Agilent N1912A Data Sheet

Agilent
P-Series Power Meters and
Power Sensors

Preliminary Technical Overview

Wide Bandwidth Power Meters and Sensors

Continuous sampling with internal zero and
calibration provides accurate and repeatable
power measurements

2

Introducing the P-Series Power Meters
and P-Series Wideband Power Sensors

The Agilent P-Series power meters and sensors
provide fast, accurate and repeatable power mea­surements for R&D and manufacturing engineers
in aerospace and defense, wireless communica­tions and wireless 802.11a/b/g networking.

The two P-Series power meter models offer
excellent performance optimized for radar,
pulsed component test and multi-carrier power
amplifier testing:

• N1911A single channel power meter

• N1912A dual channel power meter

The P-Series power meters and sensors provide
comprehensive power, time and statistical mea­surements, such as peak, average, peak-to-average
ratio, maximum and minimum power measure­ments, time-gated and free-run power measure­ments, rise time and fall time measurements, as
well as the complementary cumulative distribution
function (CCDF).

High performance, wideband power sensors

The P-Series wideband power sensors only operate
with the P-Series power meters, and cover two fre­quency ranges:

• N1921A wideband power sensor,
50 MHz to 18 GHz

• N1922A wideband power sensor,
50 MHz to 40 GHz

Along with storing the calibration factors, linearity
and temperature compensation data in EEPROM,
the P-Series sensors are the first to provide inter­nal zero and calibration. This feature is implement­ed by integrating a DC reference source and switch­ing circuits into the power sensor. This enables
users to zero and/or calibrate the sensor while
being connected to the device-under-test (DUT).
Since zeroing and calibration are performed with­out the need to remove the sensor from the DUT,
this feature eliminates the multiple connections
associated with using the 0 dBm, 50 MHz
calibrator. This minimizes connector wear, reduces
test-time and measurement uncertainty.

Capture repetitive and single shot pulses

The P-Series power meters and sensors offer a
maximum sampling rate of 100 Msamples per sec­ond and a video bandwidth of 30 MHz to enable
users to capture repetitive as well as single shot
events over a wide bandwidth. Plus, perform
repeatable and accurate peak power measure­ments. This continuous sampling capability pro­vides users with confidence that multiple measure­ments of peak power and rise time of a DUT will
give consistent results, under the same conditions.

Compatibility with more than 30 Agilent sensors

Backwards compatibility with all Agilent 8480 and
E-Series power sensors gives users additional
choices for conventional average power measure­ments, over a wide dynamic range and frequency
coverage from 9 kHz to 110 GHz.

3

P-Series power meter and sensor specification highlights

Sensor data
Power sensors

1

Frequency range

P-Series sensors: 50 MHz to 40 GHz, (sensor dependent)
E-Series sensors: 9 kHz to 33 GHz (sensor dependent)
8480 Series sensors: 100 kHz to 110 GHz (sensor dependent)

Sensor dynamic range

P-Series sensors: -35 to +20 dBm
E-Series sensors: -70 to +44 dBm (sensor dependent)
8480 Series sensors: -70 to +44 dBm (sensor dependent)

Channel bandwidth ≥ 30 MHz video bandwidth

Sampling rate 100 Msamples per second (continuous)

Measurements Average, peak power, peak-to-average

ratio, rise time and fall time, maximum
and minimum power, complementary
cumulative distribution function (CCDF
or 1-CDF)

Display modes: Power versus time display

Numeric display

Key system specifications

Rise time and fall time: ≤ 13 ns
Minimum pulse width: 50 ns
Maximum pulse 10 MHz (based on 10 samples per
repetition rate: period)

0.5% settling time: ≤ 150 ns

Triggering
Trigger sources Internal, external TTL, GPIB, LAN and USB

Delay range Delay range ± 1.0 s, maximum

Delay resolution 1% of delay setting

10 ns minimum

Internal trigger

Range: - 20 to +20 dBm
Resolution: 0.1 dB
Level accuracy: 1 dB

Timebase range: 2 ns to 100 msec/div

System configuration
Display

LCD, color

Save/recall 10 settings stores (preset accessible on

front panel)

Secure mode Erase the instrument memory of all user

parameters (including save/recall
states and power on last states)

Connectivity I/O Ethernet (LAN), USB, GPIB

General specifications

Operating
temperature range 0 to +55 °C

Warranty 1-year standard

3-years optional
5-years optional

1. P-Series power meters are compatible with all 8480, E-Series and P-Series power
sensors.

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© Agilent Technologies, Inc. 2004
Printed in USA, July 7, 2004
5989-1049EN

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Literature References

P-Series Power Meters and Power Sensors, technical
overview, literature number 5989-1049EN

EPM-P Series Power Meters and E9320 Sensors, data
sheet, literature number 5980-1469E

EPM Series Power Meters, E-Series and 8480 Series
Power Sensors, data sheet, literature number

5965-6382E

Fundamentals of RF and Microwave Power
Measurements (Part 1), application note 1449-1,

literature number 5988-9213EN

Fundamentals of RF and Microwave Power
Measurements (Part 2), application note 1449-2

literature number 5988-9214EN

Fundamentals of RF and Microwave Power
Measurements (Part 3), application note 1449-3,

literature number 5988-9215EN

Fundamentals of RF and Microwave Power
Measurements (Part 4), application note 1449-4,

literature number 5988-9216EN

4 Steps for Making Better Power Measurements,
application note 64-4D, literature number

5965-8167EN

Choosing the Right Power Meter and Sensor, product
note, literature number 5968-7150E

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