RFTest and Measurement Terminology
test
measurement
rf signal
spectrum analyzer
vector signal
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This page describes terms related to the Test and Measurement domain.
Test and Measurement Terms
| Term | Basic description | RF Wireless World Reference |
|---|---|---|
| VSG | The device or equipment used to generate modulated vector signal in time domain. It is the short form of Vector Signal Generator. It houses two parts AWG and RF up conversion. The IQ vector or data can be provided as input to the VSG. | |
| VSA | The device or equipment used to analyze rf vector signal. It digitizes and produces baseband IQ signal. The RF modulated vector can be provided as input to VSA. Or directly IQ signal can also be provided as input for analysis. RF VSA consists of two parts RF down conversion and digitizer. | |
| Spectrum Analyzer | The equipment used to view frequency domain of the time domain signal. | |
| PXI | Stands for PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation, it is based on compact PCI bus. It helps industry to standardize the cards and card holder cabinets. | |
| VXI | Stands for VME eXtensions for Instrumentation, it is based on VMEbus. works with low to high frequency signals. | |
| IQ Vector | IQ vector is baseband signal. I stands for In-phase and Q stands for Quadrature phase. Output of QPSK or QAM modulator usually will be in IQ form. Hence it is known as IQ vector. | |
| RBW vs VBW | RBW is Resolution Bandwidth and VBW is Video Bandwidth, both are used with spectrum analyzer to view the RF signal efficiently on the screen. | |
| EVM | Error Vector Magnitude, the parameter by which modulation quality can be judged. Less it is good for the modulated vector signal. | |
| Phase Noise | The specification by which any RF signal quality can be judged. When we see any frequency in the spectrum analyzer we will find noise at very close to the carrier frequency. This noise is referred to as phase noise. The parameter is usually verified for local oscillators, oscillators and Rf synthesizer devices. | |
| ATE | Automatic Test Equipment | |
| ICT | In Circuit testing | |
| BER | Bit Error Rate, the performance parameter of any wired or wireless system. It is the ratio of bits received in error to the total number of bits used for transmission. | |
| Baseband Impairments | The baseband impairments include IQ gain imbalance, IQ phase imbalance, IQ DC offset etc. |
