Vector signal generator targets automotive, IoT and education
Automotive, broadcast, navigation and wireless applications are the target sectors for the SMCV100B vector signal generator. It is the first commercial multi-standard platform, says Rohde & Schwarz.
It is claimed to be the first economy signal generator that covers the 5G NR extended FR1 frequency range up to 7.125GHz, making it suitable for mobile communications applications. It uses the R&S WinIQSIM2 simulation software which supports all common cellular and wireless connectivity standards, including standards for IoT and Wi-Fi (802.11xx). There are over 30 standards available, and an arbitrary waveform generator to output user-defined signals.
The SMCV100B can be used in the automotive industry for end-of-line testing of car radios or GNSS navigation equipment. Broadcast standards can be combined with mobile communications, wireless and navigation standards. For Go/NoGo tests, the generator can output GPS, GLONASS, Galileo and BeiDou signals of a single navigation satellite. Pre-defined, time-limited I/Q sequences can be output for functional tests with fixed satellite positions. The single instrument can be used for a variety of applications on a production line, which minimises the potential number of spare units and reduces downtime on production lines.
For the broadcast industry, the SMCV100B supports analogue and digital radio standards as well as second and third generation digital terrestrial and satellite based television standards.
According to Rohde & Schwarz, the SMCV100B is the first economy platform that supports ATSC 3.0 in addition to the DVB-T2 and DVB-S2X standards.
The generator uses an advanced direct RF concept to generate output signals for frequencies up to 2.5GHz. This allows I/Q modulation and RF signal generation to be performed in the digital domain, virtually eliminating the I/Q imbalance errors and LO leakage commonly seen with conventional analogue I/Q modulators, says the company. An analogue mixing concept is used to generate frequencies above 2.5 GHz.
The high-performance, Linux-based platform is extensible using software options in the device firmware which can be activated with option keys. Options include frequency extension up to 6.0 or 7.125GHz, increasing the RF modulation bandwidth to 250MHz, raising the RF output power to 23dBm and waveform streaming with up to 60MHz (75Msymbol per second) RF bandwidth. The memory depth of the ARB generator can also be extended from 64Msamples to 1Gsample.
The SMCV100B can be deployed as a general purpose instrument in labs, universities and schools as well as on production lines. Its low-noise cooling concept and compact dimensions mean it can be used on the lab bench.
