The highly sophisticated certification and R&D measurements required in the A&D and automotive sectors call for an EMI test receiver with outstanding characteristics. To address these markets Rohde & Schwarz has launched the R&S ESW EMI test receiver that is designed for applications in manufacturers’ EMI labs and in test houses.
The test receiver, which had its first public demonstration at the EMV 2016 international exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany at the end of February, comes in three versions for the frequency ranges from 2 Hz to 8 GHz/26 GHz/44 GHz. The R&S ESW includes as standard an extremely fast FFT based time domain scan (TD scan), which significantly reduces the time required for standard compliant certification tests. The TD scan can also be run with two CISPR detectors to carry out parallel measurements.
For diagnostics and troubleshooting, users can take advantage of additional operating modes such as sweep, scan, real-time spectrum analysis and IF analysis, each with a spectrogram function. The spectrogram function seamlessly displays the analyzed spectrum versus time, making even rapidly changing interferers visible. Real-time spectrum analysis with a bandwidth of 80 MHz, with tools such as persistence mode and a frequency mask trigger, delivers important information on critical and hidden signals.
The R&S ESW offers additional highpass filters at 150 kHz and 2 MHz as well as notch filters especially for the license free ISM bands around 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz, which are used by wireless transmission technologies such as BluetoothTM and WLAN. Strong carrier signals in these bands can severely impact the dynamic range of instruments during EMI field strength measurements, and minor interference signals outside these bands can go undetected. With its additional filters for the ISM bands and exceptional sensitivity, the R&S ESW overcomes this problem, delivering reliable EMI certification measurements.
The instrument also features easy touchscreen operation with an intuitive GUI and flat menu structures. The multiview function lets users see all measurements and modes at a glance. The instrument also incorporates a configurable auto test feature, which makes it possible to automate complex measurement processes. This test configurator allows users to define parameters and criteria independently for preview measurements, peak search and final measurements, using quasi peak, CISPR-average, and RMS-average detectors.
The test report generator helps operators document all parameters required for certification directly after measurements are taken. The instrument is equipped with two additional rotary knobs, each of which can be assigned diverse test parameters, allowing a quick comparison of the effects of specific parameters such as bandwidth, measurement time and attenuation during the measurement.