Enable browser cookies for improved site capabilities and performance.
Toggle Menu
Insights > RF + Microwave
Related Tags
- #Emission Test
- #Calibration
- #A-GNSS (A-GPS)
- #Wireless Device Test
- #massive MIMO
- #Design Software
- #4G LTE-A
- #mmWave
- #GNSS
- #Test Automation
- #LTE
- #EMC Pre-Compliance
- #PathWave
- #Network Test
- #Design + Automation
- #Signal Studio
- #Arbitrary Waveform Generators
- #Spectrum Analyzers
- #Oscilloscopes
- #6G
- #Signal Analyzers
- #Conducted Test
- #Signal Generators
- #Aerospace + Defense
- #Network Analyzers
- #Software
- #Handheld
- #EW
- #FieldFox
- #Internet of Things
- #Measurement Fundamentals
- #Radiated Test
- #MIMO
- #5G
- © Keysight Technologies 2000–2023
Gabrielle Duncan
Network Analyzer Product Marketing Manager
RF + Microwave
VNA Best Captures 5G Amplifier EVM
2022-05-12 | 4 min read
Ultra-reliable low latency communication (uRLLC), massive MIMO, phased arrays—the implementation demands of 5G FR2 are propelling revolutionary transformation in communication technology. While normalized loads and linear behavior are every amplifier designer’s dream, massive MIMO and beamforming architectures experience highly variable load conditions in practical applications. Further complexity is added with 5G FR2’s millimeter wave (mmWave) carrier frequencies, wide bandwidth signals, and complex modulation schemes which impose stringent component error vector magnitude (EVM) qualification. Designers face increasing challenges in generating accurate device models, minimizing design cycles, and certifying their device’s 5G conformance with a traditional EVM measurement signal analyzer set-up.
In part 1 of webinar series, VNA Active Device Characterization Essentials, Keysight PNA Product Manager, Nizar Messaoudi, and Focus Microwave Executive Vice President, Vincent Mallette, discussed how using a vector network analyzer (VNA) instead of a signal analyzer to capture EVM simplifies the measurement set-up, enables measurement repeatability, and allows component characterization under realistic load conditions. Nizar describes the critical importance of accurate, repeatable EVM measurements for power amplifiers (PAs), as well as the need for designers to subject their PAs to as realistic conditions as possible when gathering EVM data.
Although measuring a mmWave power amplifier’s EVM can be complex and error prone, using Keysight’s VNA with modulation distortion analysis software allows for faster EVM measurements with increased signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) while under a modulated signal stimulus. Nizar shows how 5G’s complex modulation signals can be generated by the vector signal generator (VXG), and in conjunction with the VNA’s arbitrary load control application and a passive tuner, EVM under variable load conditions can be measured. This provides designers with realistic power amplifier performance measurements under beamforming conditions.
Expanding on Nizar’s comments, Vincent Mallette provides an in-depth review on load pull measurements, how to perform load pull measurements with a passive tuner, and what the benefit of load pull measurements is for power amplifiers. Both illustrate how modulation distortion analysis plus load pull on a VNA with a passive tuner is the best way to gain insight into how a PA would perform in a beamforming phased array application.
Spurred by the demands of 5G, the pace of technological transformation in communication system architecture introduces a variety of design and test challenges. Achieving the lowest residual EVM is crucial for implementing power amplifiers in massive MIMO phased arrays with wide bandwidth signals and complex modulation schemes. For more information on the VNA solution mentioned above, please visit: High Accuracy EVM Measurements for a Power Amplifier Using the PNA-X Series Network Analyzer
Related Content
Related Content
Modulation Distortion with Load Pull Webinar
Accurate Wideband Demodulation Webinar
Related Products
S930705B Modulation Distortion up to 50 GHz
PNA-X Network Analyzers
S94570B Arbitrary Load Control for Modulation Distortion
Related Posts
RF + Microwave
Revealed: The New Technique to Achieve the Lowest EVM
PARIS. A 2023.01.19
6 min read
#Signal Analyzers #Spectrum Analyzers #Wireless Device Test #5G
Insights
Is AI Improving Cell Service? Short Answer: Yes
Jenn Mullen 2023.01.16
9 min read
#Industry Trends #5G #Network Security #Data Analytics
Industries
The Importance of Phase-Coherent RF Signal
TJ Cartwright 2023.01.06
8 min read
#Signal Generators #5G