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Frequency Converter Measurement Solution
Frequency Converter Measurement Solution
Agilent Technologies Inc has introduced a frequency converter measurement capability for its PNA and PNA-X Series network analysers. With this capability, engineers now have a quicker, easier way to fully characterize mixers and frequency converters up to 67 GHz. Engineers performing linear characterization of mixers and frequency converters – used in a range of aerospace/defense, satellite and wireless communications applications – often face a daunting challenge when it comes to conducting frequency-translation measurements. Traditionally this task, which requires the use of both a reference and calibration mixer, can be very cumbersome to set up. Agilent’s new frequency converter measurement solution addresses these obstacles head on. It allows engineers to measure the magnitude-, phase- and absolute-group-delay response of mixers and frequency converters with high accuracy, without having to use a reference or calibration mixer. This greatly simplifies frequency-translation measurements by eliminating the need to find reference and calibration mixers that match the frequency conversion plan of the device under test, which can be especially difficult above 26.5 GHz. Measurements can be done on devices requiring external local oscillator signals, or those with local oscillators that are not locked to the system’s 10-MHz reference. The new method eliminates the reference mixer by performing ratios of single-receiver phase measurements at the device’s input and output frequencies. This technique relies on the inherent phase coherency of the fractional-N-based synthesis architecture used in the PNA and PNA-X’s sources.