I work at a small company and we are looking for a low cost spectrum analyzer to look at 12-14 bit data converter performance and to measure PLL phase noise (1-10ps total RMS jitter). We operate at frequencies < 1.5 GHz. I would love to hear advice from the experts whether the 8590A/B would be suitable, or whether higher end equipment is recommended or perhaps necessary.
I was planning to use the free PN GPIB tool to measure phase noise.
Thank you for your help.
I was planning to use the free PN GPIB tool to measure phase noise.
Thank you for your help.
You would be much better off using a more modern Spectrum or Signal Analyzer for this application. The X-Series Signal Analyzer family, for example, has an available Phase Noise measurement application that can directly measure integrated phase noise in terms of jitter - for more information about these analyzers, check out http://www.agilent.com/find/x-series.
If these analyzers are too pricy for you at this time, there is a less costly analyzer available, the N9320B - the Phase Noise measurement application is not available for this analyzer but you could use the Marker Delta & Marker Noise function to make a phase noise measurement that could be converted to jitter. There are also several application notes and a white paper that may be useful for you to refer to - here are the links:
White paper, "Accelerate Design Verification by Characterizing Clock Jitter Using Phase Noise Measurements": http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb ... 9849EN.pdf
Application note, "High Frequency Probing Solutions for Time and Frequency Domain Applications":
http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb ... 4387EN.pdf
Application note, "Using Clock Jitter Analysis to Reduce BER in Serial Data Applications":
http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb ... 5718EN.pdf
N9320B Specifications Guide: http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb ... 8800EN.pdf
You can also contact our Technical Contact Center at (800) 829-4444 for assistance -