Embedded World 2024: Rohde & Schwarz Presents its Cutting-edge Test Solutions for Embedded Systems

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Embedded systems are the foundation of today’s electronic devices, spanning sectors as diverse as consumer electronics, telecommunications, industrial, medical, automotive and aerospace applications. Ensuring seamless operation is critical, which means that engineers encounter complex challenges as they design increasingly compact embedded systems and align them with today’s requirements for efficiency, safety, reliability and interoperability. Rohde & Schwarz offers comprehensive test and measurement solutions to meet these challenges and will present its highlights at the embedded world Exhibition & Conference 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany.

Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing its state-of-the-art test and measurement solutions tailored to the embedded industry at the embedded world Exhibition & Conference. At the company’s booth 4-218 in hall 4 of the Nuremberg Exhibition Center, visitors will have the opportunity to gain insights into embedded design testing, including testing of digital designs and interfaces, power electronics, electromagnetic compatibility, wireless connectivity and in-vehicle networks.

One-box test solution supports new Bluetooth® Low Energy test features

One highlight will be the R&S CMW wideband radio communication test platform ( R&S CMW500 , R&S CMW270 ) covering the new Low Energy (LE) feature Bluetooth® Channel Sounding (CS). CS extends the positioning capabilities of low energy devices based on high accuracy distance measurements. The R&S CMW platform offers fully featured RFPHY test capabilities using the phase-based ranging (PBR) principle. High-performance internal signal generators and analyzers allow repeatable high-quality device verification.

The R&S CMW platform also supports Bluetooth® Low Energy over-the-air (OTA) receiver and transmitter measurements, as defined in the upcoming Unified Test Protocol (UTP) test mode. The OTA test capability allows easy RFPHY testing of devices that do not have a physical test connector. The new Bluetooth® core specification defining the CS and UTP modes is expected to be released later this year.

The R&S CMW platform is a comprehensive, fully automated test solution for verifying the physical layer functions Bluetooth® Low Energy and Bluetooth® Classic with the addition of LE audio measurements. Visitors can experience the new LE test modes live at the Rohde & Schwarz booth.

Eight-channel MXO 5 oscilloscope sets new signal analysis standards

Another highlight is the MXO 5 oscilloscope from Rohde & Schwarz, the world’s first eight-channel oscilloscope that can detect 4.5 million acquisitions and a total of 18 million waveforms per second across multiple channels. The MXO 5 shows more of a signal’s activity than any other oscilloscope in both the time and frequency domains. With a simultaneous acquisition memory of 500 Mpoints across all eight channels, it offers twice the standard memory of competitive models. As the first eight-channel oscilloscope with digital triggering, it sets a new standard for signal analysis. It is also the first oscilloscope to offer 45 000 FFTs per second. Visitors to the Rohde & Schwarz booth will have the opportunity to see this innovative instrument in action, testing system-on-chip (SoC) power designs with multiphase buck converters.

Testing signal integrity in high-speed digital designs

High-speed digital interfaces play a pivotal role in electronic designs. Increasing data rates and integration densities are a challenge for designs at the IC, board and system levels. Visitors to the show can learn about powerful tools for system verification and debug, as well as compliance testing for signal integrity in interfaces, PCBs and interconnects, directly from experts in the field. Demo setups at the Rohde & Schwarz booth include USB 3.2 signal integrity debugging with receiver equalization emulation and advanced eye diagram analysis with the R&S RTP164B oscilloscope, as well as protocol decoding with the MXO 4 oscilloscope.

In addition, visitors will find a solution for fully automated (pre-)compliance testing and verification of high-speed cables (IEEE 802.3bj/by/cd/ck and PCIe 5.0/6.0) using the R&S ZNrun automation test suite, an R&S ZNA or R&S ZNB vector network analyzer and the R&S OSP320 open switch and control platform. The multiport physical layer analysis of a PCIe 6.0 compliant cable is performed by accurately de-embedding the signal with the R&S ZNB43 vector signal analyzer.

R&S CMX500 with new Wi-Fi 7 R&D capabilities

The new Wi-Fi 7 standard supports up to 16x16 MIMO with 320 MHz wide channels and 4096 QAM modulation, providing extremely fast and stable connections. When developing Wi-Fi 7 devices, the RF TX and RX characteristics must be measured under real-world conditions in signaling mode. The R&S CMX500 multi-technology multi-channel signaling tester is now available with integrated Wi-Fi 7 test functions. Test environments with multiple RF chains are particularly important in Wi-Fi 7, where multilink operation (MLO) is a key feature. The tester's flexibility, support for multiple radio technologies and embedded IP test capabilities make it a versatile solution for a wide range of Wi-Fi 7-specific tests, such as 2x2 MIMO, 6 GHz band with out-of-band discovery, coexistence and E2E test capabilities.

Solving test challenges for UWB verification and FiRa Consortium certification

Accurate ranging, low power consumption, high security and reliability – these are the features of ultra-wideband (UWB) technology features that make it suitable for many secure ranging applications, especially as a digital key. At embedded world 2024, Rohde & Schwarz will present the R&S CMP200 radio communication tester with integrated UWB test capabilities for solving UWB test challenges in mass production as well as in R&D.

Analyzing and debugging electromagnetic emissions

Because all electronic controllers are susceptible to conducted or radiated electromagnetic emissions, many finished electronic products fail their first EMC compliance test. Every day spent debugging, isolating and correcting the EMI problem increases the time to market. As a leader in EMC testing, Rohde & Schwarz will present solutions that integrate EMI testing into the product design process. Visitors can learn how to use the powerful R&S RTO6 oscilloscope for EMI debugging or the R&S FPL1000 signal and spectrum analyzer for EMC pre-compliance testing.

EMC compliance testing

Rohde & Schwarz offers the R&S ESW EMI test receiver for final EMC compliance tests. With the new R&S ESW-B1000 wideband option, the R&S ESW can expand its FFT bandwidth to up to 970 MHz to measure the complete CISPR frequency Bands C and D in a single operation. The wide bandwidth helps to intercept sporadic interference and enables higher reliability and repeatability in commercial and MIL-STD tests. The extremely high measurement speed opens up new possibilities for compliance testing as well as for emissions analysis and debugging. The R&S EPL1000 EMI test receiver offers fast, accurate and reliable EMI compliance measurements up to 30 MHz at a competitive price in the full CISPR 16-1-1 compliance receiver class for both device developers and conformance test houses.

Battery simulation and power consumption testing

Battery life is usually one of the most important specifications for battery-powered devices. Visitors can explore the R&S NGM200 high-precision DC power supply in a battery testing and simulation setup. The application software facilitates battery discharging, as well as the repeated discharge and recharge of rechargeable batteries. Continuous monitoring and recording of open circuit voltage and voltage under load are integral features. The DC power supply can be remotely controlled from a PC with the application software installed.

Another test setup allows visitors to use various smartwatch apps to observe how GPS affects power consumption in real time. A new analysis tool helps developers analyze power consumption data collected with the R&S NGU power supply. These source measure units can be used for battery modeling and simulation. They measure the current consumption of battery-powered devices in all phases and during the transition from sleep to active mode, which is important for design engineers.

Component testing: high speed VCO tester and an LCR meter with sweep software

Rohde & Schwarz will present its R&S FSPN high-speed phase noise analyzer up to 50 GHz in a demonstration test setup with a VCO device under test. Equipped with two low phase noise synthesizers and a real-time cross-correlation engine for increased measurement sensitivity, it is ideal for characterizing sensitive synthesizers and oscillators in R&D. In addition, Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its R&S LCX200 LCR meters with customized impedance measurement functions that are suitable for all discrete passive components up to 10 MHz. Using the R&S LCX sweep software tool, they can even per-form sweep measurements displaying numerous charts. The MFIA impedance analyzer from Zurich Instruments AG (a subsidiary since 2021) will also be on display. The MFIA provides impedance analysis for both low and high impedance components and has a measurement mode for quickly tracking impedance changes in devices under test.

These and other test solutions can be found at the Rohde & Schwarz booth 4-218 in hall 4 at the embedded world Exhibition & Conference from April 9 to 11, 2024 in Nuremberg, Germany.