NI advances IEEE 802.11n wireless LAN test

According to NI, the new NI WLAN Measurement Suite offers a faster measurement time than the previous version.

-- Test & Measurement World, 7/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

National Instruments has introduced the NI WLAN Measurement Suite 2.0 software for IEEE 802.11n wireless LAN testing. The suite, which includes software toolkits for IEEE 802.11n WLAN signal generation and analysis, integrates with NI PXI Express RF signal generators and analyzers to deliver phase-coherent MIMO RF measurements. NI says the suite also delivers the industry's fastest speed for EVM (error-vector magnitude) and spectrum-mask measurements.

One software toolkit integrates with NI PXIe-5663E 6.6-GHz VSAs (vector signal analyzers) to help engineers make accurate multistream MIMO measurements, while another integrates with NI-PXIe-5673E 6.6-GHz VSGs (vector signal generators) to generate phase-coherent, multistream RF signals. According to NI, the new NI WLAN Measurement Suite offers a faster measurement time than the previous version, and it also adds a variety of software features to improve measurement performance and ease of use. Engineers can software-enable its new resolution bandwidth filter feature to remove broadband noise and increase EVM measurement accuracy. With front-end filtering engaged, engineers can achieve residual EVM accuracy of better than –47 dB when testing WLAN devices.

The measurement suite includes soft front panels for signal generation and analysis to support a range of WLAN IEEE 802.11n configurations, including 4x4 MIMO, and to report measurement results and traces. In addition, engineers can use the suite as a stand-alone executable or as an API (application programming interface) in LabView, in the NI LabWindows/CVI ANSI C development environment, or in other C, C++, and .NET development systems.

Base prices: WLAN Measurement Suite 2.0—$5999; signal-generation toolkit—$3999; signal-analysis toolkit—$3999.

 National Instruments, www.ni.com.