PXI VSA covers 14 GHz with top specs

The NI PXIe-5665 14-GHz three-stage RF vector signal analyzer (VSA) is said to deliver the best phase-noise and dynamic-range performance of any VSA, including traditional rack-and-stack instruments. Because the VSA is based on PXIe, it can also deliver measurement speeds up to 20 times faster than box instruments — and do so at a lower cost.

To extend the capabilities of the earlier 3.6 GHz version to 14 GHz, the VSA employs the 20 Hz to 14-GHz NI PXIe-5605 downconverter, along with the NI PXIe-5653 local oscillator synthesizer and the NI PXIe-5622 150-MSample/s intermediate frequency (IF) digitizer. The combination can serve as a spectrum analyzer as well as a wideband VSA with analysis bandwidths to 50 MHz.

The module’s exceptionally low phase noise of −129 dBc/Hz at a 10-kHz offset at 800 MHz, and an average noise level of −165 dBm/Hz, are backed by other high-performance specifications such as an industry’s best third-order intercept point of 24 dBm with an absolute amplitude accuracy of ±0.10 dB, as well as error vector magnitude of 0.33% for a 256-QAM modulated signal.

The VSA takes advantage of multicore computing architectures and parallel programming capabilities through NI LabVIEW. It also offers peer-to-peer data streaming for signal processing and a flexible MIMO architecture for phase-coherent measurements. (From $49,999 — available in October.)

Agilent Technologies has recently raised some objections concerning National Instruments claims about performance. To see Agilent’s objections, and National Instruments’ reply, visit EEBeat, http://www.eebeat.com/?p=3928

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