework. Measurement capabilities include power, spectrum, and modulation analysis with results displayed in two user-configurable windows.