Measuring with Modern Spectrum Analyzers

Whitepaper Overview

Studying both the theory and practice of spectrum analysis can provide many benefits to the modern engineer, which is why Rohde & Schwarz developed this informative whitepaper that aims to provide information on both approaches. The theoretical portion of this document first describes how modern spectrum analyzers are designed and how they work. That is followed by a brief characterization of today's signal generators, which are needed as a stimulus when performing amplifier measurements. 

An RF generator and a spectrum analyzer are used for the experiments outlined in this whitepaper, which focuses on the following topics:

• Measuring an amplifier's 3 dB frequency response
• Determining the 1 dB compression point
• Harmonic interference, IP2 / IP3 measurements
• Intermodulation measurements
• Measuring the crest factor and the ACLR
• Phase-noise measurements

In this whitepaper from Rohde & Schwarz, examine both the theory and practice of state-of-the-art spectrum analysis by discussing specific measurements taken on an integrated RF amplifier.