Use Case: Multi-Format Signal

When you want to analyze multiple carriers with different modulation formats (such as from a multi-standard radio in a cell-phone), you can configure the 89600 VSA to simultaneously perform multiple measurements, one per carrier. There are two possible variations in this use case.

Phase-Synchronous (Shared) Acquisition

In the Phase-Synchronous (Shared) Acquisition case, all carriers are contained within the analysis bandwidth of the measurement hardware.

To configure this setup, add one measurement per carrier and then change the measurement types and set up each demodulator.

Benefits

Results from multiple formats - you can analyze multiple types of signals together.
Other benefits of Multi-carrier use case

Time-Synchronous Acquisition

In the Time-Synchronous Acquisition case, the frequency separation between at least two of the carriers is greater than the analysis bandwidth of the measurement hardware.

To configure this setup, add one measurement per carrier, select the measurement hardware for each measurement, change the measurement type, and configure the demodulator settings for each measurement.

Benefits

Results from multiple formats - you can analyze multiple types of signals together.
Extended analysis bandwidth - not limited by a single instrument's analysis bandwidth.
Time-Synchronous acquisition - with external triggering, the time records captured from each measurement hardware can be synchronized to within trigger accuracy (configure External Triggering and use the Trig Out parameter in the Measurements dialog) to allow correlation of events, such as EVM Error vector magnitude (EVM): A quality metric in digital communication systems. See the EVM metric in the Error Summary Table topic in each demodulator for more information on how EVM is calculated for that modulation format. spikes.