US : Agilent Technologies introduced a new low-cost RF SOC test solution that tests, in quad-site, all devices in a wireless radio for all wireless applications for less than $860,000, comparable to industry expectations. The solution includes a new RFIC IQ analog option, which provides the performance demanded by the high data rates of emerging wireless standards, including 3G and 4G.

This new configuration includes all the digital, analog and RF functionality required for quad-site test of all devices in a wireless radio, from an LNA (low-noise amplifier) chip to today's highly integrated, zero IF RF transceivers. It also has the wide bandwidth and measurements necessary to cover the range of requirements for even the most data-intensive applications, including wireless LAN, BluetoothTM, cellular, GPS, cordless and others. Such a wide application coverage on a single test system ensures the highest utilization, which is critical in a seasonal, consumer-driven wireless market. High utilization, combined with the low capital cost and high throughput of this new RF SOC solution, lowers cost of test.

The new RFIC IQ analog option meets the stringent IQ test requirements of emerging RF SOCs. With data rates quickly rising to support consumer demands for streaming video, multimedia gaming, and Internet access on wireless products, more complex modulation formats are emerging in wireless standards such as 3G and 4G cellular. As a result, higher performance RF SOCs are being designed and tested, requiring higher-performance test equipment than previous generations of devices.

The new RFIC IQ analog option provides a relative amplitude accuracy of +/- 0.05 dB and a relative phase accuracy of +/- 0.2 degrees, exceeding the tight specifications necessary to meet these market trends. With dual-core 14-bit arbitrary waveform generators and dual-core 12-bit digitizers operating at 100 MSa/s, the RFIC IQ analog option can source and measure IQ channels in parallel, boosting throughput. In addition, the built-in signal processing further reduces test times. Since the RFIC IQ analog option uses the existing wide-bandwidth RF receiver of the RF Measurement Suite, capital cost is minimized while still ensuring the highest-quality test.

Agilent's low-cost RF SOC test solution includes:

64 pins of 250 Mbps digital

12 RF ports

8 GHz stimulus and measure

40 MHz IF bandwidth

RFIC IQ analog option

Full suite of measurement capability: BER, EVM, ACPR, S-parameters, noise figure, phase noise, distortion measurements, power, and more.

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