Spectrum analyzer maker ThinkRF and Cellular software publisher CelPlan have joined forces to integrate their products, letting engineers monitor the newly opened 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band.
The product integration lets RF engineers conduct drive tests and evaluate network performance, map coverage, or identify issues in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band. CBRS uses spectrum sharing to add needed spectrum to 5G while maintaining access for military use. ThinkRF’s spectrum analyzer functions as the scanning receiver, providing 100 MHz real-time bandwidth.
Software from CepPlan lets RF engineers create maps of wireless service.
By integrating software-defined radio (SDR) from ThinkRF and spectrum analysis tools from CelPlan, the solution offers:
- Built-in Spectrum Analyzer for signal and interference analysis
- I/Q data recording capability for post-analysis
- Deeper analysis and visualization tools for fading and MIMO analysis
- High performance receiver with automatic gain control, pre-select filtering
ThinkRF’s spectrum analyzers have bandwidths of 9 kHz to 8 GHz, 18 GHz, and 27 GHz. The R5500 (shown) has real-time capture bandwidths of 0.1 MHz, 10 MHz, 40 MHz and 100 MHz where the unit digitizes the signal bandwidths for analysis.
Real-time spectrum analyzers from ThinkRF such as the model R5550 capture RF signals up to 27 GHz.
The R5500 connects to a remote computer over Ethernet, be it directly, over a LAN, or over the internet. It has a web server for basic setup, but ThinkRF also provides S240 software, which lets you control the instrument and view spectral plots when not used with the CelPlan software.
Tell Us What You Think!