Keithley Expands MIMO RF Measurement Capabilities with 8x8 MIMO Test System

Keithley introduced the industry’s first 4x4 MIMO test equipment for R&D product development in late 2007. The new 8x8 MIMO system is built on the same award-winning measurement platform that provides capability and performance not found with any other RF test system:

· support for MIMO research applications ranging from two channels now up to eight
· flexible system configurations with individual system component instruments
· phase and amplitude control of the RF carrier
· less than ±1 nanosecond signal sampler synchronization
· less then 1 nanosecond peak-to-peak signal sampler jitter
· less than 1 degree of peak-to-peak RF-carrier phase jitter

By allowing for precise and stable multi-unit synchronization with these high performance measurement specifications, the new Keithley system extends support of 4x4 MIMO measurements currently being used for commercial test applications on demanding signals – such as 802.11n WiFi, 802.16e Mobile WiMAX Wave 2, and future standards such as 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) and UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband) – to the next generation of technologies and methodologies being researched. By providing leading-edge MIMO test systems today, Keithley is well positioned to support its customers as technology research migrates to new product development projects and then into production, thereby helping them speed time-to-market.

MIMO is a growing technology that uses multiple radios for both transmitting and receiving data. In RF communication devices, it increases data throughput rates without the need for additional frequency spectrum bandwidth. Keithley's 2x2 through 8x8 MIMO test systems provide the most advanced, high performance MIMO testing platform available for research and product development with the ability to easily test highly complex signals and communication architectures. The Keithley system allows, for the first time, testing of a wide variety of channel configurations using up to eight radios at a time. Research applications include antenna design and configuration testing, beam-forming, evaluating AAS (Adaptive Antenna Systems), and more. The advanced 8x8 MIMO solution provides RF customers with a single measurement platform that supports primary technology research and its migration to product design and development.

Keithley MIMO RF test systems are built on the company’s powerful RF signal generator and analyzer platforms that include the Model 2820 RF Vector Signal Analyzers (VSA) with frequency range of 400MHz to 6GHz; the Model 2920 RF Vector Signal Generators (VSG), which can generate frequencies from 10MHz to 6GHz; the Model 280111 WLAN 802.11n Signal Analysis Software, which provides an extensive measurement suite for analyzing up to single- or multiple-channel RF devices with up to 4x4 MIMO configurations; and highly precise and stable signal alignment via Keithley’s Model 2895 MIMO Synchronization Unit.

Models 2820 and 2920 are MIMO-ready with all hardware connections and firmware built into every instrument. The instruments provide customers with the flexibility to be used as part of a MIMO test system or to be configured later for use as stand-alone SISO (single-input, single-output) instruments.