Tektronix Launches Software For Digital RF Test Signal Creation And Editing
Signal generation for stress testing digital RF product designs is a critical step in the development process for modern wireless devices. Historically, this process has been complicated often requiring many hours of tedious setup and requiring multiple instruments. With RFXpress software, this has been simplified by automating many of the repetitive and arcane functions typically found in competing signal generation solutions.
"RFXpress is ideal for design and test engineers who need to perform validation and characterization of prototype digital RF wireless communication designs," said Mike Higashi, vice president, Signal Source Product Line, Tektronix. "Instead of needing to create mathematical formulas, the intuitive UI provided by the general purpose RFXpress application enables efficient use by providing pre-defined, fill-in the blank templates for frequencies, modulation schemes, etc. The additional capabilities provided by the compliance and custom plug-ins assist with performing a wide range of tests reliably and efficiently for the UWB WiMedia standard."
The RFXpress application supports a variety of modulation schemes like QPSK, QAM, GMSK, etc., and also allows engineers to build their own modulation schemes. Furthermore, RF / IF & IQ signals captured on a Tektronix Real-Time Spectrum Analyzer or using an oscilloscope can now be modified by simply adding impairments, interference and distortions using RFXpress before they are replayed by an AWG7000 or AWG5000.
"The RFXpress Application is a great addition to the AWG platform, effectively transforming a general purpose signal generator into a powerful and easy to use RF generator," said Ray Wang, System Test Manager, Texas Instruments. "Features such as I/Q Impairments, Distortion, and Interference Addition will help validate our products against real-life parameters. Using RFXpress, we essentially get the functionality of both a general purpose and application-specific signal generator in a single package."
For many applications fewer instruments and less complicated setups will be required through the inherent direct synthesis capabilities of the AWG platform combined with RFXpress. Direct synthesis is a flexible and repeatable method for creating ideal or impaired waveforms that are then directly synthesized using an arbitrary waveform generator. For example, the RFXpress WiMedia custom mode plug-in enables engineers to individually configure every part of the WiMedia frame / packet for thorough characterization, limit and stress test of the receiver's PHY layer. With RFXpress and the AWG7000, customers can directly generate band hopping signals for UWB-WiMedia Bandgroup 1 and Bandgroup 2 without the need for multiple instruments. The addition of Tektronix waveform libraries further increases usability and provides engineers with a convenient and intuitive short-cut for testing their latest designs.
Engineers are able to simply recall a setup file that encapsulates all of the relevant standard mandated tests and signal impairments, without the need for any additional external components or mixing required, reducing complexity and cost. AWG setup file deployment can be managed through electronic circulation of files, enabling test systems worldwide to have consistent settings and capabilities and with no external hardware dependencies.
SOURCE: Tektronix, Inc.