Symmetricom Adds Internal Reference Oscillator Option To 5120A All-Digital Phase Noise And Allan Deviation Test Set

San Jose, CA - Symmetricom, Inc., believed to be a worldwide leader in precise time and frequency technologies that accelerate the deployment and enable the management of next generation networks, recently announced an optional low noise internal reference oscillator for the all-digital 5120A High Performance Phase Noise and Allan Deviation (ADEV) Test Set. With this option, customers can make accurate phase noise and ADEV measurements with a single connection, eliminating the need for an external reference oscillator. Previously, customers needed to provide a low noise reference at the exact test frequency, which was time consuming and costly. The 5120A platform offers a single, easy-to-use instrument for the accurate measurement of single sideband (SSB) phase noise and ADEV.

"The optional 5120A-01 is another significant advancement in the ease-of-use for Symmetricom's high performance phase noise and Allan Deviation test set," commented Dr. Samuel Stein, vice president of research and development at Symmetricom. "Highly accurate measurements can be made at the click of a button, all at a fraction of the cost of other available measurement tools. Without the tedious multi-step configuration or calibration routines, the optional low noise internal reference oscillator makes this test set the easiest to use in the world."

The culmination of over 20 years of research at leading laboratories, the 5120A allows customers to easily make highly accurate phase noise and ADEV measurements (down to –175 dBc/Hz and <3E-15 at 1 second, respectively) without any pre-calibration or pre-configuration, unlike other test instruments. While other commercially available phase noise and ADEV test instruments require multiple pieces of equipment and must be precisely calibrated before a measurement, the single box 5120A eliminates this process entirely.

"A calibration by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) confirmed that the submitted 5120A's measurement accuracy was better than 1 dBc/Hz at frequency offsets between 0.1 and 100,000 Hz," commented David Howe, project leader for Time and Frequency Metrology at the Time and Frequency division of NIST.

Typically used for short-term stability measurements of high precision oscillators and atomic clocks, Symmetricom time and frequency measurement instruments perform direct digital measurements of the device under test, enabling accurate results to be obtained in a matter of seconds.

SOURCE: Symmetricom, Inc.