Vector signal generator attacks EVM price barrier

Colorado Springs, Colo.—As a follow-on to its p1411A signal generator, test equipment maker precisionWave Corp. rolls out a low-cost but high-performance RF vector signal generator.

Dubbed the p1511A it's priced at $11,500, which makes it very competitive and appealing. Its specs compare very favorably with instruments costing several times more than the p1511A.

precisionWave will demonstrate the p1511A in booth 626 at the IEEE Radio and Wireless Symposium to be held Jan. 9-11 in Long Beach, Calif.

Cellular Ready

In operation, the p1511A generates digitally modulated and CW signals in the 800-MHz through 1-GHz band, and in the 1.7-2.2-GHz cellular band. As such, it may be just the ticket for developers and testers of cellular-based products. The instrument's I/Q (in-phase and quadrature) generator produces high-accuracy signals for any digital modulation scheme used in these bands.

As examples, EDGE average RMS EVM (error vector magnitude) is typically less than 0.8%, and GSM phase error is below 1°. That's significant, as EVM is a standard for modulation quality of digitally modulated signals, and EVM measurements can reveal digital signal problems. Signal sources must have low EVM output so you can properly evaluate the performance of chips, modules, and other devices for reception and transmission.

With a wide -100-dBm to +20-dBm (1-picowatt to 100-mW) power output range, harmonic suppression is better than -40-dBc (at 13-dBm). Spurious signals are below -80-dBc.

The source's 1-GHz CW phase noise is less than -100-dBc/Hz (at 20-kHz offset), and at 2.2-GHz it's better than -92-dBc/Hz (at 20-kHz offset).

Rack Or Bench

The 3U-sized instrument also lends itself to benchtop use, measuring 19 x 17 inches. The p1511A is also suited to ATE (automatic test equipment) applications, having frequency and power switching times of 15-ms and 2.5-ms, respectively.

Included are instrument libraries and APIs (application programming interfaces) for Microsoft Visual Studio. This is for development of LAN-based instrument control software.

It's Customizable

precisionWave also offers Web-based waveform download capability to customize the p1511A with standard and custom waveforms. You can also develop your own I/Q waveforms.

As with other precisionWave instruments, the source is CE certified, and is warranted for one year.

Price And Availability

The p1511A is available with an eight week delivery time. It's priced at $11,500.

Click here for a table of specs. For more details, contact precisionWave Corp., 7899 Lexington Dr., Suite 102, Colorado Springs, Colo. 80920. Phone: 866-386-6798 or 719-325-0504.

precisionWave, 866-386-6798, www.precisionwave.com