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MATLAB is widely used for the simulation of communication systems as well as for the creation or analysis of custom signals. The MATLAB Toolkit provides functions that link the Rohde & Schwarz instruments to the MATLAB environment. For this purpose the toolkit contains scripts for the most common tasks, such as instrument remote control and data transfer.

Traditional conducted-signal testing of mobile devices provides a more repeatable testing environment than testing with a radiated signal. However, the planned evolution of Fourth-Generation (4G) wireless technologies is critically dependent on Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna configurations, which promise significant data-rate increases based on moderate increases in complexity. Therefore, an over-the-air (OTA) testing methodology is needed to account for antenna behavior within the device evaluation.

High-power devices are common building blocks in RF and microwave communication systems. One such device, the high-power amplifier, plays an especially critical role in today’s mobile phones, base stations for cellular and mobile wireless infrastructure and satellite communication systems. In the base station market, for example, high power amplifiers approaching 100 watts are typical. To obtain the most power from these devices, engineers are forced to push them to their limit, often driving them into the nonlinear region of operation. Such nonlinear behavior can be problematic to the amplifier and is typically a contributing factor in wasted frequency spectrum in communication applications. Accurately characterizing and understanding this behavior is critical to enabling today’s engineer to design and verify efficient high-power devices like amplifiers.