Agilent Technologies N8262A P Series User manual

Agilent
N8262A P-Series Modular Power Meter
Demo Guide

2
Introduction
This demonstration guide will help you gain familiarity with the basic functions
and important features of Agilent N8262A P-Series modular power meter. All
demonstration exercises in this guide requires the Agilent N8262A P-Series
modular power meter, N1921A (50 MHz - 18 GHz) wideband power sensor
(30 MHz bandwidth) and Agilent ESG E4438C Series RF signal generator.
This demonstration guide will include:
* A step-by-step demonstration on basic power measurement GSM900 and
time-gating measurement.
* Ordering information
* Related literature
Figure 1. Front panel overview
Item Description
1 Power ON/OFF Switch: To switch the instrument between On and
Standby mode.
2 PWR LED: To indicate the power status of the instrument.
Orange: Instrument is OFF and in Standby mode.
Green: Instrument is OFF and ready to use.
3 LAN LED: To indicate the LAN communication between instrument
and LAN.
Red: LAN is not connected to the instrument.
Green: LAN is connected to the instrument. When LED is blinking, it
indicates that the LAN is communicating with the instrument.
4 LAN RST: Allows user to reset the LAN configuration if the IP
address is missing.
5 RCDR 1 and RCDR 2: DC Recorder Output, 0 to 1 Volt. Allows user to
monitor the output power whereby the Recorder Outputs will output
the corresponding voltage for the measurement that user sets on
the Upper/Lower window of the power meter.
6 TRIG IN: Trigger Input accepts a TTL signal for initiating a
measurement, via SMB connector.
7 TRIG OUT: Trigger Output is used to output a TTL signal for
synchronizing with external equipment, via SMB connector.
Table 1. Front panel items descriptions
12345678910

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Figure 2. Rear panel overview
Item Description
1 LAN Port: LAN interface allows communication with an external
controller.
2 Ground Connector: For applications which requires a hard wired
connection between the power meter’s ground and a common
ground.
3 Line Power: Universal input voltage range with automatic range
selection.
Item Description
8 CH A and CH B Connector: Sensor input (Type-N connector (f), 50
ohms) operates with Agilent 8480 Series, E-Series (Except E9320
range) and P-Series sensors. Figure 1 shows the dual-channel
modular power meter, N8262A.
9 RF ON LED: To indicate the calibrator is ON or OFF.
LED ON (Green): Calibrator is ON.
LED OFF: Calibrator is OFF.
10 PWR REF: 1 mW, 50 MHz source used for power sensor calibration
(traceable to National Institute of Standard and Technology, NIST).
The 1 mW power reference is provided for calibration of the Agilent
8480 Series and E-Series power sensors.
Table 1. Front panel items descriptions (continue)
Table 2. Rear panel item descriptions
12 3

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Figure 3. P-Series soft front panel
Table 3. P-Series soft front panel items descriptions.
Keystrokes represented by [ ].
Item Description
1 Preset: To preset the power-meter. An option list of pre-installed
measurement configurations is presented.
2 DISPLAY up/down: To select the upper or lower measurement
window. The selected window is highlighted by a blue line on the
right side of the window.
3 : To choose windowed, expanded, or full-screen display of a
numeric measurement. It also provides quick access to the Gate
Control screen and menu when a trace window is selected.
4 Disconnect: To switch off the soft front panel
5 System: To access general configuration-menus, such as IP address.
You can also access the Self-Test and Table entry menus. The
measurement screen remains visible.
6 Channel: To access the channel configuration menus. Channel
parameters such as averaging and offsets are
configured from this menu.
7 Trig/Acq: To access the triggering menu. Unless a P-Series Sensor
is connected, all the menu softkeys are disabled (grayed out).
8 Meas: To setup relative measurements or set display offsets.
9 Disp: To access the measurement display menu. You can choose the
displayed measurement resolution, units and display format.
10 Run/Stop: To start and stop the acquisition of the measurement.
11 Cal: To access the zero and calibration menus.
12 Numeric softkey: To enter numeric values in the pop-up fields.
13 Select: To select a highlighted field to allow data entry, check a
checkbox and terminate entry of a popup list.
14 Arrow softkey: Use for navigation around the parameter entry
screens.
15 Prev/Esc: To return to the previous screen. This softkey also
cancels pop-up entry.
1
2
3
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15 14 13
10 11
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Figure 4. N8262A and ESG configuration diagram. A computer running with Synthetic Instrument Finder and Power Meter
GUI software is connected to N8262A P-Series modular power meter (Network connection is used in this
demonstration). The Channel A of N8262A is connected to RF Out of ESG with N1921A wideband power sensor.
The following instruments and
software are required in order to
perform the basic power measurement
GSM900 and time-gating
measurement demonstration:
• Agilent ESG E4438C
• Agilent N8262A P-Series modular
power meter
• P-Series wideband power sensor
N1921A or N1922A
• Synthetic Instrument Finder
software
• Power Meter GUI software
• PC
• LAN cable
Update your instrument’s firmware and
software to the latest version available
at:
• www.agilent.com/find/
• www.agilent.com/find/esg
• www.agilent.com/find/N8262A
For Synthetic Instrument Finder and
Power Meter GUI software, refer to:
* Power Reference CD (shipped with
standard package).
Product type Model number Required option
Agilent ESG Vector
Signal Generator
E4438C firmware
revision C.04.60 or
later
• 503 or 506 — frequency
range
• 601 or 602 — baseband
generator
P-Series modular power
meter
N8262A firmware
revision A2.02.00 or
later
P-Series wideband
power sensor
N1921A or N1922A
Synthetic Instrument
Finder
Power Meter GUI
Connecting the PC, ESG and N8262A
Instructions
1. Connect a PC (installed with the Synthetic Instrument Finder, Power Meter GUI software and Agilent I/O Libraries
Suite) to the N8262A via LAN.
2. Set up a LAN interface connection by using Synthetic Instrument Finder and I/O Configuration of Agilent I/O Libraries.
3. Make necessary connections on the ESG, N8262A and sensors as shown in Figure 4. Perform the following steps in
the next page to interconnect the ESG, N8262A and the N1921A sensor.
LAN on N8262A
rear panel
ESG
RF Out
N1921A
N8262A
Channel A
Demonstration Preparation

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In this demonstration, N8262A is
connected via LAN through network.
Synthetic Instrument Finder is used to
establish the communication link via
LAN between PC and N8262A.
Set “DHCP Enabled” of Synthetic
Instrument Finder to “True”.
Note:
If the N8262A is directly connect to
PC (without go through network), a
cross-over cable is required. Perform
the following steps:
i) Set the “DHCP Enabled“ from
Synthetic Instrument Finder to
“False”.
ii) Assign the IP address to
the N8262A (e.g.: 192.168.100.2)
Further detail refer to P-Series
Modular Power Meter Installation
Guide, page 56 (Connecting Power
Meter using Private Network).
All demonstrations are done using
the N8262A, P-Series soft front panel,
Synthetic Instrument Finder and vector
signal generator. Keystrokes
surrounded by [ ] represents front
panel hardkeys, while keystrokes sur-
rounded by { } represents softkeys on
display. Refer to Figure 3 for
keystrokes represented by [ ] on the
P-Series soft front panel.
Demonstration Preparation (continue)
Instructions Keystrokes
Establish a communication link with the N8262A and P-Series soft front
panel:
1. Run the Synthetic Instrument
Finder
Double-click on the Synthetic
Instrument Finder shortcut on the
desktop or access the program via
Windows start menu.
2. Set up the N8262A network
connection (See Figure 5)
From the “DHCP Enabled” pull down
menu, select {True}. {Send Settings}
for new effective changes. Click {Turn
On/Off Ident LED} to identify the unit.
Notice that the LAN LED will blink
when the button is clicked.
3. Run the P-Series soft front panel Double-click the Power Meter GUI
shortcut on the desktop or access the
program via Windows start menu.
4. Set up the P-Series soft front
panel connectivity
(See Figure 7)
From Synthetic Instrument Finder,
right-click on N8262A and click “Copy
the VISA Address to clipboard
(IP Address)” or “Copy the VISA
Address to Clipboard (hostname)”.
Paste it into the Address box of
P-Series soft front panel.
Click {Connect}.
Figure 5. Synthetic Instrument Finder window. To detect and configure the IP
address of the instrument. Double click on highlighted “IP Address” to
open the web browser (see Figure 6).

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Figure 6. N8262A P-Series modular power meter web browser. Instrument on
the network can be physically identified by clicking the Toggle ID
LED in the web interface. This causes the instrument’s front panel
LAN LED to flash continuously until Toggle ID LED is clicked again.
Figure 7. P-Series soft front panel

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To show the ability of the P-Series
modular power meter (similar to
P-Series power meter) to measure the
average power in an active GSM900
timeslot (i.e. useful part of the burst)
and demonstrate the trigger holdoff
feature.
Basic Measurement: GSM900
Instructions Keystrokes
On the ESG:
1. Setting the frequency and
amplitude
Press [Preset] to preset the instrument.
[Frequency] [900], {MHz}.
[Amplitude] [0], {dBm}.
2. Selecting a GSM Signal [Mode], {Real Time TDMA}, {GSM},
toggle {GSM ON}.
Toggl e {Data Format Framed}.
Toggle {Frame Trigger Continuous}.
3. Activating GSM signal Toggle [RF On/Off] to ‘ON’.
Toggle [Mod On/Off] to ‘ON’.
4. Configure timeslot 3 to ‘ON’
(To activate multiple GSM900
timeslots)
{Configure Timeslot}, {Timeslot #}, [3].
Toggle {Timeslot Off/On} to ‘On’.
Toggle {Timeslot Type} to ‘Normal’.
Instructions Keystrokes
Making a measurement using the GSM900 pre-defined setup via P-Series
soft front panel:
1. Select the GSM900 predefined
preset value (See Figure 8).
[Preset]. Use the arrow key to choose
{GSM900}. [Select] {Confirm}
2. Change the trace setup to view
the active timeslots (0 and 3).
(See Figure 9)
[ ] {Trace Control}, {X Start
-200 ms}, {X Scale 400 ms}. {Y Max 10
dBm}, {Y Scale 4 dB}, {Gate Control}.
Expand the window display [ ]
The P-Series modular power meter is
configured to show the power trace of
the GSM signal in upper window, and
average power in the Figure 8.
When considering a GSM900 signal
with multiple active timeslots, stable
triggering can be a problem. P-Series
modular power meter offers a
Trigger Holdoff facility to overcome
this problem. After trigger event
occurs, the trigger mechanism is
disabled for the configured time period
(the trigger holdoff period). This
allows stable triggering to be achieved
when a multiple edges signal occurs.
For example, a TDMA signal with
non- constant amplitude modulation
and trigger holdoff values up to 400 ms
can be configured.
Figure 8. The display show the GSM900 data

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Figure 9. The display shows time slots 0 and 3 on (active)
Basic Measurement: GSM900 (continue)
Instructions Keystrokes
On the P-Series soft front panel:
1. Set the trigger holdoff to
illustrate an unstable display
(See Figure 10)
[Trig/Acq], {Settings}, {1 of 2}, {Hold-
off 1.5 ms}.
2. Set the trigger holdoff to a stable
display (See Figure 9).
[Trig/Acq], {Settings}, {1 of 2}, {Hold-
off 2 ms}.
The trace display is stable when
trigger holdoff is set to 4.275 ms
(default setting for GSM900). However
by reducing the trigger holdoff such
that it occurs before the rising edge
of timeslot 3, the trace display will
become unstable. For this example, to
ensure that the trace display is stable,
the trigger holdoff must be set greater
than 2 ms.
Figure 10. Unstable display compare to Figure 9.

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Time-Gating Measurement
Similar to P-Series power meter,
P-Series modular power meter offers
extensive triggering facilities for
making time-gated measurements.
This allows useful average, peak and
peak-to-average ratio measurements
of complex modulation formats to be
taken.
This demonstration shows the
versatility of the time-gating features
of P-Series modular power meter, by
setting up four independent times
gates on a TDMA signal to measure
various power parameters, as shown
in Figure 11. This figure illustrates a
GSM900 pulse, where Gate 2 provides
the burst average power over the
useful GSM time period and Gate 1
indicates the peak-to-average power
over the whole timeslot. A pulse droop
measurement can be obtained from
Gate 4/Gate 3.
Figure 11. Powerful data configuration routines permit measurements
during 4 gate time, each with 2 data “feeds” for display.
Computed parameters such as peak-to-average ratio can also be
displayed.
Instructions Keystrokes
On the ESG:
1. Setup the GSM900 format for
P-Series modular power meter
and ESG E4438C.
(Refer to ESG setup, Page 8)
From Figure 11, time-gating is used
to measure the average power of the
useful period (5% to 95% of the burst
duration), peak power, peak-to-aver-
age ratio and pulse droop in a GSM900
signal.
Instructions Keystrokes
On the P-Series soft front panel:
1. Select the GSM900 predefined
preset value.
[Preset]. Use the arrow softkey to
choose {GSM900}. [Select] {Confirm}
2. Setting up gates [Channel], {Gates Setup}. Use the
arrow softkey to select the gate and
change its value.
Gate1 Start: 0 ms Length: 600 ms
Gate 2 Start: 20 ms Length: 520 ms
Gate 3 Start: 20 ms Length: 40 ms
Gate 4 Start: 500 ms Length: 40 ms
3. Set up measurement display Upper Window
Use the DISPLAY up/down softkey
to highlight the upper window. [Disp],
{Disp Type}, {Single Numeric}.
Lower Window
Use the DISPLAY up/down softkey
to highlight the lower window. [Disp],
{Disp Type}, {Dual Numeric}.
The four gates that are configured will
setup to display and measure the burst
average power, peak-to-average ratio
and the pulse droop. The upper
window is configured to display the
burst power (Gate 2) and the lower
window is configured to display the
peak-average ratio (Gate 1) and the
pulse droop (Gate 4/Gate 3). (See
Figure 12)