New technical applications mandate new test requirements. Across various industries including automotive, wireless communications, and aerospace applications, the need for complex modulation, wider bandwidths, higher frequencies, and multi-antenna technologies strains the test setup status quo.
To meet these demands, Keysight added a new analog MXG signal generator to the lineup. It delivers the same compact, integrated performance as the existing MXG vector signal generator, leveraging the same DDS architecture for enhanced signal fidelity.
World’s First Signal Generators with a Reflectometer
These next-generation MXGs are the first signal generators in the world to implement an embedded reflectometer (option V08). The benefits of this hardware integration include:
- Enhanced Accessibility: enables entry-level engineers to conduct testing by providing simplified measurement setups.
- Improved Accuracy: eliminates manual calculations and errors, delivering greater confidence in test results.
- Accelerated Workflow: characterizes fixtures and DUT match in seconds with the press of a button.
When testing components, engineers often face mismatch errors due to impedance mismatches between the output port of the source and the input port of the DUT. Conventionally, engineers either had to accept greater error margin in their results or go through further testing to characterize and mitigate the mismatch.
Characterizing and mitigating the error required additional test instrumentation, such as a vector network analyzer and pad. While the pad could help improve mismatch error, it also risks degrading the output power of the source. Not only was this solution to mismatch a technical trade-off, but it also added hours of test time and often required the participation of expert level engineers.
The MXG’s embedded reflectometer eliminates these issues by measuring and correcting the mismatch error between the source and DUT natively on the signal generator, ensuring the delivery of an extremely accurate signal. When used with an E-Cal module and PathWave software, the reflectometer equipped MXG also enables users to characterize and de-embed cables and test fixtures.
Multi-channel Configurations
As applications progress towards multiple antenna techniques, the need for test instruments to address these requirements increases. Both the analog and vector MXG signal generators offer multichannel configurations in a single instrument to enable engineers with options that best meet their needs — without sacrificing bench or rack space.
Available configurations include:
- 1-channel (option 001)
- 2-channel (option 001 and 002)
- 4-channel (option 001, 002, 003, and 004)
Figure 3: Analog MXG signal generator 1-channel, 2-channel, and 4-channel models (top to bottom).
This enables engineers to get up to four sources in a single, 2U box. The channels are independent, each equipped with their own reflectometer. For additional details on configuring the new analog or vector MXG signal generators, please visit the configuration guides:
Enhanced User Experience
The updated MXG software interface enhances useability and expedites time-to-first measurement. The new PathWave graphical user interface seamlessly transitions through the signal setup, and new halo lighting indications around each channel improves readability.
The body of the analog MXG signal generator also features a modern, ergonomic design. Smoother knobs offer more comfortable handling and faster revolution, while the higher-resolution touchscreen display delivers 20% more space than previous MXG models.
Get the Compact, Integrated Signal Generator Performance You Need
With reduced external connections and up to four channels in a 2U box, the new analog MXG signal generator simplifies your complex test setups while still delivering powerful, precise signals. Getting up to four independent channels in a single box simplifies complex testing. The embedded reflectometer corrects mismatch, ensuring signal accuracy in less time. And when paired with PathWave software, it reduces measurement uncertainty by removing the effects of test fixtures.
For more specification information, including phase noise and subharmonic performance, refer to the data sheet.