• Overview

• Theory of Operation
• Traditional Spectrum Analyzers
• Modern Signal Analyzers
• Specifications
• Features
• Wrap-up

2
 W H AT I S S P E C T R U M A N A L Y S I S

• Passive Receiver
• Display and measure amplitude versus frequency
• Separate and resolve complex signals into
their base components (sine waves)

3
TIME-DOMAIN VS FREQUENCY-DOMAIN

Amplitude
(Power)

Time Domain Frequency Domain

Measurements Measurements
(Oscilloscope) (Spectrum Analyzer)

4
 MANY MEASUREMENTS

Tx Test Spur Search

• Frequency, power, modulation, distortion, and
noise
• Transmitter test
• Spectrum monitoring
• Spurious emissions
• Harmonic & intermodulation distortion
• Noise figure & phase noise
• Electromagnetic interference
• Analog, digital, burst, & pulsed RF modulation
• Wide bandwidth vector analysis
• Measurement range: -172 dBm to +30 dBm
• Frequency range: 3 Hz to 1.1 THz
ACP Modulation

5
D I F F E R E N T T Y P E S O F A N A LY Z E R S

Swept Analyzer
Filter 'sweeps' over range of
A interest
LCD shows full
spectral display

f1 f2 f

6
D I F F E R E N T T Y P E S O F A N A LY Z E R S

FFT Analyzer
Parallel ‘filters’ measured
A simultaneously

LCD shows full

spectral display

f1 f2 f

7
• Spectrum Analyzer: A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus
frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to display and
measure Amplitude vs. Frequency of known and unknown RF and Microwave signals.

8
• Vector Signal Analyzer: A vector signal analyzer measures the magnitude and phase of an input
signal at a single frequency within the IF bandwidth of the instrument. The primary use is to make
in-channel measurements, such as error vector magnitude, code domain power, and spectral
flatness, on known signals.

9
• Signal Analyzer: A signal analyzer provides the functions of a spectrum analyzer and a vector
signal analyzer.

10
• Overview
• Theory of Operation
• Traditional Spectrum Analyzers
• Modern Signal Analyzers
• Specifications
• Features
• Wrap-up

11
S W E P T S P E C T R U M A N A LY Z E R B L O C K D I A G R A M

RF Input
IF Filter
Attenuator IF Gain Envelope
(RBW)
Mixer Detector
Input
signal
Log
Pre-Selector or Low Amp
Pass Input Filter Video
Filter
Local
Oscillator
Sweep
Generator
Crystal
Reference Display
Oscillator

12
 Mixer

MIXER

fSIG fSIG
fLO – fIF
fSIG – 2*fIF
RF IF
LO
fIF fLO
fSIG - fIF

Sometimes use other mix product

Some use 2 mixers
fLO
Some mix up in frequency

13
 IF Filter

RESOLUTION BANDWIDTH (RBW)

Input
Spectrum

IF Bandwidth
(RBW)

Display

Wide Medium Narrow

Faster Resolve in Freq
See Wide Freq Reduce Noise Floor

14
DETECTOR

Before detector After detector

Envelope
Detector

15
 Video Filter

VIDEO BANDWIDTH (VBW)

16
 Replaced
by

Analog IF Digital RBW

Filter Digital Detectors
Pre-amp Filter

FFT
ADC

Attenuation
Swept vs . FFT Digital Log Amp

YIG
17
 Detector

DETECTOR

• At each frequency point, the analyzer digitizes the signal for

a time period called a bucket or bin

• Since the analyzer only displays 1 value per frequency

point, what value in the bucket should be used?

Example: Time Samples for Frequency Point N

Volts
Bucket / Bin

Time 18
 Detector

DETECTION TYPES

Digitally Implemented Detector Types

Bins/Buckets Positive: largest sample

(Sweep Points) in bin displayed
Negative: smallest sample
in bin displayed
Sample: middle sample in bin
displayed
Normal (“Rosenfell”): selects
sample to display using
algorithm that treats noise and
signals differently
ADC Samples
of IF
19
 Detector

AV E R A G E D E T E C T O R T Y P E

Volts
Bucket / Bin

Time

Power Average Detector (RMS): Square-root of the sum of the

squares of ALL samples in the bin, expressed as power in 50Ω

20
D I S P L AY T E R M I N O L O G Y

Amplitude

Stop
Frequency
Start
Frequency

Center Frequency
Frequency
Span
21
• Overview
• Theory of Operation
• Traditional Spectrum Analyzers
• Modern Signal Analyzers
• Specifications
• Features
• Wrap-up

22
– Safe spectrum analysis
– Frequency Range
– Accuracy: Frequency & Amplitude
– Resolution
– Sensitivity
– Distortion
– Dynamic Range

23
 = ± [(time since last
A C C U R A C Y: F R E Q U E N C Y R E A D O U T A C C U R A C Y adjustment x aging rate) +
temperature stability +
Frequency Readout Accuracy = calibration accuracy] = 1.55
x 10-7/ year
± [(Marker Frequency x Frequency Reference Accuracy) +
(0.1% x Span) + (5% x RBW) + 2Hz + (0.5 x Horizontal Resolution)]

= span / (sweep points

– 1)
Example: 1 GHz Marker Frequency, 400 kHz Span,
3 kHz RBW, 1000 Sweep Points
Calculation： (1x109Hz) x (±1.55x10–7/Year) = 155 Hz
400kHz Span x 0.1% = 400 Hz
3kHz RBW x 5% = 150 Hz
2Hz + 0.5 x 400kHz/(1000-1) = 202 Hz
Total uncertainty = ±907 Hz

– Utilizing internal frequency counter improves accuracy to ±155 Hz

– The maximum number of sweep points for the X-Series Analyzers is
40,001 which helps to achieve the best frequency readout accuracy

24
PHASE NOISE OR NOISE SIDEBANDS

Phase Noise

Noise sidebands can prevent resolution of unequal signals.

25
SENSITIVITY

All active electronic circuits generate noise – including spectrum analyzers.

26
SENSITIVITY

2.2 dB Displayed
Average
DANL
Noise
Level

Sensitivity is the smallest signal that can be measured.

27
S E N S I T I V I T Y / D A N L : R B W F I LT E R

Displayed noise is a function of RBW filter bandwidth:

noise decreases as bandwidth decreases.

100 kHz RBW

10 dB 10 kHz RBW

10 dB 1 kHz RBW

1 Hz RBW DANL spec’ed

in 1 Hz RBW

28
 DYNAMIC RANGE

• The ratio, expressed in dB, of the largest to the smallest signals simultaneously present at the
input of the spectrum analyzer that allows measurement of the smaller signal to a given degree of
uncertainty.

Dynamic
Range

29
D I S P L AY E D D A N L P E R R B W A N D M I X E R I N P U T P O W E R

-20

SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO, dBc

Displayed Noise in a 1
-40 kHz RBW

-60

-80

-100
-60 -30 0 +30
POWER AT MIXER =
Displayed Noise in a INPUT - ATTENUATOR SETTING, dBm
100 Hz RBW

30
DISTORTION: MIXERS

Frequency Translated
Signals
Resultant

Signal To
Be Measured

Mixer Generated
Distortion

31
DISTORTION: SECOND AND THIRD ORDER

Distortion products increase as a function of fundamental's power.

3 3 2 3
Power Power
in dB in dB
2f1- f 2 f1 f2 2f2- f 1 f 2f 3f

Two-Tone Intermod Harmonic Distortion

Third Order: △ 3 dB/dB of Fundamental

Second Order: △2 dB/dB of Fundamental

32
DISTORTION: A FUNCTION OF MIXER LEVEL

-20

Second
DISTORTION, dBc -40 Order

-60

-80
Third
-100
Order
-60 -30 0 +30

POWER AT MIXER = TOI SHI

INPUT - ATTENUATOR SETTING dBm

33
D Y N AM I C R AN G E ( D AN L , R B W, D I S T O R T I O N )

Dynamic range can be presented graphically. .

.

Maximum 2nd Order

Dynamic Range

SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO, dBc

-20
Maximum 3rd Order
Dynamic Range
-40

-60

-80

-100
-60 -30 0 TOI SOI +30

POWER AT MIXER =
INPUT - ATTENUATOR SETTING dBm
Optimum Mixer Levels

34
DYNAMIC RANGE VS MEASUREMENT RANGE

+30 dBm MAXIMUM POWER LEVEL

+3 dBm MIXER COMPRESSION
DISPLAY RANGE
100 dB @ 10 dB/Div THIRD-ORDER DISTORTION
(200 dB @ 20dB/Div) (Dynamic Range)
-40 dBm
MEASUREMENT SECOND-ORDER DISTORTION
RANGE -50 dBm (Dynamic Range)
195 dB SIGNAL/NOISE
RANGE NOISE SIDEBANDS
158 dB 0 dBc (Dynamic Range)
SIGNAL /3rd ORDER
DISTORTION
115 dB range SIGNAL/ 2nd ORDER
INCREASING DISTORTION
RBW OR 105 dB RANGE SIGNAL/NOISE SIDEBANDS
-129 dBc @ 10kHz OFFSET
ATTENUATION

-155 dBm (1 Hz BW & 0 dB ATTENUATION) MINIMUM NOISE FLOOR (DANL)

-165 dBm with preamp

35
• Overview
• Theory of Operation
• Traditional Spectrum Analyzers
• Modern Signal Analyzers
• Specifications
• Features
• Wrap-up

36
 N OISE F LOOR E XTENSION ( N F E )

Noise Floor Extension

• Standard

• Standard • With LNP

• With NFE • With NFE

– NFE lowers the noise floor (DANL) of the SA, by measuring its own noise (no input), and
subtracting that noise power. This only works with high averaging (low variance). The improvement
can be up to 8-12 dB, depending on nature of signal near noise.
– NF2 is “adaptive” NFE. It applies noise subtraction gradually, in proportion to averaging and
reduced variance. The trace appears less chaotic while gathering averages.

37
Fast Sweep Processing
RBW filter can be “over-swept”: too fast to fully respond.
But in digital filters, this error is well-known, and can be corrected.

~36 seconds ~0.63 seconds

Sweep without fast sweep enabled Sweep with fast sweep enabled

38
Resolution: RBW Determines Sweep Time
Meas Uncal

Swept too fast

The penalty for sweeping too fast is an uncalibrated display.

39
Swept Mode Swept LO
• A swept LO w/ an
assigned RBW.
Freq
• Covers much wider span.
Lost Information
• Good for events that are
stable in the frequency
domain.
Lost Information
• Magnitude ONLY, no
phase information (scalar
info).
Lost Information
• Captures only events that
occur at right time and
right frequency point.
• Data (info) loss when LO
is “not there”. Time

40
 Acquisition is continuous
and gap-free! FFT Process
runs fast during Acquisition!
Freq

Acquire Lost Acquire

Information Acquire
Process
Acquire
Acquire Acquire

Process Acquire
Acquire
Acquire
Lost Acquire
Information Process Acquire
Acquire
Time

True Sweep Stepped FFT Real-Time FFT

Very wide spans Narrow RBW Gap-free, high PoI
Stationary, repetitive Span of Digitizer

41
Swept vs RTSA
From this … to this!!

Detect signals as brief as 3.5 us

Density (histogram) color-map display
Persistence: brief events stay visible
Capture rare events with FMT trigger

42
AM/FM/PM Demod Noise Figure

Pulse Analysis Phase Noise

43
– N9041B “flagship” covers 3 Hz to 110 GHz
– DANL ~150 dBm at 60 GHz
– 1 GHz BW internal, 5-8 GHz via IF Out to
external digitizer/oscilloscope

– M1971V/E/W “Smart” External Mixers to

110 GHz, waveguide, dual-conversion,
wide BW out
– Legacy: M1970V/E/W and 11970 Series
– 3rd party mixers & converters, to 1.1 THz
• OML Inc.
• VDI

44
– Assess modulation
quality (EVM) with in-
channel vector
demodulation
– Wide range of wireless
formats
WCDMA, LTE, 5G,
802.11, Bluetooth, etc.
and basic constellations
BPSK, QPSK, QAM,
etc.
– Bandwidths from 40
MHz to 1 GHz, and
beyond

45
S A M E M U LT I - T O U C H G U I , S A M E S C P I
Real-time Real-time

MXE EMI receiver Real-time N9040B UXA

Keep the test queue flowing N9041B UXA
Maximize the performance Take your designs farther
20 Hz to 26.5 GHz 3 Hz to 50 GHz 3 Hz to 110 GHz

Real-time
N9030B PXA
Drive your evolution
3 Hz to 50 GHz

N9020B MXA
Accelerate in wireless PSA
10 Hz to 50 GHz Market leading
performance
3 Hz to 50 GHz
N9010B EXA
Balance the challenges
10 Hz to 44 GHz 8560EC
Mid-performance
30 Hz to 50 GHz
N9000B CXA
Master the essentials
9 kHz to 26.5 GHz ESA
World’s most popular
100 Hz to 26.5 GHz

CSA
Low-cost portable Code-compatible with legacy and all X-Series instruments
100 Hz to 6 GHz

46
• Keysight RF and Digital Monthly Webcast Series
www.keysight.com/find/webcastseries
• Live and On Demand Viewing
• Register for Future Webcasts

• Keysight RF Learning Center www.keysight.com/find/klc

• Webcast Recordings
• Application Notes
• AN 150 – Spectrum Analysis Basics
• 8 Hints for Better Spectrum Analysis
• 10 Hints for Making Better Noise Figure Measurements
• Seminar Videos

47