Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 10

SIGNAL GENERATORS

according to Jason Chonko, applications marketing manager at SIGLENT
Technologies North America. "They
feature output frequencies up to 6 GHz,
output power up to +30 dBm, intuitive
touchscreen control, and USB/LAN with
an internal web server for simplified LAN
control as well as an integrated 150-MHz
IQ-modulation-bandwidth option for allin-one communications sourcing," he
said, adding that the instruments also
have arbitrary-waveform-creation capability and an included library of standard commercial waveform examples like
CDMA and Wi-Fi.
Regarding software, "The SSG3 Series is
supported by Windows-based EasyWaveX
arbitrary-waveform-generation software
as well as EasyIQ for creation of digital
communications test signals," Chonko
said. "The SSG5X integrates waveform
creation into its web interface for development without special downloads."

Modular technology
According to Chris N. White, chief product planner for high-speed I/O at NI,
the company's most recent RF family
additions include the PXIe-5841 vector
signal transceiver and the PXIe-5655 RF
analog signal generator. "The PXIe-5841
includes a high-quality direct-conversion
signal generator up to 6 GHz as well as
an integrated vector signal analyzer
chain, both connected through FPGAbased digital-signal-processing IP," he
said. "This interconnection between
signal generation and signal analysis offers unique value for stimulus/response
testing by providing the signal-generation
real-time knowledge of the behavior of
the test environment or DUT in order to
adapt to deliver the desired result."
White described the PXIe-5655 as a 7.2GHz signal generator with excellent phase
noise and fast tuning. "This signal generator also acts as an optional high-quality
local oscillator for the PXIe-5841, further
extending the quality of the vector generation performance of that instrument on
key performance metrics like error vector
magnitude (EVM) to offer a deeper understanding of the residual characteristics of
the device under test," he said. "Combined,
these two software-connected signal

10

EVALUATION ENGINEERING OCTOBER 2020

generators comprise a compact, ultrahigh-performance
instrument with the flexibility
and power to meet the needs of
a very wide array of applications
beyond the capabilities of a traditional signal generator."
NI's VST is powered by measurement IP contained within
the R Fm x measurements
software. "RFmx offers signal
creation and measurement
capability for a wide range of
communications and connectivity standards like 5G, LTE,
or 802.11ax and beyond," White
said. "The RFmx Waveform
Creator allows the creation
of standard or customized test signals for
these standards,
a nd t he R Fm x
measurements can
be utilized through
high-efficiency automation or through
interactive inspection using our measurement panels. The simplicity and intuitive
nature of the RFmx libraries enables customers to quickly get up running to test
advanced use cases like the latest carrieraggregation combinations, digital predistortion. and multistandard validation. All
of this capability can be natively developed
in LabVIEW, C, and .NET to support any
user workflow."
According to Jon Semancik, director of
marketing at Marvin Test Solutions, the
company offers the ATEasy integrated
test executive and development environment plus add-on functionality for waveform creation and editing. "WaveEasy is
an interactive analog waveform-editor
software tool for creating and editing
analog waveforms," he said. "To view or
edit existing waveforms, you can open or
save files using various file formats including WaveEasy, ASCII or text (txt, csv,
prn), or the NI HWS (.hws) format, which
is used by many instrument drivers."
Semancik said WaveEasy waveforms
contain waveform segments and segment
items described by a mathematical function or by an array of points-created by a
line drawing, freehand drawing, or some
other external source. "The user can apply

Marvin Test Solutions
GX1649 analog output/arbitrary
waveform generator PXI card.
Courtesy of Marvin Test Solutions

a mathematical function to each segment
or segment item, allowing for the creation
of complex waveforms, the addition of
noise, filtering, or other waveform attributes," he said.
"Most MTS signal generators are designed to provide multiple ARB/functiongenerator outputs on a single 3U PXI card
to maximize the utility in functional test
applications," Semancik continued. "The
GX1649 analog output/arbitrary waveform generator PXI card, for example,
provides 64 ARB channels combined with
digital I/O functionality."
SignalCore SC5521A and
SC5520A signal sources.
Courtesy of SignalCore.

SignalCore, which designs and manufactures high-performance RF upconverters, RF downconverters, and RF synthesizers, including frequency converters
and signal generators, offers products



Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020

Instrumentation vs. Telemetry
By the Numbers
Automotive Test
Industry Report
Automated Test
Tech Focus
Testing Quandary
Signal Generators
Autonomous Vehicles
Automotive Test
Instrumentation vs. Telemetry
Instrumentation vs. Telemetry
Automated Test
By the Numbers
By the Numbers
High-Speed Digital
Industry Report
Industry Report
Testing Quandary
Tech Focus
Featured Tech
Autonomous Vehicles
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 1
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 2
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 3
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - By the Numbers
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 5
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Industry Report
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Tech Focus
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Signal Generators
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 9
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 10
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 11
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 12
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 13
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 14
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 15
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Automotive Test
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 17
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 18
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 19
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 20
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 21
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 22
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 23
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Automated Test
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 25
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 26
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 27
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - High-Speed Digital
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 29
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Testing Quandary
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 31
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Featured Tech
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 33
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - Autonomous Vehicles
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 35
Evaluation_Engineering_October_2020 - 36
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