Digital Signal Transceiver Eases Test of Mixed-Signal DUTs
National Instruments (now a part of Emerson) has long been a creative force in RF-related test technologies. The company’s prowess was recently demonstrated again in the form of its Digital Signal Transceiver (DST), which enables users to test mixed-signal devices (RF combined with high-speed serial data) in a way much akin to how pure RF devices have long been tested.
A recent demonstration of the test setup (described below and in the accompanying video) was a powerful showing of how the technologies might be applied to the test of a range of mixed-signal devices. These can include things like digital transmit/receive modules, software-defined radios (SDRs), and satellite communication gear.
The Digital Signal Transceiver provides a means to examine a device under test (DUT) that has both analog and digital I/Os. A recent demonstration of the DST included NI’s Ettus X410 SDR as a simulated mixed-signal DUT. This SDR has both analog and digital ports as well as a QSFP28 port.
The demo also included DST software running on a PXIe-7903 Flex-RIO Coprocessor to generate and analyze high-speed serial (HSS) signals as well as a PXIe-5842 Vector Signal Transceiver (VST) to generate and analyze RF signals. The demo highlighted RF signal generation on the Vector Signal Transceiver and HSS capture/analysis on the DST, as well as HSS generation on the DST and RF signal analysis on the VST.
