Software release cuts 4.5G test time by 33%

With the second-generation VST, engineers can simultaneously generate and measure up to 32 LTE carriers, each with 20 MHz of bandwidth, and use the software to specify a variety of carrier spacing schemes.

The latest release of NI-RFmx also features algorithm improvements for reduced measurement time. Engineers performing modulation quality and spectral measurements for wireless technologies such as UMTS/HSPA+ and LTE/LTE-Advanced Pro can experience EVM measurement time reductions of up to 33 percent by installing the latest version of the software.

The measurement speed improvements in NI-RFmx are part of NI’s continued efforts to help customers lower their cost of test with faster measurements.

“By adopting PXI and LabVIEW along with NI-RFmx measurement software, we have seen many customers in the semiconductor industry significantly cut test time for RF measurements, resulting in lower cost of test and faster time to market,” said Charles Schroeder, vice president of RF at NI. “The combination of excellent documentation, wealth of example code, and tight integration with PXI hardware like the second generation VST has allowed our customers to quickly and easy adopt NI-RFmx into their test systems.”

In addition to the algorithm improvements, NI-RFmx also adds enhanced support for measurements such as intermodulation distortion, third order intercept, and both Y-factor and cold source noise figure measurements. These measurements integrate easily with the PXIe-5668R RF signal analyser so engineers can easily configure high-performance PXI intermodulation distortion and noise figure test sets.