The seemingly irreversible trend in microwave and RF measurements is ever-higher operating frequencies. Keysight Technologies, Inc. is taking dead aim at these applications with what the company terms as the first single, box multi-channel solution for wideband mmWave measurements. The company has added functionality to its UXR-Series of oscilloscopes to enable wideband measurements up to 110 GHz.
Technologies such as 802.11ay (WiGig), 802.11ad (gigabit wireless), satellite communications, radar, and 5G, have frequencies that reach well into the mmWave spectrum. Traditionally, measurements at these frequencies required a mixture of instruments and impairment, causing down-converters or the need to purchase an expensive 1-mm input.
According to Keysight, the UXR-Series oscilloscope is designed to give customers a unique bandwidth pricing model that matches typical RF equipment, eliminating the need to purchase the full frequency range the oscilloscope hardware supports. The instrument gives the user the ability to configure optional 5 GHz or 10 GHz analysis bandwidth windows within and above the UXR's natively licensed bandwidth, limited only by the hardware's maximum supported frequency range.
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The oscilloscope provides over 2 GHz of hardware-accelerated digital down conversion (DDC) analysis bandwidth. This can be used in conjunction with available mmWave frequency extension options to extend DDC accelerated frequency ranges as high as 110 GHz. The instrument’s high signal integrity with error vector magnitude (EVM) is under 0.6% for 5G new radio (NR) FR2 tests and 1% for 802.11ay technologies. EVM measurements taken now reflect the true device under test (DUT) performance, without impairments caused by noise of the measurement system.
"Keysight recognized the growing need for a cost-effective oscilloscope that supported today’s emerging mmWave technology wide bandwidth measurement requirements," said Brad Doerr, vice president and general manager of digital and photonics R&D for Keysight's Communications Solutions Group, in a statement. "Keysight's UXR is the first oscilloscope on the market to address mmWave technologies and advanced applications such multiple input multiple output (MIMO) with up to four channels for the price of a 25 GHz scope."
The UXR-Series Oscilloscope is available now, at a starting price of $170,000.