Midrange VNA Delivers Fast, Accurate EVM Measurements

Jan. 9, 2024

Keysight's midrange solution accelerates characterization of power-amplifier designs for 5G transmitters and provides modulation distortion analysis with full vector correction in a single test setup.

Alix Paultre

Related To:

Microwaves & RF

This video is part of the TechXchanges: 5G Test and Measurement and Vector Network Analyzers.

Keysight Technologies' E5081A ENA-X is presented as the first midrange vector network analyzer (VNA) that produces fast, accurate error-vector-magnitude (EVM) measurements, promising to accelerate the characterization of 5G component designs by up to 50%.

To ensure 5G New Radio (NR) transmitters meet operational demands, the performance of components such as power amplifiers (PAs) must be obtained under realistic conditions, which can be time-consuming and require multiple instruments and test setups. The ENA-X addresses this need by giving RF engineers a midrange network-analyzer platform offering integrated modulation distortion analysis with full vector correction at the device-under-test (DUT) plane in a single test setup.

Able to perform multiple measurements with a single connection, features of the Keysight ENA-X include an integrated upconverter and direct receiver access. There's also modulated distortion analysis software to enable characterization of RF amplifier performance under complex modulation schemes in high-power systems at up to 44 GHz.

The single test setup has one connection and only a single calibration, which can accelerate the characterization of PAs for 5G transmitters in the 5G NR FR1 and FR2 frequency bands by up to 50%. In the video above, a pair of Keysight engineers explain the device and its functionality.

Alix Paultre | Editor-at-Large, Microwaves & RF

Alix is Editor-at-Large for Microwaves & RF.

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the U.S. military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications, most recently as Editor-in-Chief of Power Systems Design.

Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.