“We think that the trend will be lower-cost VNA instrumentation with enough flexibility to perform critical RF measurements, like spectrum analysis and monitoring.” — Jason Chonko, SIGLENT Technologies
Testing adds to the total cost of manu- facturing, and so, this demand has put pressure on instrumentation manufac- turers to rethink traditional RF testing, including VNAs. Not every application needs the highest degree of accuracy or precision, but they do all need depend- able and reliable equipment. We think that the trend will be lower-cost VNA in- strumentation with enough flexibility to perform critical RF measurements, like spectrum analysis and monitoring. Tis way, we can provide engineers with tools that can help them more effectively get their jobs done and stay under budget.” Roger Denker, RF tools manager at
MegiQ: “The IOT market is booming and many devices are wireless. A lot of non-RF engineers need to work out the RF and antenna part of their design. 5G and (massive) MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) devices need more and more VNA channels for developing MIMO antennas and phase arrays.” Stan Oda, ShockLine VNA product
manager at Anritsu: “VNAs are becom- ing smaller and more configurable solu- tions. Another trend is higher frequency requirements driven by new applications. Examples include 5G 28 GHz and 39 GHz designs that are starting to emerge more broadly in the marketplace, as well as MIMO antennas with beam steering that are becoming more prevalent.” Taku Hirato, VNA product manager
at Keysight Technologies: “As more and more functionality is integrated into single components, the number of ports on these components continues to expand and in- crease in complexity. Many applications require a more thorough multiport char- acterization of their devices. Examples include passive interconnect products for high-speed digital applications such as connectors or cable assemblies.” Brian Walker, senior RF design engi-
neer at Copper Mountain Technologies: “First, 5G brings with it a need to make accurate measurements at 28 and 38
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GHz. Multiport measurement in these frequencies is useful for MIMO antennas with multiphase beam steering. Second- ly, IoT brings many formerly digital-only newcomers to the RF arena. Developers must contend with an RF interface to their systems as they migrate into LORA, Zigbee, Bluetooth or 5G gateways. And third, RF developers want to focus on solutions to their problems and not be limited by test and measurement sys- tems which worked well in the past but now lack features needed to simplify the testing process. Software which simpli- fies complex measurements will become more and more important.”
Now on the market Those aforementioned vendors and many others are reacting to trends in the VNA market by continuously innovating with new and enhanced products. Here’s a look at some of the recent products and solutions offerings in this space. Anritsu will bring its MS46524B se-
ries of Performance ShockLine 4-port VNAs to showcase at the upcoming DesignCon expo, held Jan. 29-31 in Santa Clara, CA. Packaged in a com- pact and rugged 3U chassis, the series has 30 microseconds per point sweep speed, and better than 120 dB dynamic range to 43.5 GHz, making it suitable for testing passive devices in engineer- ing, manufacturing, and cost-sensitive education applications. According to Anritsu, its ShockLine VNAs feature 4-,
X Anritsu MS46524B series of Performance ShockLine 4-port VNAs will be showcased DesignCon, Jan. 29-31 in Santa Clara, CA.
6-, 8-, 20-, and 43.5-GHz coverage, as well as E-band coverage in the smallest form factors on the market. Tey are all compact, robust instruments without fragile screens or keypads, so they can withstand the rigors of everyday use in production and lab environments. Tey share the same software across the en- tire family for ease of use and program compatibility, for more efficient test environments. The series offers typi- cal options such as domain for signal path fault detection, and advanced time domain for signal integrity analysis, including eye diagrams and crosstalk measurements. Among the hardware options for the 8.5 GHz MS4652xB are direct access loops and bias tees. “Our ShockLine family of VNAs are ad-
dressing these trends via a unique archi- tecture that employs patented nonlinear transmission line ShockLine technology, which enables high-frequency measure- ment performance at an economical cost in flexible and compact configura- tions,” Oda said. SIGLENT’s latest VNA release is the
SVA1015X, which is based on the com- pany’s SSA3000X series of superhetero- dyne spectrum analyzers. It retains its ease-of-use, but with the option to add VNA capabilities. It features a spec- trum analyzer that operates from 9 kHz to 1.5 GHz and the optional VNA can provide S11 and S21 data from 10 MHz to 1.5 GHz. One compact instru- ment can be used to debug transmit- ters, characterize antennas, monitor broadcasts and transmission/reflection characterization of RF components. A simple button press switches the op- erating modes. Chonko said the most unique feature of the SVA1015X is that
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