These interfaces are the same as those for analogue chipsets, but traditional analogue test and measurement equipment is not suitable for digital RF design validation, the company adds.

Andrew Lees, internal sales team leader of Concilium Technologies, comments: When a customer validates digital RF chipset interfaces, the digital IQ symbols may be interspersed with control data, and the IQ symbols may represent mixed formats such as GSM and W-CDMA.

These factors and the lack of digital RF test equipment have forced some design validation engineers to attempt to implement their own test devices by developing code with complex algorithms for analysis, debug and validation, he adds. Obviously, developing software in-house is a time-consuming and costly way to solve the problem, and it obligates the manufacturer to maintain and support the software for its customers, he states.

However, Agilent Technologies has introduced tools that aim to help engineers solve the challenges outlined above. These tools are designed to deliver precise modulation measurements on the digitised signals found in todays DSP-based radio transceivers.

The tools will save engineers time by being able to connect to the target system in the same way as in the past, and display the information in a familiar analogue format, thus helping them troubleshoot the signals quickly with an unmatched depth of understanding, says Lees.

Validating digital interfaces without simple off-the-shelf test and measurement tools is time-consuming and costly. Standardised test equipment, such as Agilents 16800 Series logic analyzers, and 89601A vector signal analysis software, combined with tools like the signal extractor, is designed to speed validation and to help get products to market faster.

Agilent says that it has merged two of its existing products and built an interface that simplifies validation and addresses the changes in the flow of digital IQ symbols and the mixture of communication formats. Industry requirements for economical bench-top testing and protocol debug also led Agilent to develop a simpler logic analysis platform, the company concludes.