Atec SMA100A User Manual

R&S®SMA100A
SignalGenerator

Thenewstandardof
excellenceintheanalog
signalgeneratorclass



Test&Measurement

ProductBrochure|06.00

R&S®SMA100A
SignalGenerator

Ataglance

Signal quality, speed and flexibility – these are the crite­ria by which signal generators are measured today. The
R&S®SMA100A perfectly meets these criteria, and thus is
a premium-class analog generator that sets new standards
due to its outstanding characteristics.

The R&S®SMA100A combines superior signal quality with
very high setting speed, which makes it ideal for any task.
Whether in development, production, service or mainte­nance, the R&S®SMA100A does an excellent job.

In the frequency range from 9 kHz to 6 GHz, it can gen­erate CW signals as well as all common types of analog
modulation (AM, FM, φM, pulse modulation). Excellent
specifications and a wide range of modulation signals –
these are the characteristic features of the R&S®SMA100A.

In addition, a low- jitter clock synthesizer option supplies
differential clock signals of up to 1.5 GHz independently of
the RF frequency. This makes the R&S®SMA100A suitable
for a variety of applications – from use in phase noise test
systems through to tests on mixed-signal ICs.

The R&S®SMA100A signal generator also offers a modern
graphical user interface for fast and intuitive operation.

The R&S®NRP-Zxx power sensors can be connected to
the R&S®SMA100A. The user can therefore perform very
precise power measurements directly with the signal
generator.

22

R&S®SMA100A
SignalGenerator

Benefitsand
keyfeatures

Excellent signal quality

❙ Very low SSB phase noise of typ. –134 dBc

(20 kHz carrier offset, f = 1 GHz, 1 Hz measurement
bandwidth), typ. –139.5 dBc with the R&S®SMA-B22
enhanced phase noise performance option

❙ Wideband noise of –162 dBc (meas.) with carrier offset

> 40 MHz, f = 1 GHz, level = 9 dBm, 1 Hz measurement
bandwidth

❙ Nonharmonics < –96 dBc (carrier offset > 10 kHz,

f<750 MHz, with the R&S®SMA-B22 option)
❙ High-stability reference oscillator as standard
❙ Very low phase noise at low frequencies due to internal

division of the fundamental frequency range (750 MHz to

1500 MHz) down to 6.6 MHz

▷ page 4

Ideal for use in production

❙ Very short frequency/level setting times of

<1.5ms/1ms (meas.) across the entire frequency and

level range, <450 µs in List mode
❙ Fast Hopping mode with exibly addressable frequency

and level pairs, as fast as normal List mode
❙ Frequency setting time of typ. 10 µs within a bandwidth

of up to 80 MHz due to direct access to the DDS-based

synthesizer (with the R&S®SMA-B20 or R&S®SMA-B22

option; FM EXTERNAL DIGITAL mode)
❙ Very high level accuracy and repeatability
❙ High output power of up to +18 dBm, overrange up to

+28 dBm
❙ Electronic attenuator with built-in overvoltage protection

over entire frequency range
❙ Minimum space requirements due to compact size

(onlytwo height units)

▷ page 5

All-purpose instrument

❙ Frequency range of 9 kHz to 3 GHz (R&S®SMA-B103/

R&S®SMA-B103L) or 6 GHz (R&S®SMA-B106/

R&S®SMA-B106L)
❙ Frequency, level and LF sweeps
❙ Phase-continuous frequency setting
❙ AM, broadband FM/φM (R&S®SMA-B20 or

R&S®SMA-B22), pulse modulation
❙ Built-in LF generator up to 1 MHz, optional multifunction

generator (R&S®SMA-K24) up to 10 MHz
❙ Optional low-jitter clock synthesizer up to 1.5 GHz

(R&S®SMA-B29)
❙ Power measurement using R&S®NRP-Zxx power sensors
❙ Optional power analysis (R&S®SMA-K28) using

R&S®NRP-Zxx power sensors for scalar network analysis

or automatic pulse parameter measurement

▷ page 6

Aerospace and defense applications

❙ Pulse modulator with excellent characteristics

(on/off ratio of > 100 dB (meas.) for f < 5.5 GHz,

rise/fall time typ. < 7 ns)
❙ Pulse generator integrated as standard
❙ Optional high-performance pulse generator with

minimum pulse width of 10 ns (R&S®SMA-K23)
❙ Optional generation of versatile pulse sequences/pulse

trains (R&S®SMA-K27)
❙ Optional chirp modulation (R&S®SMA-B20 or

R&S®SMA-B22)
❙ Optional VOR/ILS modulation (R&S®SMA-K25)
❙ Optional DME modulation/analysis (R&S®SMA-K26)
❙ Optional operating altitude up to 4600 m (R&S®SMA-B46)
❙ Optional removable mass storage (CompactFlash™ card,

R&S®SMA-B80)

▷ page 8

Intuitive operating concept and versatile
interfaces

❙ Color display with 480 × 272 pixel
❙ Intuitive user interface with graphical display of signal

ow (block diagram)
❙ Context-sensitive online help
❙ Remote control via GPIB, LAN or USB
❙ Selectable control language (SCPI or remote control

emulation of various signal generators)
❙ Remote operation by browser or VNC client
❙ USB connectors (e.g. for keyboard, mouse, memory

stick)
❙ Support of R&S®NRP-Zxx power sensors for precise

power measurements

▷ page 11

Rohde & Schwarz R&S®SMA100A Signal Generator 3

Excellentsignal
quality

Measured SSB phase noise with internal reference oscillator

(standard instrument).

The R&S®SMA100A is the ideal solution for measurement
applications requiring high spectral purity, e.g. adjacent­channel or phase-noise measurements. It is also optimal
for use as a local oscillator or quartz replacement.

Due to an innovative synthesizer concept, the standard
version of the instrument already offers excellent values in
terms of broadband noise, SSB phase noise and nonhar­monics suppression. The R&S®SMA-B22 enhanced phase
noise performance and FM/φM modulator option even fur­ther improves SSB phase noise for frequency offsets of up
to approx. 100 kHz as well as nonharmonics suppression.
The R&S®SMA100A is therefore the ideal signal source for
measurement tasks that place exacting requirements on
spectral purity (e.g. A/D and D/A converter tests).

Frequency synthesis is implemented by division of the fun­damental frequency range (750 MHz to 1500 MHz) down
to 6.6 MHz. In the lower frequency range from 6.6 MHz,
this yields spectral purity on par with that of high-grade
crystal oscillators.

The oven-controlled crystal oscillator (OXCO) built in as
standard provides very high frequency accuracy and
stability. These characteristics are even further improved
with the R&S®SMA-B22 option.

–3 0
–4 0
–5 0
–6 0
–7 0
–8 0

–9 0
–1 00
–1 10
–1 20
–1 30
–1 40
–1 50

SSB phase noise/dBc (1 Hz)

–1 60
–1 70
–1 80

1 10 10 0 1k 1 0k 10 0k 1M 1 0M

Measured SSB phase noise with internal reference oscillator

(with the R&S®SMA-B22 enhanced phase noise performance and

FM/φM modulator option).

–40
–50
–60
–70
–80

–90
–100
–110
–120
–130
–140
–150

SSB phase noise/dBc (1 Hz)

–160
–170
–180

1 10 100 1k 10k 100k 1M 10M

Offset frequency/Hz

Offset frequency/Hz

6 GHz
3 GHz
1 GHz
100 MHz
10 MHz

6 GHz
3 GHz
1 GHz
100 MHz
10 MHz

In summary, the R&S®SMA100A’s outstanding signal qual­ity makes it THE analog state-of-the-art signal generator
for even the most exacting demands.

4

Idealforusein

In production and ATE applications, the test equipment
must provide short setting times in order to ensure high
throughput and low measurement costs.

production

The R&S®SMA100A features the very short level and fre­quency setting times that Rohde & Schwarz signal gen­erators are known for and is thus an ideal choice in time­critical measurement systems. Frequency/level setting
times are already shorter than 2 ms/1.5 ms in normal oper­ation. A further significant reduction (< 450 µs) is achieved
in the List mode, which uses frequency and level settings
previously stored in a list.

In the Fast Hopping mode, the R&S®SMA100A features
setting times as short as in the List mode. In contrast to
the List mode, up to 10 000 frequency and level pairs can
be addressed as desired via a serial bus.

The electronic attenuator enables rapid and wear-free
level setting of the generator. The level setting range
is –145dBm to +13dBm (+20 dBm overrange) for
f≤3GHz, and –145 dBm to +9 dBm (+16 dBm over­range) for f > 3 GHz. Higher output levels of +24 dBm to
+28dBm over the entire frequency range can be provided
by using the relay-switched high-power bypass imple­mented in the R&S®SMA100A. Overvoltage protection is
integrated as standard over the entire frequency range.

Maximum available power, attenuator mode NORMAL (lower trace) or

HIGH POWER (center trace) and without attenuator (upper trace).

30

28

26

24

22

20

18

Level/dBm

16

14

12

10

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0

Setting time after frequency change in List mode

(frequency deviation versus time).

Frequency/GHz

For applications requiring a level setting range not exceed­ing 30 dB, a more favorably priced solution is available
in the form of a frequency option without an attenuator
(R&S®SMA-B103L/R&S®SMA-B106L).

The high level accuracy and repeatability of the
R&S®SMA100A help ensure results of utmost precision in
series measurements.

With a compact size of only two height units, the signal
generator takes up minimum space in 19" racks.

Rohde & Schwarz R&S®SMA100A Signal Generator 5