Dedicated Phase Noise Analysis and VCO Testing

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Provides very high sensitivity and measurement speed for demanding phase noise and voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) analysis

All radio or RF-based devices, including radar, communications satellites and mobile phones require the purest signal generation and reception electronics. Without them, the high radar resolution or data rate increase for 5G and beyond would be impossible to achieve. 

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Therefore to provide very high sensitivity and measurement speed for demanding phase noise and voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) analysis in development and production, Rohde & Schwarz introduces the new R&S FSPN phase noise analyser and VCO tester for production and design engineers who characterise sources such as synthesisers, VCOs, OCXOs and DROs. 

The R&S FSPN comes in two models: one covers the frequency range from 1 MHz to 8 GHz and the other from 1 MHz to 26.5 GHz, addressing radar and satellite applications in the C band, X band, Ku band and the complete K band. 

The low noise internal local oscillators coupled with real-time cross-correlation engines in the R&S FSPN increase measurement sensitivity. Cross-correlation sensitivity gains can be viewed in real-time in result traces, which allows adjusting the trade-off between measurement speed and sensitivity to meet application requirements. Users in production need just a few correlations to measure high-quality oscillators, synthesisers or VCOs with high throughput. By increasing the number of correlations, users in R&D can characterise the most sensitive commercially available synthesisers and oscillators. 

Features of R&S FSPN include:

• Three ultra-low-noise DC sources to supply and sweep VCOs. 
• Simultaneous measurement of device frequency and phase settling times with up to 8 GHz of real-time analysis bandwidth. 
• Calculation of the Allan variance in the time domain at fixed intervals for investigating oscillator long-term frequency stability.
• Phase noise measurements for cross-correlations and suppression of spurs.
• Measurement of VCO characteristics such as frequency, sensitivity, RF power or current draw versus tuning voltage. 
• Measurement of VCO harmonics versus tuning voltage without an additional spectrum analyser.
• For a more in-depth view of the device under test plus fast and accurate phase noise measurements, the spot-noise versus tune measurement mode combines a sweep with ultra-low-noise DC sources. 

Since Rohde & Schwarz designed the R&S FSPN as a pure phase noise analyser, all relevant measurement modes and enhancements come standard. Users only need to choose the frequency range to order.

The new R&S FSPN phase noise analyser and VCO tester is now available from Rohde & Schwarz.