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Test & Measurement World: Signal generator/VSA pairing from Aeroflex

The announcement by Aeroflex of a new pair of instruments in its S-Series marks its entry to the vector signal analyser market. The units are matched digital signal generators (SGD range) and VSAs (designated SVA), ranging to 6 GHz and 13 GHz; they occupy the same half-rack-width format as earlier S-Series instruments, and are completely touch-screen-operated, using all the available panel width for their displays. The instruments use PXI technology, and Aeroflex positions them as midrange pricepoint products. You can link the units both mechanically and electrically to provide an integrated generator/ analyser combination that includes embedded software tools to accurately generate and analyse complex wideband modulated signals to test systems and components. The SGD and SVA support generic modulation and demodulation.

The SGD-3 and SGD-6 both feature +13 dBm output power, with a +20 dBm option. They incorporate an IQ modulator with 300 MHz RF bandwidth, which can generate wide bandwidth modulated signals. A dual channel arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) operating at up to 250 MSamples/ sec, with memory options up to 4 GB, offers faster waveform generation and the ability to store multiple signals. The embedded IQCreator waveform generation tool enables you to set up a modulation scheme and create an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) file using modulation templates. The SGD has single sideband (SSB) phase noise of -135 dBc/Hz at 1 GHz offset, and a frequency settling time of 100μsec. The high dynamic range of the IQ modulators provides for an Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) of -71 dBc on WCDMA signals.

The SVA can accept peak signal power levels up +30 dBm, and maximum sensitivity is -148 dBm/Hz, enabling measurement of transmitter spurious outputs. The noise floor at 2 GHz is -138 dBc/Hz at 10 MHz offset, and frequency settling can be as fast as 250 μsec at frequencies up to 6 GHz.

Aeroflex, www.aeroflex.com