NI Releases NI-RFmx 2.2 Measurement Software for 4.5G Test

NI has released NI-RFmx 2.2, the latest version of its advanced measurement software for PXI RF test systems. When used with the second-generation PXI Vector Signal Transceiver (VST), engineers can test 4.5G and 5G RF components such as transceivers and amplifiers using a range of carrier aggregation schemes.

With the second-generation VST, NI says engineers can simultaneously generate and measure up to 32 LTE carriers, each with 20MHz of bandwidth, and use the software to specify various 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% by installing the latest version of the software, according tot he company.

“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,” says 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 easily 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. The company says these measurements integrate easily with the PXIe-5668R RF signal analyzer so engineers can easily configure high-performance PXI intermodulation distortion and noise figure test sets.

For more information, visit National Instruments.

Sources: Press materials received from the company.