Understanding Phase Noise Measurement Techniques

White Paper Overview 

Phase noise can be measured and analyzed either with traditional spectrum analyzers or with dedicated phase noise analyzers. This white paper explains the differences between these two measurement approaches and provides guidance regarding which instrument is most suitable for a given phase noise measurement application.

The article assumes a basic familiarity with phase noise and phase noise measurements. The Rohde & Schwarz white paper Understanding Phase Noise Fundamentals provides a general technical introduction to these topics.

You will learn about:

• The spectrum analyzer method
• Normalization and shape correction
• The cross-correlation method
• Cross-correlation gain