Keithley Instruments has launched the 2.0 version of its SignalMeister Waveform
Creation Software. Introduced last year, the original version of the software tool lets engineers
create highly complex signals needed to test modern RF and wireless products. With
SignalMeister, designers can create waveforms for multiple signal standards and add signal
impairments and channel modeling.
The created waveforms are downloaded to Keithley’s 2900 series RF vector signal generators
(VSGs), which produce the final output. The software targets the testing needs of manufacturers
supplying mobile phones, wireless connectivity devices, RF chip sets, and other components
in both production and R&D environments.
SignalMeister 2.0 adds an object-oriented graphical user interface (GUI) that lets users generate
basic and complex waveforms using graphical objects and a click-and-drag objects-based
approach (see the figure). To generate the desired test signals, all you do is drag the right
objects into a project work area on the screen, define their parameters, and connect them. No
code writing is needed.
Optimized for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) signals, this GUI also allows users
to visually create a dramatically expanded range of test waveforms. MIMO is being widely
adopted in many wireless standards, including WiMAX, 802.11n Wi-Fi and some of the new
3GPP and 3GPP2 cellular standards like Long Term Evolution (LTE).
SignalMeister 2.0 lets users test all aspects of WiMAX in the 400-MHz to 4-GHz range and
in Wi-Fi to 6 GHz. It supports all available modulation methods. The software includes built-in
libraries for different signal types, including WCDMA, HSDPA, HSUPA, cdmaOne, cdma2000,
1xEV-DV, 802.11a/b/g/n wireless local-area networks (WLANs), and 802.16e mobile WiMAX,
as well as its kin WiBro.
The new version of SignalMeister can
be downloaded for the 2900 VSGs. A software
license starts at $2500.
LOUIS E. FRENZEL
KEITHLEY INSTRUMENTS INC. •
www.keithley.com/signal