The R&S BTC broadcast test center from Rohde & Schwarz claims to provide a complete testing environment for most multimedia applications in a single device. It comes with a RF reference signal generator, and can also internally analyse the audio/video functions of DUTs in realtime. Moreover, its modular design provides a high degree of scalability, allowing it to be configured for any customer requirement.
Thursday, July 26, 2013: The R&S BTC reference signal generator was showed to the press at the Indian R&S office through an online demonstration from Munich. It enables users to perform end-to-end tests in realtime over all open systems interconnection (OSI) levels. Video and audio streams can be generated, played back, fed externally and output in modulated form. It also combines signal generation, DUT embedding and video/audio analysis while simultaneously determining the picture failure point (PFP). The result is a fast, convenient and reproducible objective picture quality assessment.
This BTC high-end broadcast signal generator has two separate realtime signal paths, each with a modulation bandwidth of 160 MHz. It also comes with a comprehensive range of analysis features and supports all common digital and analog standards for cable, satellite and terrestrial television as well as digital and analog audio broadcasting standards and second-generation DVB standards such as DVB-T2, DVB-C2, DVB-S2 and their interfaces.
Its applications include development, certification and quality assurance for chipset and receiver manufacturers as well as test houses, and is targeted at manufacturers of professional satellite equipment, network operators, rental companies, regulatory authorities.
Due to its modular design, the R&S BTC can be optimised to perform a variety of tasks which eliminate the need for expensive and time-consuming test setups that require separate T&M instruments. One of the main tasks when developing broadcast equipment is to test the equipment under realistic and complex interference conditions. The R&S BTC covers this requirement by offering up to eight arbitrary waveform generators (AWG) per RF path in addition to the two independent realtime signal paths. The AWGs generate complex interference scenarios with a maximum dynamic range over the entire frequency bandwidth. Realistic environmental conditions can be simulated using various noise sources (broadband and band limited AWGN, impulse or phase noise), predistortion, nonlinearities, filtering, fading and MIMO.
It also features an 21.3-cm (8.4-inch) touchscreen display as well as a GUI with hierarchical function blocks allow users to quickly and easily operate the R&S BTC. The entire test setup, including signal generation, sequence control, analysis and the DUT, can be graphically displayed for a clear overview of even complex measurement tasks. The remote control commands are compatible with the successful R&S SFx family, also with the R&S SFU, an internationally established multistandard reference signal generator.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
