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NI PXIe-5624R Calibration Procedure

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© National Instruments

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5

Test Conditions

The following setup and environmental conditions are required to ensure the NI 5624R meets 
published specifications:

Keep cabling as short as possible. Long cables act as antennas, picking up extra noise that 
can affect measurements. 

Verify that all connections, including front panel connections and screws, are secure.

Maintain an ambient temperature of 23 °C ±5 °C.

Keep relative humidity between 10% and 90%, noncondensing.

Allow a warm-up time of at least 20 minutes after the chassis is powered on, the 
NI LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries for IF Digitizers software is loaded by the host, 
and the host recognizes the NI 5624R. The warm-up time ensures that the NI 5624R and 
test instrumentation are at a stable operating temperature.

Perform self-calibration on the NI 5624R.

Plug the PXI Express chassis and the test equipment into the same power strip to avoid 
ground loops.

Use a torque wrench appropriate for the type of RF connector that you are using.

In each verification procedure, insert a delay between configuring all devices and acquiring 
the measurement. Adjust this delay depending on the instruments used but make sure it is 
at least 5,000 ms for the first iteration and 10 ms for each other iteration.

Ensure that the PXI Express chassis fan speed is set to HIGH, that the fan filters, if present, 
are clean, and that the empty slots contain filler panels. For more information about cooling, 
refer to the 

Maintain Forced-Air Cooling Note to Users

 document available at 

ni.com/

manuals

.

Initial Setup

Refer to the 

NI PXIe-5624R Getting Started Guide

 for information about how to install the 

software and hardware and how to configure the device in Measurement & Automation Explorer 
(MAX).

Connect the SMA (f)-to-N (m) adapter to the RF OUT port of the signal generator.

Characterizing the Test System

You use the measured response of the test system during verification tests.

The power splitter and attenuation response is measured at the RF input frequencies used in the 
verification and adjustment tests.

Caution

The connectors on the device under test (DUT) and test equipment are 

fragile. Perform the steps in these procedures with great care to prevent damaging any 
DUTs or test equipment. 

Summary of Contents for NI PXIe-5624

Page 1: ...PXIe 5624...

Page 2: ...PGA converts data from the ADC into quadrature I Q data This DSP shifts the frequency of decimates equalizes and calibrates the data before storing it into DRAM Use Interactive Spectrum Acquisition Ho...

Page 3: ...oftware from ni com downloads Documentation You might find the following documentation helpful as you perform the calibration procedure NI PXIe 5624R Getting Started Guide NI IF Digitizers Help NI PXI...

Page 4: ...for this procedure Verifying absolute amplitude accuracy Adjusting internal frequency reference B22 option needed for this procedure Adjusting absolute amplitude accuracy Frequency range 4 MHz to 2 00...

Page 5: ...adapter Huber Suhner 31_3 SMA 50 1 1 _UE or Fairview Microwave SM4236 Test system characterization Frequency range DC to 2 GHz Impedance 50 Return loss 23 dB 3 5 mm m to 3 5 mm m adapter Huber Suhner...

Page 6: ...each verification procedure insert a delay between configuring all devices and acquiring the measurement Adjust this delay depending on the instruments used but make sure it is at least 5 000 ms for t...

Page 7: ...e verification and adjustment procedures use test points from 5 MHz to 2 005 GHz in 5 MHz steps for the splitter balance characterization Frequencies in which harmonics alias on the fundamental freque...

Page 8: ...rrection function 7 Use the power sensor to measure the power at the frequency from step 6 8 Repeat steps 5 through 7 by updating the signal generator frequency from 5 MHz to 2 005 GHz in 5 MHz steps...

Page 9: ...e signal generator frequency from 5 MHz to 2 005 GHz in 5 MHz steps Record the resulting measurements as splitter output 1 power Each frequency should have a corresponding value 16 Calculate the split...

Page 10: ...ate self calibration using one of the following methods Click Self Calibrate in the upper right corner of MAX Right click the name of the device in the MAX configuration tree and select Self Calibrate...

Page 11: ...ference using a signal generator Use digitizer mode of the NI 5624R Use Interactive IF Acquisition Without DSP Host vi in the Multirecord Acquisition sample project as a starting point 1 Connect the s...

Page 12: ...gle Tone Information vi 5 Calculate the deviation using the following equation 6 Compare the value determined in step 5 to the verification test limits in the following table where initial accuracy 20...

Page 13: ...e across 400 MHz of bandwidth for each center frequency is measured This procedure requires the test setup and data collected in the Characterizing Power Splitter Balance section Characterize the powe...

Page 14: ...front panel connector The following figure illustrates the complete hardware setup Figure 4 Absolute Amplitude Accuracy Verification Cabling Diagram 1 Power Sensor 2 SMA m to N f Adapter 3 Power Spli...

Page 15: ...sult as measured input power Note Power sensor readings are in dBm not watts 9 Calculate the corrected input power using the following equation corrected input power measured input power splitter bala...

Page 16: ...R flash memory Successfully complete all required verifications or successfully complete reverification following adjustment prior to updating the calibration date and time on the NI 5624R Complete th...

Page 17: ...panel connector to the NI 5624R IF IN front panel connector using an SMA m to SMA m cable The following figure illustrates the hardware setup Figure 5 Internal Frequency Reference Adjustment Cabling...

Page 18: ...he power splitter balance characterization data for the correct frequency as the following frequencies are excluded from the adjustment procedure due to harmonics aliasing back on to the fundamental a...

Page 19: ...that the NI 5624R and the signal generator share a common reference The following steps assume you have connected the signal generator reference frequency REF OUT to the NI 5624R REF IN connector 6 C...

Page 20: ...plitter output 1 of the power splitter using the power sensor Record this value as the measured input power 12 Calculate the corrected input power using the following equation corrected input power me...

Page 21: ...NI Refer to the Worldwide Support and Services section for information about support resources or service requests Worldwide Support and Services The National Instruments website is your complete reso...

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