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March 04, 2011

ZTEC ZT844x Series RF/IF Digitizers Can Test New 802.11ac Standards and WiMAX Protocols

By Rajani Baburajan
TMCnet Contributor

ZTEC Instruments, a provider of test and measurement solutions, announced its  ZT844x Series RF/IF digitizers/baseband signal analyzers offer more instantaneous bandwidth to receive and process digital communication signals, and more input signal dynamic range to provide higher wireless data rates.

With ZTEC ZT844x Series, engineers will benefit from software-defined, synthetic modular instruments. These instruments are designed to efficiently achieve accurate design verification, characterization and test of RF and microwave integrated devices, circuits and systems, company officials said.

The new devices address the current bandwidth and dynamic range challenges. Engineers face testing challenges when they test emerging communication standards such as the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard and WiMAX (News - Alert) protocols. The analyzers are suitable for RF and microwave receiver applications including wireless and semiconductor RFIC testing, company officials said.

By the ZTEC Instruments analyzer, the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard will achieve a 1 Gbps data rate by increasing the instantaneous bandwidth to 160 MHz with 80 dB spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR).

The analyzer market is giving huge opportunities to companies like ZTEC. In-Stat (News - Alert), an independent research agency, says one billion 802.11ac devices will be shipped by 2015.

In the wake of exponential growth, testing engineers must be prepared to test devices with adequate and accurate tools. To test the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard, engineers need the ZT844x devices, high-performance instruments that provide a combination of instantaneous bandwidth and dynamic range.

Company officials said the ZT844x can receive and analyze 802.11n as well as other Wi-Fi standards that use OFDM modulation, including 802.11a and 802.11g signals.  ZTEC begins with the 802.11n protocol and adds 802.11ac functionality to extend the 802.11n standard with instantaneous bandwidth up to 160MHz, more MIMO channels, and higher density modulation, up to 256QAM.

In September 2010, ZTEC Instruments  announced  it will further its expansion into the RF Test Equipment market with the introduction of its latest product, the ZT8101 RF Test Set.


Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Janice McDuffee


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