The MDO4000 Mixed Domain Oscilloscope is a unique and powerful multi-domain instrument that can not only capture and measure analog and digital signals vs. time, but can also do the same with RF signals. Not only can it show you the RF spectral changes vs. time and vs. the analog and digital signals, it can also show several RF vs. Time traces. Specifically, it can compute and display RF …
When talking about Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers, the concept of bandwidth can take on many forms. This short article addresses the various bandwidth terms and concepts, and what each of these mean in your RSA. Real Time Bandwidth: This generally refers to the maximum capture bandwidth of the RSA. In other words, this is the widest bandwidth over which the RSA can capture/record signals over …
Nearly all modern benchtop test and measurement equipment includes firmware or software that controls the operation, features and user interface. This firmware will typically be updated a few times per year to add features, functionality, and to fix the occasional bug or two. The firmware is typically available for download, free of charge, on www.tek.com. You can choose to visit the website …
A real-time spectrum analyzer (RSA) offers a lot of different measurement capabilities, including modulation and time domain analysis, pulse analysis and live real-time spectrum analysis. First and foremost though, it is a spectrum analyzer. There are differences in the way that an RSA generates spectrum results compared to a conventional swept spectrum analyzer. This note describes the …
Vector signal analyzers like Tektronix Real-Time Spectrum analyzers operate by converting the incoming RF signal into quadrature baseband (IQ) samples vs. time. All of the measurements and results that can be displayed, from simple spectrum measurements to complex modulation analysis, are computed from these IQ samples.
One common calculation that is performed on the IQ data is to determine …
Today’s Real-Time Spectrum Analyzers include features and capabilities that go far beyond the basic measurement capabilities of conventional spectrum analyzers. Among these capabilities is the ability to capture and record RF data vs. time for playback and analysis. So, what is RF Capture and Playback? It turns out, the answer is multi-faceted. There are several different ways that today’s …
The AWG70000 Arbitrary Waveform Generator features sample rates up to 50GS/s and signal bandwidths of 10-15GHz or more. When generating wideband signals, minor impedance discontinuities in the interconnect cables can affect the amplitude and phase flatness. As signal frequencies increase, they can be subject to the analog bandwidth and sinx/x rolloff characteristics of the AWG. These signal …
One of the questions we often hear from customers is how a Tektronix real time spectrum analyzer such as the RSA5000 Series compares to a traditional spectrum or vector signal analyzer for capturing and analyzing signals. Since there are a significant number of distinguishing features I thought this would be a great topic for a blog post where I can go into a bit more depth.
Tektronix RSAs …
Quadrature signals, also called IQ signals, IQ data or IQ samples, are often used in RF applications. They form the basis of complex RF signal modulation and demodulation, both in hardware and in software, as well as in complex signal analysis. This post looks at the concept of IQ signals and how they are used.A pair of periodic signals are said to be in “quadrature” when they differ in phase by …
By Alan Wolke With the recent announcement of the world’s fastest Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) from Tektronix Component Solutions, I thought it would be interesting to take a quick tutorial tour through one of the simplest DAC architectures – the R-2R resistor ladder network as shown in Figure 1below. Figure 1: A 4-bit R-2R NetworkThe R-2R resistor ladder network directly converts a parallel …
