At the 2022 International Microwave Symposium, a combination of a signal generator and analyzer shows how noise floor affects dynamic range. A second video shows a test bed for a 141 GHz radio on glass for 6G research.

According to Keysight applications engineer Randy Becker, signal generators that use I/O modulators can never quite get perfect in-phase/quadrature alignment. That, he said, raises the measurement noise floor, which reduces dynamic range. Keysight’s M9484C VXG Vector Signal Generator, shown at the 2022 International Microwave Symposium, uses direct-digital synthesis (DDS) to produce a lower noise floor. Becker shows the results on the company’s N9042B UXA Signal Analyzer running the company’s software.

In a second video taken at the Keysight booth, Becker demonstrates a test bed for testing radios running at 141 GHz. The radio-on-glass, developed at Nokia Bell Labs and discussed at IMS 2020 (virtual) has the potential to 100 Gb/sec data rates using the D-band (130 GHz to 174.8 GHz).