Rohde & Schwarz enables sub-THz UWB signal analysis

Rohde & Schwarz is paving the way for research in the terahertz frequency range

Developments in mobile technology are moving constantly towards increasing bandwidths, enabling increasingly high data throughput. Rohde & Schwarztells IncisorTV that it hs been carrying out some of the first research exploring data transmission at sub-THz frequencies featuring ultra-wide bandwidths.

In the project, a wideband-baseband signal is upconverted to the selected 140 GHz frequency via a R&S TC RSE converter box. The R&S SMA100B provides the local oscillator frequency to the upconverter. The transmission is carried out over-the-air, with the converter connected to a horn antenna. The transmitted signal is received via another horn antenna and downconverted. The R&S FSW featuring the new, unique 8.3 GHz bandwidth option R&S FSW-B8001 analyzes the signal, carrying out signal quality measurements such as error vector magnitude (EVM) to assess the performance of the transmission. Various common modulation formats are demonstrated. The new four-channel power supply R&S NGP800 by Rohde & Schwarz apparently plays a vital role powering various parts and components in this setup.

The proposed setup can be installed into the R&S ATS1000 antenna test system. This enables design engineers to characterize RF frontend prototypes and reference designs intended to be used in future devices that support cellular and non-cellular technologies and are using much wider bandwidths. For example, IEEE’s 802.11ay standard allows channel bonding that creates a signal with more than 8 GHz of bandwidth already today. The R&S FSW is currently the only signal and spectrum analyzer in the world supporting the needed bandwidth internally for such applications, significantly facilitating complex setups in R&D.

Andreas Roessler, Technology Manager at Rohde & Schwarz told IncisorTV, “While Rohde & Schwarz is meeting the test needs for 5G technology that is still being defined and rolled out today, we are already investigating ways in which the technology is developing tomorrow. This groundbreaking D-band test represents a notable step towards research beyond 5G, leading to the next generation of mobile technology.”