Aeroflex 3030 RF digitiser option 103 WLAN measurement suite

Support has been introduced for MIMO (multiple-input/multiple-output) testing capabilities for the PXI 3000 series manufacturing test system with the introduction of its 3061 module, a multiport RF combiner.

The initial target application for the module is WLAN IEEE 802.11n device testing.

Consequently, the WLAN measurement suite software (3030 RF digitiser software option 103) has been updated to take advantage of the MIMO capabilities offered by the 3061. The latest release of the suite supports testing of WLAN devices implementing up to 2x2 MIMO communications.

The addition of MIMO capability will aid RF engineers responsible for production test, quality assurance and R&D. MIMO techniques to help maximise data throughput are set to become standard practice for a wide variety of fixed and mobile data communications.

The 3030 RF digitiser option 103 WLAN measurement suite now supports IEEE 802.11n MCS 8 to 15 and MIMO test. Power modulation and spectrum measurement results for each transmit stream can be viewed independently using PXI studio application software, as well as supporting composite measurement of EVM (error vector magnitude) for multiple antenna configurations.

The suite is designed for use in conjunction with the 3061 RF combiner/RF switch module that provides three RF in/out interfaces to a single VSA/VGA (vector signal analyser/vector generator analyser) resource.

During MIMO measurements the suite sequences switch selection between each antenna automatically and at high speed. With instant measurement bandwidths up to 90 MHz available, the 3000 series is equipped to perform WLAN spectral emission mask measurements in a single step.