Spectrum Measurements
R&S
®
ESR
443
User Manual 1175.7068.02 ─ 12
Conversion to other reference bandwidths
The result of the noise measurement can be referred to other bandwidths by simple
conversion. This is done by adding 10 × log (BW) to the measurement result, BW
being the new reference bandwidth.
Example:
A noise power of -150 dBm (1 Hz) is to be referred to a bandwidth of 1 kHz.
P
[1kHz]
= -150 + 10 × log (1000) = -150 +30 = -120 dBm (1 kHz)
Calculation method for noise power
If the noise marker is switched on, the R&S
ESR automatically activates the sample
detector. The video bandwidth is set to 1/10 of the selected resolution bandwidth
(RBW).
To calculate the noise, the R&S
ESR takes an average over 17 adjacent pixels (the
pixel on which the marker is positioned and 8 pixels to the left, 8 pixels to the right of
the marker). The measurement result is stabilized by video filtering and averaging over
17 pixels.
Since both video filtering and averaging over 17 trace points is performed in the log
display mode, the result would be 2.51 dB too low (difference between logarithmic
noise average and noise power). The R&S
ESR, therefore, corrects the noise figure by
2.51 dB.
To standardize the measurement result to a bandwidth of 1 Hz, the result is also cor-
rected by -10 × log (RBW
noise
), with RBW
noise
being the power bandwidth of the
selected resolution filter (RBW).
Detector selection
The noise power density is measured in the default setting with the sample detector
and using averaging. Other detectors that can be used to perform a measurement giv-
ing true results are the average detector or the RMS detector. If the average detector is
used, the linear video voltage is averaged and displayed as a pixel. If the RMS detec-
tor is used, the squared video voltage is averaged and displayed as a pixel. The aver-
aging time depends on the selected sweep time (=SWT/501). An increase in the sweep
time gives a longer averaging time per pixel and thus stabilizes the measurement
result. The R&S
ESR automatically corrects the measurement result of the noise
marker display depending on the selected detector (+1.05 dB for the average detector,
0 dΒ for the RMS detector). It is assumed that the video bandwidth is set to at least
three times the resolution bandwidth. While the average or RMS detector is being
switched on, the R&S
ESR sets the video bandwidth to a suitable value.
The Pos Peak, Neg Peak, Auto Peak and Quasi Peak detectors are not suitable for
measuring noise power density.
Determining the noise figure
The noise figure of amplifiers or of the R&S
ESR alone can be obtained from the noise
power display. Based on the known thermal noise power of a 50 Ω resistor at room
Advanced Measurement Examples
