Tektronix Brings 165 MHz Real-Time Bandwidth to Mid-Range Spectrum Analyzers

Tektronix, Inc., a worldwide provider of test, measurement and monitoring instrumentation, announced that its real-time spectrum analyzers (RTSAs) now offer up to 165 MHz acquisition bandwidth, the widest available in this price range. This bandwidth supports demanding applications such as high-margin, high accuracy WLAN 802.11ac characterization and troubleshooting.

In addition to increased bandwidth, Tektronix has significantly improved the real-time performance and signal detection improvements of its RSA5000 and SPECMON series of RTSAs — further establishing them as premier spectrum analyzers, and the clear value leaders in their price segments.

“Wireless standards are changing to require more bandwidth and at the same time signal durations are getting shorter, making them more difficult than ever to detect,” said Jim McGillivary, general manager, Source Analyzer Product Line, Tektronix. “With these introductions, Tektronix is giving our customers the characterization and troubleshooting tools with superior real-time features at the lowest price on the market.”

Tektronix RTSAs lead the industry with unique features that include density trigger, time-qualified triggers and innovative swept DPX display technology that makes it easier to find unwanted transmissions. These instruments also offer the industry’s best integration of real-time and multiple domain analysis, with all interactions available through a single interface. Key features and specification improvements include the following:

• The RSA5000B series offers up to 165 MHz acquisition bandwidth. This wider bandwidth also supports the new 160 MHz bandwidth found in 802.11ac, up from 40 MHz in prior 802.11 versions.
• The minimum signal duration for 100 percent Probability of Intercept (POI) has improved 33 percent to a class-leading 2.8 µsec. This ensures that even the briefest signals are discovered, triggered on and saved, minimizing time to intercept in spectrum management applications.
• Highest performance real-time features — previously available only for an extra cost – are now standard in RSA5000B instruments, including swept DPX, density trigger, time-qualified triggers and improved minimum signal duration. Spectrum processing rate has increased by 33%, to more than 390,000 spectrums/sec.
• A 26.5 GHz version of the SPECMON series is now available and advanced DPX RF signal discovery capability is now standard. This enables SPECMON to be used for high performance spectrum management involving higher frequency signals including microwave links, backhaul signals and radar.
• Expanded support for 802.11 WLAN standards (optional) including the widest-bandwidth 802.11ac variant. This enables designers of all WLAN components, systems and designs to take advantage of the real-time feature set of Tektronix spectrum analyzers, resulting in higher design confidence, minimum time to fault, and reduced time to market.

The enhancements to the RSA and SPECMON instruments are part of a broader push by Tektronix to give embedded engineers, component designers and spectrum managers a complete set of tools tailored to their specific needs. As detailed in separate announcements, Tektronix introduced the MDO4000B series of mixed domain oscilloscopes with significantly improved spectrum analyzer performance along with new WLAN test and debug solutions. The MDO4000B is well suited for embedded design and lower-cost wideband analysis while the RSA and SPECMON are appropriate for higher performance applications.

Pricing & Availability

The Tektronix RSA5000B series has a starting price of $24,900 U.S. MSRP and will be available for order in January 2014. Please contact your local sales manager for pricing details on SPECMON 26.

Tektronix
www.tektronix.com