RF modular instruments 'significantly improve' measurement speed

The NI PXIe-5663E 6.6GHz vector signal analyser (VSA) and NI PXIe-5673E 6.6 GHz vector signal generator (VSG) have been designed to significantly improve automated test times for a range of devices that use the latest wireless standards including wlan, Wimax and gsm/edge/wcdma. The instruments' new rf list mode feature is said to provide deterministic power and frequency sequencing functionality to help engineers make rf configuration changes more quickly during a test. According to NI, the new wide loop bandwidth mode improves measurement speed by reducing local oscillator settling times down to 300 microseconds or less. NI's vice president of test product marketing, Eric Starkloff, said: "These new rf instruments illustrate our ongoing commitment to help test engineers save money by improving test times. The increased performance of our enhanced 6.6GHz rf instruments directly addresses the need to perform automated rf tests faster than traditional solutions in high volume production applications." Using rf list mode, NI says that engineers can configure the new products to switch through a preprogrammed list of rf settings, including frequency and power level, at deterministic timing intervals. In wide loop bandwidth mode, the VSG and VSA can settle to a centre frequency and achieve typical tuning times of 300 and 400 microseconds for frequencies between 800MHz and 1950MHz.