Keithley Adds WiMAX Testing Capability to its RF Test Instrument Family

(Product News, 25 Jun 2008)

Keithley Instruments Inc.'s has announced a set of signal creation and analysis tools that extend its RF test capabilities to include WiMAX signal testing. Keithley's new solution is built on a next-generation hardware platform that makes it simple and inexpensive to add support for new signal standards, such as 802.16e mobile WiMAX Wave 2 testing with up to 4x4 MIMO channels, without requiring expensive hardware upgrades or different instrumentation. In addition, the new instruments support testing to lower frequency bands down to 400MHz, an increasingly important capability for new WiMAX solutions being developed.

Keithley's RF test solutions are based on the company's Model 2820 RF Vector Signal Analyzers and Model 2920 RF Vector Signal Generators. Because these test instruments rely on a next-generation DSP-based Software-Defined Radio (SDR) architecture, they are capable of making extremely high speed measurements both thoroughly and accurately. In addition, the same Keithley signal analyzers or signal generators can be used in an automated production environment or can be moved easily to the bench for standalone test applications. Keithley's test systems provide frequency coverage from 400MHz to 4GHz and to 6GHz if WLAN measurements are needed. Coverage in the lower frequencies, below 2.4GHz, has become more important recently, as the 400MHz to 700MHz bands are being opened for new mobile wireless communications services where WiMAX solutions are likely to be employed.

WiMAX is arguably the most complex modulation scheme in the world, encompassing multiple technologies into one very versatile system, including bandwidths in excess of 20MHz, configurations with more than 2,000 subcarriers, high peak-to-average power ratios, and both SISO and MIMO radio configurations.

This complexity has made testing a challenge for manufacturers. Keithley's Model 2820 RF Vector Signal Analyzer and Model 2920 RF Vector Signal Generator enable users to test WiMAX in any frequency band between 400MHz and 4GHz faster and more easily than other available instruments.

The Model 2820 RF Vector Signal Analyzer is optimized for automated testing of wireless devices in production test environments, as well as in new product and device research and development. It features measurement speeds up to three times faster than competitive instruments in production test, takes up half the space, and costs half as much as competitive products. The Model 2820 combines high performance, complex signal analysis capability with unprecedented ease of use even for those with modest training, background, or practical experience in RF measurement to serve a wide range of measurement needs on wireless devices, transceiver modules, and RF components. Keithley's Model 2820 is the lowest cost, widest signal acquisition bandwidth, stand-alone vector signal analyzer with both manual and automated operation on the market today.

The Model 2820 RF Vector Signal Analyzer is designed to work closely with Keithley's Model 2920 RF Vector Signal Generator. Together, these two instrument families form a powerful RF test and measurement solution that reduces test times and capital equipment costs for testing RF devices.

Working in conjunction with the two RF test instrument families is Version 2.0 of Keithley's SignalMeister Waveform Creation Software, for creation of the entire range of signals in accordance with WiMAX and WLAN wireless connectivity standards and 3GPP and 3GPP2 cellular standards. First introduced in mid-2007, SignalMeister is a PC-based object-orientated waveform creation tool that allows engineers to create highly complex signals required for today's RF testing needs quickly and flawlessly. SignalMeister is the only waveform creation software tool available that uses an object-oriented graphical interface that is optimized for MIMO signals, allowing engineers to easily create basic and complex waveforms.

SignalMeister is an expandable software platform with a common user interface that allows creation of waveforms from multiple signal standards with optional additive signal impairments and channel modeling in a single environment. Users download the waveforms they create to any Keithley Series 2900 RF Vector Signal Generator.

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