How to Characterize 802.11ad Devices

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Arbitrary waveform generator
+ Arbitrary waveform generator
Arbitrary waveform generator
+ Arbitrary waveform generator

Generating and analyzing 802.11ad waveforms across baseband, IF, RF, and mmWave

Testing 802.11ad, or WiGig devices, requires addressing the transmitter and receiver portions of the device. In a tri-band device, at various points within the radio block diagrams, the signals may be baseband, intermediate frequency (IF), radio frequency (RF), or millimeter-wave (mmWave). Thorough testing of 802.11ad devices requires three essential elements — waveform generation, frequency conversion, and signal, modulation and spectrum analysis. Characterizing device performance versus the standard requires generating impaired or corrected signals that mimic real-world issues such as fading, distortion, IQ skew, and carrier-to-noise problems.

Test engineer requires specialized software and an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) to create waveform at baseband frequencies, while signal simulation for IF and RF frequencies needs an upconverter. Conversely, signal analysis uses a custom-designed downconverter, which provides frequency translation to the IF band. A microwave network analyzer offers single-connection measurements for active devices like amplifiers, mixers, and frequency converters, providing additional RF characterization across a wide frequency range of 10 MHz to 67 GHz. A microwave network analyzer can provide highly accurate measurements, such as S-parameters, gain compression, two-tone, and noise figure measurements on converters and two-port devices.

802.11ad characterization solution

Characterizing the 802.11ad devices requires waveform generation and analysis of signals at baseband, IF, RF, and mmWave frequencies. The Keysight 802.11ad characterization solution includes an arbitrary waveform generator and a vector signal generator with wideband IQ inputs. The combination of hardware and software enables the generation of wideband test signals with up to 2 GHz of modulation bandwidth at frequencies up to 44 GHz to support a wide range of possible IF frequencies. An engineer can achieve frequency coverage in the V band by using an upconverter. A wide bandwidth oscilloscope performs signal demodulation at IF frequencies by digitizing the signals and passing them to the software for analysis. Use a downconverter to translate 60 GHz signals into an IF that is compatible with an oscilloscope.
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