Rohde & Schwarz Launch New High-End RF and Microwave Signal Generator
The ubiquitous nature of embedded electronics in defence and security platforms and equipment, coupled with the effects of Moore’s Law, which effectively states that the performance of computer chips will double every 18 months, inevitably drives component and subsystem manufacturers to focus effort on improving their products and introducing them rapidly to a ravening market.
Never at the back of the queue when it comes to innovation, Rohde & Schwarz on 1 June launched their latest high-end analogue RF and microwave signal generator, the SMA 100B. With a frequency range up to 20GHz, the SMA 100B is the most powerful analogue signal generator on the market and provides “the signal that makes the difference,” according to Andreas Pauly, Vice President Signal Generators, Audio Analysers and Power Meters during an online product presentation on launch day.
Citing customer feedback in favour of low harmonics combined with high output power during the development phase, Pauly went on to state that “a signal generator should never be bottle-necked [and the SMA 100B] is going to redefine what ‘high-end’ means to the industry.”
One unique feature of the new R&S solution is the fact that it combines the RF and microwave worlds’ requirements in a single unit – something that hitherto has normally required two separate systems. The very wide dynamic range also represents a major advance in that this is the first time, according to the company, that so wide a range has been realised solely with electrical components – no mechanical content at all.
Addressing the aerospace and defence industries as well as the RF semiconductor and wireless communications markets, the SMA 100B seems set to fully capitalise on a burgeoning market demand. But rest assured that R&S is highly unlikely to rest on its laurels. Company R&D engineers presenting during the online product launch hinted at future developments that will take much higher frequencies into account.
Tim Mahon
