New RF Vector Signal Generator Provides Industry’s Best Combination of High Throughput & Low Phase

Oct. 26, 2009 - PRLog -- Keithley Instruments, Inc.   announced today that it has upgraded its popular RF Vector Signal Generator line for RF engineers with new capabilities that reduce signal generation times and enhance signal quality. In contrast with competitive signal generators, which typically force users to choose between best signal quality and maximum test throughput, the Model 2920A’s no-compromise design combines both capabilities in the same instrument. To learn more, visit https://admin.acrobat.com/_a16893448/p98777722/

The Model 2920A, which provides signal generation bandwidth options up to 80MHz with a frequency range of either 10MHz–4GHz or 10MHz–6GHz, builds on the capabilities of Keithley’s Series 2900 signal generator line. It expands the Series 2900 line’s applications for testing wireless devices to today’s high throughput, complex modulation, & wide bandwidth wireless telecom standards, including GSM/EDGE, cdmaOne, cdma2000, W-CDMA, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE, WLAN, WiMAX, WiBro, TD-SCDMA, DVB (Digital Video Broadcast), and GPS (Global Positioning System).

The Model 2920A is optimized for calibrating and testing components such as amplifiers, filters, and wireless receivers thoroughly over their full range of performance at exceptional speed. Several major advances allow it to provide substantially higher test throughput than earlier signal generation options:
• Industry’s fastest frequency tuning: A new, patent-pending technique that ensures fast settling of phase-locked loop synthesizers allows the Model 2920A to tune to a new frequency on a device under test’s (DUT’s) operating band in 300μs or less. Competitive products typically require 600μs or longer to tune to a new frequency.
• Industry’s fastest amplitude switching: The Model 2920A provides electronic attenuation and a fast-tracking, automatic level control loop to stabilize quickly on a new power level, which allows switching to a new amplitude in as little as 150μs (compared to more than 500μs for competitive generators). This fast settling time speeds testing a device over its full power handling range.
• Waveform switching in a single clock cycle: Because devices that operate on multiple standards require rapid switching between numerous complex signals during testing, the Model 2920A’s on-board arbitrary waveform generator includes a 100-megasample memory to hold large individual waveforms or multiple smaller ones.
• High speed signal file transfers: The Model 2920A offers a direct link from its DSP processing circuit block to an external PC via a USB 2.0 bus that maximizes operating speed. In this high-speed Desktop Control Panel operating mode, an external PC assumes control of the Model 2920A, just as if it were the instrument’s on-board processor controller. This mode supports transferring signal files from a PC directly into the Model 2920A’s arbitrary waveform memory at 100Mb/sec for faster, simpler downloading of extremely large files (such as streaming video test signal files, signal files modified by channel models, and radar profile files).
   Users have the flexibility to create waveform files offline and download them into the Model 2920A’s arbitrary waveform memory using a USB memory stick or the GPIB or LAN interfaces. This transfer flexibility will be useful for those who prefer to employ third-party tools to create signal files, such as The MathWorks’ MATLAB® interactive programming environment.

The Model 2920A’s enhanced speed performance doesn’t compromise its phase noise performance. Unlike competitive signal generators, which are typically designed to maximize either throughput (for production test applications) or signal purity (for design verification applications), the Model 2920A includes new capabilities that allow optimizing for whichever performance aspect is most critical for a specific application:
• Ultra-low phase noise option: High signal purity is essential when creating complex HSPA+, 802.11n WLAN, 802.16e WiMAX, and LTE signals. To ensure the quality of these signals, the Model 2920A-UPN Ultra Low Phase Noise option provides superior low phase noise levels, such as ≤-135dBc/Hz at a 300kHz offset on a 2GHz carrier. That allows generating WCDMA signals with EVMs

# # #

Keithley Instruments, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures & markets complex electronic instruments & systems geared to the specialized needs of electronics manufacturers for high-performance production testing, process monitoring, & product development.