Microwave Journal
www.microwavejournal.com/articles/13238-agilent-technologies-new-exa-signal-analyzer-breaks-through-speed-budget-barriers

Agilent Technologies' New EXA Signal Analyzer Breaks through Speed, Budget Barriers

September 3, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 3, 2007 - Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today introduced its EXA signal analyzer, setting a new standard for value in signal analysis. The Agilent EXA is the industry's fastest economy-class signal analyzer. Its speed and accuracy, coupled with its unprecedented performance and application coverage, provides development and manufacturing engineers with the capabilities to cost-effectively troubleshoot new designs, increase manufacturing throughput, or analyze complex and time-varying signals. The Agilent EXA signal analyzer provides flexible, scalable signal analysis to budget-conscious engineers who don't want to sacrifice speed, accuracy, application coverage or modern connectivity. At a lower performance point than Agilent's MXA signal analyzer, EXA seamlessly integrates the same broad range of standards-based measurements with Agilent's industry-leading 89600 vector signal analysis (VSA) software -- all in a single instrument. In addition to the use of an open Windows(r) XP Professional operating system, the EXA also provides an advanced signal analysis user interface. All measurement features and functions are intuitively grouped and accessible from the front panel or via a USB keyboard and mouse. Optional measurement application software provides preconfigured test routines for GSM/EDGE, 802.16e Mobile WiMAX(tm), W-CDMA, HSDPA/HSUPA, and phase-noise applications. Running the Agilent 89600 VSA software application in the EXA enables advanced signal demodulation analysis and troubleshooting of more than 50 demodulation formats including: 2G, 3G, 3.5G, WiMAX(tm), WLAN and Private Mobile Radio. Agilent's EXA includes a comprehensive set of standard one-button-power measurements for characterizing signal quality. These include ACPR, Channel Power, Occupied Bandwidth, Spectrum Emissions Mask, CCDF, Burst Power and Spurious Emission. A breakthrough characteristic of the Agilent EXA is its intrinsic speed -- unprecedented for an economy signal analyzer -- which allows measurements up to 300 percent faster than other economy-class signal analyzers. The EXA returns a marker peak search result in less than 5 ms, local updates in less than 10 ms, and remote sweep and transfer (via GPIB) in less than 12 ms. Measurement mode switching speeds are typically less than 75 ms. This exceptional speed enables a fast and seamless change between WiMAX, W-CDMA, HSDPA/HSUPA, GSM/EDGE, phase noise measurements, and 89600 VSA software. As a result, the EXA provides the fastest local and remote measurements for expediting automated tests (e.g., increased throughput) and accelerating design verification. "Agilent is fully committed to expanding its measurement offerings to address the performance and functionality requirements of new wireless applications at different performance and price points," said Guy Sene, vice president of Agilent's Signal Analysis Division. "Agilent's new EXA signal analyzer, with its economical price, industry-leading speed and measurement accuracy, is yet another step in our realization of that commitment. Augmenting the success of the popular Agilent MXA midrange signal analyzer released in 2006, the EXA eliminates the compromise between speed and price." Fast, remote measurement capabilities (via LAN, GPIB, or USB 2.0) such as sweep/trace transfer, local updates, ACLR, marker peak search and mode switching are especially useful in manufacturing environments, where the increased speed results in improved test system throughput. Manufacturing also benefits from the outstanding accuracy of the EXA, via increased yield, allowing manufacturing engineers to optimize their test budget for manufacturing variances as opposed to test instrument uncertainties. For development, accuracy provides engineers with the confidence to pinpoint signal quality issues and facilitates troubleshooting and diagnostic evaluations. This enables an accelerated transition from design into manufacturing and helps reduce the overall cost of test. By addressing the key drivers for successful design and manufacturing of new and emerging wireless applications, Agilent's EXA allows today's engineers to make the most of each millisecond to fully differentiate their products in the marketplace and realize commercial success. The EXA signal analyzer supports multiple frequency ranges from 9 kHz to 3.6, 7.0, 13.6 and 26.5 GHz, an internal fully calibrated pre-amplifier option up to 3.6 GHz, and standard analysis bandwidths of 10 MHz. This fully scalable functionality is complemented by EXA's +13 dBm third-order intercept, -146 dBm/Hz displayed average noise level (without pre-amp) and 66 dB W-CDMA ACLR dynamic range, as well as industry-leading 0.4 dB total absolute amplitude accuracy, which is made possible by the all-digital, 14-bit ADC IF section. The dynamic range is maximized with an optional 2 dB mechanical step attenuator over the full frequency range and for manufacturing offers an optional 1 dB electronic attenuator to 3.6 GHz. U.S. Pricing and Availability The Agilent EXA signal analyzer is fully compliant with the LXI Class-C specification. Connectivity is possible via 100 based-T LAN, GPIB and seven USB 2.0 ports. It is available now through Agilent's direct sales channels and worldwide distribution partners. Pricing is as follows: N9010A-503 Frequency Range, 9 kHz to 3.6 GHz $16,900 N9010A-507 Frequency Range, 9 kHz to 7.0 GHz $25,900 N9010A-513 Frequency Range, 9 kHz to 13.6 GHz $30,900 N9010A-526 Frequency Range, 9 kHz to 26.5 GHz $35,900 N9010A- FSA Fine step attenuator $1,000 N9010A-PFR Precision Frequency Reference $2,000 N9010A-EA3 Electronic Attenuator, 3.6 GHz $3,000 N9010A-P03 Preamplifier, 3.6 GHz $1,500 N9010A-CPU Instrument Security, additional CPU/HDD $4,000 N9068A Phase Noise Measurement Application $4,700 N9071A GSM/EDGE Measurement Application $6,000 N9073A-1FP W-CDMA Measurement Application $7,400 N9073A-2FP HSDPA/HSUPA Measurement Application $4,300 N9075A 802.16 OFDMA Measurement Application $10,000 89601A Vector Signal Analysis software (89600) $10,100 For information about the N9010A EXA signal analyzer, go to www.agilent.com/find/exa.