MiSic picks Keysight to speed up testing of microwave products

MiSic Microelectronics has selected the Keysight S930705B Modulation Distortion solution to enable the fast and accurate active-device modulation distortion characterisation of the China-based company’s microwave devices and components. 

Demand for higher data throughput and lower latency is pushing device specifications and operational standards toward wideband modulation. 

However, wideband performance significantly increases noise, which introduces additional test complexity and measurement uncertainty for semiconductor makers such as MiSic.

By employing the Keysight S930705B modulation distortion software running on the N5245B PNA-X Microwave Network Analyzer, MiSic can make microwave device measurements with extremely low residual error vector magnitude (EVM) to get a complete picture of the device’s performance without test system interference. 

This is because the S930705B provides nonlinear device under test (DUT) behaviors such as EVM, noise power ratio (NPR), and adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) under modulated stimulus conditions. 

As a result, MiSic can achieve excellent signal fidelity and accurate modulated measurements at 5G, 6G, microwave, and millimeter wave frequencies.

Debin Hou, general manager of MiSic Microelectronics, said Keysight gives them a cost-effective test solution that provides us with highly accurate measurements by eliminating system noise and interference. 

“The single test setup allows complete characterisation of an amplifier that would have taken two separate test stations or the use of a complex and expensive switching matrix,” said Hou.

Peng Cao, VP and general manager of Keysight’s Wireless Test group, said with their modulation distortion solution, MiSic has the right mix of speed and measurement integrity to gain a deeper understanding of its designs and accelerate its research and development workflow. 

“As an integrated solution, it eliminates the need for an entire rack of test of equipment and reduces the cost of device development and validation,” he said.