Introduction to National Instruments

Wireless Test Platform

“Multi-Protocol”

•AM• FM• RDS• DVB-T, DVB-H• GPS, Glonass, Galileo• GSM/GPRS/EDGE•CDMA/CDMA2K/EVDO• WCDMA/HSDPA• LTE• WiLan 802.11a,b,g, n• WiMAX 802.16 d,e• BlueTooth+EDR• MediaFlo• NFC

MIMO

�������� ����� ����������� ������

RF Signal

Generators

& Analyzers

Switching,

Amplifiers,

Attenuators

RF Vector

Network

Analyzer

Power

Meters

FPGA I/O and

CoprocessingMulticore

Processing

Optimized APIs

Cellular, Wireless, and GPS

Test Toolkits(802.11 a/b/g/n , GSM/EDGE,

WCDMA, LTE, WiMAX, GPS,

etc.)

Reference Architectures

Soft Front Panels

NI RF Test Platform

Highly Modular HW

Sources of measurement time

Set up DUT(Synch, RF Ch, Power Lev)

Setup

Instrument

Perform

measurements

• DUT control time is often biggest contributor to test cost

• Switching time applies to multi-port DUTs

• Some actions can be performed in parallel

DUT and Instrument setup

Composite RF measurements

Proposed System: PXI Express based

• Use PXIe controller for fastest measurement times

• Achieves better repeatability than previous system

• Significant reduction in test time

• Tested over 3 power levels and 3 frequencies

Step Action A GPIB Time PXI Test Time Notes

1 Configure DUT 500 ms 500 ms

2 RF Power (10 Avgs) 466 ms 51 ms EVM & Power

3 EVM (10 Avgs) 470 ms - EVM & Power

4 Spectral Mask (10 Avgs) 1490 ms 81 ms

Total Time per Setting 2926 ms 632 ms

Time for Device 26.36 sec 5.69 sec 82% reduction!

Configure DUT% 17.1% 79.1%

Measurement Usage % 82.9% 20.0%

Industry-Leading Measurement Speed

How does it work?

• Faster bus + faster processor + faster tuning = faster measurements

WLAN: 3x to 10x faster than Standard Instruments

GSM/EDGE/WCDMA: 5x to 8x faster than Standard Instruments

WiMAX: 7x to 9x faster than Standard Instruments

What does it mean?

• Reduce chip validation test times from days to hours

• Production testers achieve better throughput

• Fewer test stations required for high-volume operations

Flexible designs solves

challenging problems

Phase-coherent MIMO TestUp to 16x16 configurations

Parallel Multi-comm TestTest GPS, WLAN, and FM concurrently

RF Record and PlaybackUp to TB’s of continuous signal

PXI for Test and Measurement

• Industry standard with 70+ vendors

• Ideal platform for measurement speed

High-speed PCIe data bus

Multi-core CPU’s for computing

• Ideal platform for automated test

R&D grade measurement accuracy performance (DC to RF)

Wide range of instrumentation: DMM, SMU, Digitizer, VSA, etc.

Early AccessEarly Access

WCDMA& HSPA+

NI Platform for Software-defined RF Test

WiMAX

WLANZigBee GPS

LTEGSM/EDGE

RFID

AM/FM Bluetooth CDMA2000 EV-DO

NI PXI Semiconductor Suite

High-Speed Digital I/O

- 100 and 200 MHz

clock rates,

up to 400 Mbps

Source Measure Unit

- Measurements down to 10 pAHigh-Speed Signal Insertion Switch- Take precision DC measurements

directly on digital I/O lines

New Products Expand DC, Digital, RF, and Switching Capabilities for PXI

RF 6.6 GHz

VSA/VSG

- Fast multiband

RF measurements

WGL/STIL Importing Software

- Import WGL and STIL digital data

formats from EDA tools directly with NI

HSDIO

NI PXIe-4154Battery Simulator Optimized for Mobile Device Test

Battery Simulator Optimized for Mobile Device Test

6 V, ±3 A, 2-quadrant battery simulator channel

Ultrafast transient response of <20 µs

200 kS/s continuous waveform acquisition of voltage and current

1 µA measurement sensitivity for quiescent/standby currents

Additional 8 V, 1.5 A charger simulator channel

RFID

GSM

802.15.1

EDGE

GPRS

Evolving Wireless Standards

1990 1995 20052000 2010

802.11

802.11a

802.11u

802.11j

802.11i

802.11k

802.11j

802.11h

802.11g

802.11f

802.11e802.11d

802.11b

WiMAX – 802.16-

2004

UWB

TD-SCDMA

UMTS

cdma2000

HSDPA

802.22

WiMAX – 802.16e

802.20

AMPS

IS95

IS136

IS54

ZigBee

802.11n

HSPA

LTE

DVB-H

MediaFlo

DVB-T

Converging Applications

Cellular

Wi-Fi

Bluetooth

FM,

Traffic

(RDS)

NFC

GPS

Navigation

Broadcast TV

Design Flow Challenges

Research/Modeling

Design/Simulation

Verification/Validation

Manufacturing

• Measurement Accuracy

• Measurement Repeatability

• Measurement Speed

• Cost

Key Requirements

Software Centric Instrument Centric

Time to Market

• Cost

• Measurement Repeatability

• Measurement Speed

• Measurement Accuracy

Key Requirements

Instrument Driver Interfaces

LabVIEW CVI .NET C/C++ ActiveX HTBasic Other

TCL,

Perl,

MatLab

RS232

IVI

VISA

GPIBTCP/IPUSBPXI

Instrument Vendor’s DriverUUT Driver Interface

RS232

I2C

TCP/IP

USB Custom

Host ComputerTest Sequencer

Test Software Modules

Software Drivers

Converging Technology Challenges

Convergence Of Test

• Simulate & test any part of the system.

• Tight synchronization

• Cause & Effect

Audio

Digital

Power

BaseBand

IF

RF

NI RF Hardware ProductsRF Hardware

• 2.7 GHz Vector Signal Analyzer

• 2.7 GHz Vector Signal Generator

• 6.6 GHz Vector Signal Analyzer

• 6.6 GHz Vector Signal Generator

• 6 GHz Vector Network Analyzer

• 6.6 GHz CW Generator

• 3.0 GHz 30 dB Pre-Amp

• 6 GHz True-RMS Power Meter

• Up to 26.5 GHz, MUX, GP relays

IF/Baseband Hardware• 400 MS/s 16-bit Dual Channel AWG

• 150 MS/s 16-bit High-speed IF digitizer

• 32 Channel, 400 Mb/s High-speed DIO

LabVIEW FPGA Hardware• IF- RIO

• FlexRIO

•Battery Simulator - Optimized for Mobile Device Test

PXIe-5663ERF Vector Signal Analyzer

The NI PXIe-5663 is a 6.6 GHz RF vector signal analyzer with wide instantaneous

bandwidth that is optimized for automated test. Combined with high-performance PXI

controllers and the high-speed PCI Express data bus, this vector signal analyzer can

perform common automated measurements significantly faster than traditional

instruments.

• 10 MHz to 6.6 GHz frequency range

• 50 MHz instantaneous bandwidth

• <500uS Frequency re-tuning time

• +/- 0.35 dB typical flatness within 20 MHz bandwidth

• +/- 0.65 dB typical amplitude accuracy

• <-158 dB typical noise floor at 1 GHz

• 80 dB typical spurious-free dynamic range

Key Specifications

RF - VSA List Mode Features, PXIe-5663E• Deterministic Frequency

tuning time <500uS• > 200 List Elements.• Optimized data

management “data streaming”

• Automatic or triggered element advance

I/Q sample rate fixed

…Acq

uis

itio

n

Re

cord

[1

]

Acq

uis

itio

n

Re

cord

…]

Acq

uis

itio

n

Re

cord

[0

]

Acq

uis

itio

n

Rec

ord

[1]

Acq

uis

itio

n

Re

cord

…]

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Record 1 Record 2

Ad

just

R

efe

ren

ce

&

Trig

ger

Leve

ls

(Time)

(Am

plit

ud

e) +30dBm

-50dBm

-50dBm

-130dBm

GSM – Composite

Measurement TXP thread

I/Q

PVT thread

PFER thread

GSM – Composite

Measurement TXP thread

PVT thread

PFER threadI/Q

Host PC (Intel Quad Core) Parallel Measurement Processing.

Stream Data

Acq

uis

itio

n

Re

cord

[0

]

PXIe-5663E

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Configuration Per List Element

• Carrier frequency• Deterministic element

time duration• Multi-record acquisition

• Change reference level per acquisition record• Change I/Q trigger level per acquisition record

PXIe-5673ERF Vector Signal Generator

The NI PXIe-5673 is a wide bandwidth 6.6 GHz RF vector signal generator.

Combined with the appropriate software, the NI PXIe-5673 can generate a variety of

signals.

Key Specifications

• 85 MHz to 6.6 GHz frequency range

• 100 MHz of RF bandwidth

• Up to +10 dBm RF power

• -112 dBc/Hz phase noise at 10 kHz at 1 GHz

• - 66 dBc adjacent-channel leakage ratio for WCDMA

• -64 dBc typical image and carrier suppression at 2.4 GHz

• Mobile WiMAX EVM: -46* dB (3.5 GHz)

• Fixed WiMAX EVM: -45* dB (2.5 GHz)

• Wireless LAN EVM: -45* dB (2.4 GHz)

• Filtering and interpolation (Analog Filter, 2x, 4x, 8x) improves signal quality

• Direct Digital Synthesis (Function Generators) enables micro-hertz frequency resolution

• Sequencing (Looping, Linking, Scripting) enables generation of complex waveforms

• Advanced markers and events (Marker, Data Bit) enables synchronization with other instruments

• Onboard Signal Processing (OSP) Enables fast data transfer to Arbitrary Waveform Generators

On the Fly Impairments• I/Q Gain Imbalance

• DC Offset

• Phase Shift & Quadrature Skew

RF Vector Signal Generators Features

• Deterministic Frequency tuning time <250uS

• > 200 List Script Elements.

• Automatic or triggered script advance

I/Q rate fixed

…GSM

_Dw

n_l

ink

GSM

_Dw

n_l

ink

WiL

AN

_80

2_1

1a

WiL

AN

_80

2_11

b

GP

S

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Record 1 Record 2

Ad

just

VSG

Gai

n

(Time)

(Am

plit

ud

e) +10dBm

-50dBm

-50dBm

-130dBm

VSG – List Mode Scripts

GSM

_Dw

n_l

ink

PXIe-5673E

Ch

ange

Fr

eq

ue

ncy

Configuration Per Script List Element

• Carrier frequency• Amplitude• Deterministic element

time duration• Multi-waveform support• Markers and triggers

Test Scenario 1Frequency 20000Hz, Amplitude 0dBmGenerate WiLAN_802_11a – 250mSGenerate WiLAN_802_11b – 250mSGenerate GPS – 2000mS

End

Test Scenario 1Frequency 100000Hz, Amplitude 10dBmGenerate GSM_DWL_Link – 500mSAmplitude -50dBmGenerate GSM_DWL_Link – 500mS

End

RF - VSG List Mode Features, PXIe-5673E

Built with Next Generation Technology in Mind

• MIMO

802.11n

WiMax

LTE

Phased Array Radar

• Active Radar

• Passive Radar

Frequency

Guard

Sub-CarriersPilot

Sub-Carrier

Data

Sub-Carrier

Transmitter ReceiverFree Space

Basic Channel Models

SISO - Single Input / Single Output

MISO – Multiple Input / Single Output MIMO – Multiple Input / Multiple Outputs

SIMO – Single Input / Multiple Output

Transmit Diversity

Receiver Diversity Transmitter Receiver

Transmitter Receiver

)))

))) )))

)))

)))

)))

)))

)))

Transmitter ReceiverCommon / Legacy

Radio Channel

Multiple Data Streams

)))

))) )))

)))

Transmitter Receiver

Increases the robustness of the transmitted signal, when poor channel condition’s exists.

Uses multiple data streams to increase cell capacity.

Improves the received SNR by combining copies of the same signal.

Technology 1: High-Speed Data Bus

National Instruments - “MISO Configuration”.

RF RF RF RF IF RF IF IF IF

Clk Clk ClkLo Lo Lo Lo

VSGPXIe-5673E

4 x VSA’sPXIe-5663E

ControllerPXIe-8130

• 18 Slot PXIeChassis.

• Supports up to 5x VSA’s Per Chassis.

• Supports up to 4x VSG’s Per Chassis.

• Combination of VSA’s & VSG’s -“MIMO”.

• Multi-Chassis Synchronization Available.

PXIe-1075Chassis

NI Multiple Input Configuration.

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

PXIe-5652Shared Lo

85MHz–6.6Ghz

-Sample Clk

Ref Clk

RF-In(Ch0)

RF-In(Ch1)

RF-In(Ch2)

RF-In(Ch3)

PXIe-8130Controller

Multi-CoreI/Q Processing

• <+/-0.1o degree RMS of channel to channel jitter.

• <0.05o degree, channel to channel adjustment resolution.

• +/-0.65dBm channel to channel amplitude accuracy.

• Stream 50MHz of real-time spectral bandwidth –“250MB/s” to the embedded computer.

• Each PXIe-1075 chassis using a PXIe-8130 embedded computer can support up to 5 VSA I/Q data streams, simultaneously acquiring@ 250MB/s.

Shared Lo

Shared Sample Clock

Shared Reference Clock

RF Span To IQ Data Rate

•50MHz = 250MB/s•20MHz = 100MB/s

250MB/s

250MB/s

250MB/s

ExternalRef Clock

PXIe-1075Chassis

NI Multiple VSG Configuration.

PXIe-5652Shared Lo85MHz–6.6Ghz

Ref Clk

RF-Out(Ch0)

RF-Out(Ch1)

PXIe-8130Computer

Multi-CoreI/Q Processing

• <+/-0.1o degree RMS of channel to channel jitter.

• <0.05o degree, channel to channel adjustment resolution.

• +/-0.75dBm channel to channel amplitude accuracy.

• Generate signals >100MHz of real-time bandwidth –“500MB/s” per channel from the embedded computer to the VSG.

• Each PXIe-1075 chassis using a PXIe-8130 embedded computer can support up to 4 VSG I/Q data streams, simultaneously generating @ 500MB/s.

Shared LoShared Sample ClockShared Reference Clock

IQ Data Rate To RF Bandwidth•500MB/s = 100MHz •250MB/s = 50MHz•100MB/s = 20MHz

PXIe-5611

90o+

+I

-I

-Q

+Q

PXIe-5450DAC

DAC

OSP

I

Q

PXIe-5611

90o+

+I

-I

-Q

+Q

PXIe-5450DAC

DAC

OSP

I

Q

ExternalRef Clock

+

+

500MB/s

500MB/s

Sample Clk -

PXIe-5611

90o+

+I

-I

-Q

+Q

PXIe-5450DAC

DAC

OSP

I

Q

+

500MB/s

RF-Out(Ch2)

Shared Reference vs. Shared LO

VSA Synchronization Stability

PXI Express NI FlexRIO

• Peer-to-peer streaming

• 800 MB/s across PXI Express backplane

• Onboard DRAM

• 2x 256 MB banks

• 1.6 GB/s per bank

• Enhanced Synchronization

• Share PXI 10 MHz reference clock or DSTAR_A with adapter module

NI FlexRIO Architecture

Host PCLabVIEW

for Windows

PCIe x4

Virtex 5 FPGA

Memory Power ClockingSynch

STC

3

Mo

du

le C

on

ne

cto

rs

Analog / Digital

Daughtercard,monolithic front-end,

or terminal block

NI-

def

ined

dau

ghte

rca

rdin

terf

ace

IPNI-defined board resource IPNI-

def

ined

bu

s in

terf

ace/

stre

amin

g IP

CLIP

I/O Port 2

XI+

Loader

Triggers /Timestamp

PXIe-1075Chassis

In-Line FPGA Processing - PXIe FlexRIO

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

PXIe-5652Shared Lo

85MHz–6.6Ghz

Ref Clk

RF-In(Ch0)

RF-In(Ch2)

PXIe-8130Controller

Multi-CoreI/Q Processing

• Stream from multiple VSA’sdirectly to the FlexRIO. “Per To Per”

• Stream multiple data stream’s to and from FlexRIOto embedded computer simultaneously.

• Each FlexRIO supports up to 4 bi-directional data streams @ 250MB/s,

• Cascade multiple FlexRIOcards to increase signal processing capability.

Shared Lo

Shared Sample Clock

Shared Reference Clock

PXIe-5601 PXIe-5622

ADC DDC

250MB/s

250MB/s

ExternalRef Clock

IQ Data Rate To RF Bandwidth•500MB/s = 100MHz •250MB/s = 50MHz•100MB/s = 20MHz

PXIe-5611

90o+

+I

-I

-Q

+Q

PXIe-5450DAC

DAC

OSP

I

Q

FlexRIO Express FPGA (ST95T)

RF-Out(Ch0)

Current NI Data Streaming Products

HDD-8264

•600 MB/s

•3-12 TB

•Over 12 hours at 100 MS/s

•Over 32 hours RF

•3 channels at 100 MS/s, 6 RF

•200 MB/s

•1-4 TB

•Over 1 hour at 100 MS/s

•Over 2.5 hours RF

HDD-8263 NI 8352/53 Rack Mount Controllers

•Dual Core/Quad Core Processors Based

•1-4 TB HDD

•200 MB/s RAID-0

•Removable HDDs

Data Link

NI RF Toolkits

• RF Toolkit Focus

PHY measurements

Automated test

Toolkits include:

• APIs for LabVIEW, CVI,.Net

• Installer w/ licensing

• Application specific specifications

• Interactive examples

• DUT specific libraries

• TestStand sequencesPhysical Layer (PHY)

MAC

LLC

Network

Transport

Session

Presentation

Applications

NI Tools for LTE Test

PXIe-5673E 6.6 GHz RF

Vector Signal Generator

PXIe-5663E 6.6 GHz RF

Vector Signal Analyzer

NI Measurement Suite for LTE

(LabVIEW, C/C++, etc.)

Screenshot

Required

LTE Measurement Suite

• Interactive Soft Front Panels

• TestStand Support

• API for LV 8.6.1 and above

• API for C, C++, and .NET API

LTE Toolkit Feature List

• Measurements include:

OBW, Power in band, ACP,SEM

CCDF, Power vs. Time

Data EVM, Reference signal EVM

Quadrature Impairments

CFO, SCO

Channel response

Spectral flatness

• Interactive soft front panel and API

WLAN Measurement Suite

• Standard Support

IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n

MCS 0-31 for 802.11n

• Software support

API for LabVIEW and C/C++

Interactive soft front panels

• Measurement performance

RMS EVM (EDGE): -45 dB

3x to 5x Faster than Traditional

Instruments

WLAN Measurement Suite Highlights

• WLAN Generation Toolkit

Supports DSSS data rates of 1,2,5.5 CCK, 5.5 PBCC, 11 CCK, 11 PBCC,

22 , and 33 Mbps

Supports OFDM data rates of 6, 12, 18,24, 36, and 54 Mbps

• WLAN Analysis Toolkit

Measurement algorithms are optimized for speed

Most measurements 3x-5x faster than traditional boxes

Typical residual EVM measurements of 1% (-40 dB)

• Other details

APIs in LabVIEW and CVI

Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g

Recommended with 6.6 GHz RF instruments

WLAN Signal Analysis

• Measurements Include:

Transmit Power

Frequency Offset

Carrier Leakage

Spectral Flatness

Spectrum Mask Margin

Power Ramp Time

EVM

• Traces include

Spectrum Mask

Power Versus Time

Constellation

GSM/EDGE Measurement Suite

• Standard Support

GSM, EDGE

UE and BS testing

• Software support

API for LabVIEW and C/C++

Interactive soft front panels

Teststand example sequences

• Measurement performance

Modulation ORFS (GSM): -68 dBc

RMS EVM (EDGE): < 0.5%

WCDMA/HSPA+ Measurement Suite

• Standard Support

WCDMA, HSPA, and HSPA+

UE and BS testing

• Software support

API for LabVIEW and C/C++

Interactive soft front panels

Teststand example sequences

• Measurement performance

ACLR (Uplink): -63 dBc

RMS EVM (Uplink): < 0.5%

GPS Simulation Toolkit

• Standard Support

GPS C/Code Generation (L1)

Support for WAAS generation

Waypoint and trajectory mode

• Software support

API for LabVIEW and C/C++

Interactive example programs

• Measurement capabilities

Sensitivity

Time to first fix (TTFF)

Key Features of the GPS Toolkit

• Key GPS simulation features

Generation of up to 12 satellites (C/A) codes

Flexible range of RF power levels

Enables measurements such as sensitivity, TTFF, and accuracy

• New features for validation testing

Up to 24 hours of non-repeating signal generation

Individual control of satellite power

Simulation of custom receiver movement

WiMAX Measurement Suites

• Standard Support

Fixed WiMAX (802.16d)

Mobile WiMAX (802.16e-2005)

• Software support

API for LabVIEW and C/C++

Interactive soft front panels

• Measurement performance

RMS EVM (EDGE): -45 dB

3x to 5x Faster than Traditional

Instruments

NI PXIe-5630 VNA - overview

Industry’s First PXI VNA

Compact – Two slots

2 port/1 path (T/R test set)

Freq Range 10 MHz - 6 GHz

Dynamic Range > 100 dB

Accuracy < ± 0.1 dB, 0.1 deg (typical)

Sweep Speed 400 µs/point (typical)

Number of Points 3201

RBW 10 Hz - 30 kHz

Power Range -35 dBm to +5 dBm

Frequency Accuracy 2.5 ppm

PXI Solution for Reverse S-ParametersPXIe-5630 + PXI-2598