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

NI RF Test Platform
Optimized APIs Cellular, Wireless, and GPS Test Toolkits
(802.11 a/b/g/n , GSM/EDGE, WCDMA, LTE, WiMAX, GPS, etc.)

Soft Front Panels

Highly Modular HW

Reference Architectures

Multicore Processing

RF Signal Generators & Analyzers

FPGA I/O and Coprocessing

RF Vector Network Analyzer

Switching, Amplifiers, Attenuators

Power Meters

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

1 2 3

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
Action Configure DUT RF Power (10 Avgs) EVM (10 Avgs) A GPIB Time 500 ms 466 ms 470 ms PXI Test Time 500 ms 51 ms EVM & Power EVM & Power Notes

Step

Spectral Mask (10 Avgs) Total Time per Setting

Time for Device

1490 ms 2926 ms
26.36 sec

81 ms 632 ms
5.69 sec 82% reduction!

Configure DUT%
Measurement Usage %

17.1%
82.9%

79.1%
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 Test
Up to 16x16 configurations

Parallel Multi-comm Test

Test GPS, WLAN, and FM concurrently

RF Record and Playback

Up to TBs 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 CPUs 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.

NI Platform for Software-defined RF Test

GSM/EDGE WCDMA & HSPA+
LTE WiMAX

ZigBee

RFID

WLAN

GPS

Early Access

Early Access

AM/FM

Bluetooth

CDMA2000

EV-DO

New Products Expand DC, Digital, RF, and Switching Capabilities for PXI
Source Measure Unit - Measurements down to 10 pA
High-Speed Digital I/O - 100 and 200 MHz clock rates, up to 400 Mbps

NI PXI Semiconductor Suite

High-Speed Signal Insertion Switch

- Take precision DC measurements directly on digital I/O lines 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-4154
Battery 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 s 200 kS/s continuous waveform acquisition of voltage and current 1 A measurement sensitivity for quiescent/standby currents Additional 8 V, 1.5 A charger simulator channel

Evolving Wireless Standards

802.11 802.11a IS95 802.11b 802.11h 802.11j
WiMAX 802.162004

cdma2000
UMTS
WiMAX 802.16e

802.22

ZigBee
HSDPA HSPA 802.20
TD-SCDMA

AMPS
IS136 802.15.1

GPRS 802.11i IS54 GSM 802.11g 802.11n LTE UWB

EDGE
802.11d 802.11f

802.11k 802.11e
802.11j 802.11u
MediaFlo DVB-H

RFID

DVB-T

1990

1995

2000

2005

2010

Converging Applications
Bluetooth Cellular

GPS Navigation
Wi-Fi NFC

FM, Traffic (RDS)

Broadcast TV

Design Flow Challenges

Time to Market Instrument Centric Software Centric

Research/ Modeling

Design/ Simulation

Verification/ Validation

Manufacturing

Key Requirements
Measurement Accuracy Measurement Repeatability Measurement Speed Cost

Key Requirements
Cost Measurement Repeatability Measurement Speed Measurement Accuracy

Host Computer
Test Sequencer Test Software Modules
TCL, Perl, MatLab

LabVIEW

CVI

.NET

C/C++

ActiveX

HTBasic

Other

Software Drivers
UUT Driver Interface

Instrument Driver Interfaces Instrument Vendors Driver

IVI

RS232
I2C

TCP/IP
USB Custom PXI RS232

VISA
USB TCP/IP GPIB

Converging Technology Challenges

RF
IF BaseBand Audio Digital Power
Convergence Of Test Simulate & test any part of the system. Tight synchronization Cause & Effect

NI RF Hardware Products
RF 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-5663E
RF 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.

Key Specifications
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

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
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
Host PC (Intel Quad Core) Parallel Measurement Processing.
GSM Composite Measurement TXP thread
PVT thread

GSM Composite Measurement TXP thread

PVT thread

I/Q

PFER thread

I/Q

PFER thread

Stream Data

Acquisition Record [0]

Acquisition Record [1]

Acquisition Record ]

Acquisition Record [0]

Acquisition Record [1]

Acquisition Record ]

Change Frequency

Change Frequency

Change Frequency

I/Q sample rate fixed

(Amplitude)

+30dBm -50dBm

Adjust Reference & Trigger Levels

-50dBm

-130dBm

Record 1

(Time)

Record 2

PXIe-5663E

PXIe-5673E
RF 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)

RF Vector Signal Generators Features

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 - VSG List Mode Features, PXIe-5673E

Deterministic Frequency tuning time <250uS > 200 List Script Elements. Automatic or triggered script advance Configuration Per Script List Element Carrier frequency Amplitude Deterministic element time duration Multi-waveform support Markers and triggers
VSG List Mode Scripts
Test Scenario 1 Frequency 100000Hz, Amplitude 10dBm Generate GSM_DWL_Link 500mS Amplitude -50dBm Generate GSM_DWL_Link 500mS End Test Scenario 1 Frequency 20000Hz, Amplitude 0dBm Generate WiLAN_802_11a 250mS Generate WiLAN_802_11b 250mS Generate GPS 2000mS End

GSM_Dwn _link

GSM_Dwn _link

GSM_Dwn _link

WiLAN_80 2_11a

WiLAN_80 2_11b

Change Frequency

Change Frequency

Change Frequency

I/Q rate fixed

(Amplitude)

+10dBm -50dBm

Adjust VSG Gain

-50dBm

-130dBm

Record 1

(Time)

Record 2

PXIe-5673E

GPS

Built with Next Generation Technology in Mind

MIMO
802.11n WiMax LTE Phased Array Radar
Active Radar Passive Radar
Transmitter
Pilot Sub-Carrier Data Sub-Carrier Guard Sub-Carriers

Frequency

Free Space

Receiver

Basic Channel Models

SISO - Single Input / Single Output
Transmitter

SIMO Single Input / Multiple Output

Receiver Transmitter

Common / Legacy Radio Channel

MISO Multiple Input / Single Output

Transmitter

MIMO Multiple Input / Multiple Outputs

Receiver Transmitter

) ))

) ))

) ))

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

) )) ) ))

Receiver Diversity

Uses ) )) multiple data streams to increase cell capacity.

Multiple Data Streams

) ))

) ))

) ))

Increases the robustness of ) )) the transmitted signal, when poor channel conditions ) )) exists.

Transmit Diversity

Receiver

Receiver

Technology 1: High-Speed Data Bus

National Instruments - MISO Configuration.

18 Slot PXIe Chassis. Supports up to 5x VSAs Per Chassis. Supports up to 4x VSGs Per Chassis. Combination of VSAs & VSGs MIMO.
Multi-Chassis Synchronization Available.

RF

RF

IF

RF

IF RF

IF

RF

IF

Lo

Lo Clk

Lo Clk

Lo Clk

Controller
PXIe-8130

VSG
PXIe-5673E

4 x VSAs
PXIe-5663E

NI Multiple Input Configuration.

RF Span To IQ Data Rate

50MHz 20MHz

= 250MB/s = 100MB/s

PXIe-8130 Controller

Multi-Core I/Q Processing

PXIe-1075 Chassis

<+/-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.

Ref Clk
Shared Lo Shared Sample Clock

Shared Reference Clock

Shared Lo 85MHz6.6Ghz

PXIe-5652

PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC DDC

250MB/s

RF-In(Ch0)
PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC

-Sample Clk
DDC

RF-In(Ch1)
PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC DDC

250MB/s

RF-In(Ch2)
PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC DDC

250MB/s

RF-In(Ch3)

External Ref Clock

NI Multiple VSG Configuration.

IQ Data Rate To RF Bandwidth 500MB/s = 100MHz 250MB/s = 50MHz 100MB/s = 20MHz
Shared Lo Shared Sample Clock Shared Reference Clock

PXIe-8130 Multi-Core Computer I/Q Processing

PXIe-5652

PXIe-1075 Chassis
Ref Clk

<+/-0.1o degree RMS of channel to channel jitter. <0.05o degree, channel to channel adjustment resolution. +/-0.75dBm channel to channel amplitude accuracy.

Shared Lo 85MHz6.6Ghz

PXIe-5611

+I -I +90o +Q -Q

DAC

PXIe-5450
I OSP 500MB/s

RF-Out(Ch0)

+
PXIe-5611

Sample Clk DAC

+I -I +90o +Q -Q

DAC

PXIe-5450
I

RF-Out(Ch1)

+
PXIe-5611

OSP

500MB/s

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.

DAC

+I -I +90o +Q -Q

DAC

PXIe-5450
I
OSP 500MB/s

RF-Out(Ch2)

DAC

External Ref Clock

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
NI-defined bus interface/streaming IP
I/O Port 2

NI-defined daughtercard interface IP

Virtex 5 FPGA

PCIe x4
Host PC LabVIEW for Windows

Loader
Triggers / Timestamp

Analog / Digital Daughtercard, monolithic front-end, or terminal block

CLIP

XI+

NI-defined board resource IP

Synch

Memory

Power

Clocking

Module Connectors

STC3

In-Line FPGA Processing - PXIe FlexRIO

IQ Data Rate To RF Bandwidth 500MB/s = 100MHz 250MB/s = 50MHz 100MB/s = 20MHz
Shared Lo Shared Sample Clock

PXIe-8130 Controller

Multi-Core I/Q Processing

PXIe-1075 Chassis

Stream from multiple VSAs directly to the FlexRIO. Per To Per Stream multiple data streams to and from FlexRIO to embedded computer simultaneously.

Ref Clk
Shared Lo 85MHz6.6Ghz

PXIe-5652

Shared Reference Clock

PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC DDC

250MB/s

RF-In(Ch0)
PXIe-5601

PXIe-5622 ADC DDC

250MB/s

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

Cascade multiple FlexRIO cards to increase signal processing capability.

RF-In(Ch2)

FlexRIO Express
PXIe-5611 +I -I
90o

FPGA (ST95T) PXIe-5450

I OSP

DAC

RF-Out(Ch0)

+Q -Q

DAC

External Ref Clock

Current NI Data Streaming Products

HDD-8263

200 MB/s 1-4 TB Over 1 hour at 100 MS/s Over 2.5 hours RF
HDD-8264

NI 8352/53 Rack Mount Controllers

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

Dual Core/Quad Core Processors Based 1-4 TB HDD 200 MB/s RAID-0 Removable HDDs

NI RF Toolkits
RF Toolkit Focus
PHY measurements Automated test
Applications Presentation Session

Toolkits include: APIs for LabVIEW, CVI,.Net Installer w/ licensing Application specific specifications Interactive examples DUT specific libraries TestStand sequences

Transport Network
Data Link
LLC MAC

Physical Layer (PHY)

NI Tools for LTE Test

NI Measurement Suite for LTE (LabVIEW, C/C++, etc.) PXIe-5673E 6.6 GHz RF Vector Signal Generator PXIe-5663E 6.6 GHz RF Vector Signal Analyzer

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

Industrys 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 s/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-Parameters

PXIe-5630 + PXI-2598