Improving Test Efficiency on the Production Line
By Hiroshi Goto, Anritsu Company

The continued development and rollout of 4G technologies offer growth opportunities for wireless component, device, and system manufacturers. To capitalize on those opportunities, manufacturers must produce highly reliable products at a reasonable price in a timely fashion.

That places pressure on everyone, from the design engineers to those working on the manufacturing floor. One area in which production engineering management would like to reduce costs is test. Yet, the importance of quality control and ensuring performance of complex devices has never been more difficult–and important. Fortunately, there are new test tools that can help increase production yield, reduce manufacturing costs, improve time to market, and ensure product quality.

This new generation of test instrumentation provides multi-functional test capability in a platform that is flexible enough to be upgraded as needs and/or standards evolve. An example of one such instrument is the MS2830A (Figure 1) from Anritsu Company. It is a signal analyzer that also has optional vector signal analyzer (VSA) capabilities that allow it to become an all-in-one advanced TRx tester. Coupled with application-specific software for GSM, WCDMA, LTE and general purpose applications, a single analyzer can now conduct measurements on various standards that have traditionally required multiple instruments.

At the center of it all is an efficient and scalable high-end design. The MS2830A incorporates a built-in electronic attenuator that covers up to 6 GHz using the latest CMOS technology and low-loss GaAS switch. This gives the instrument the ability to support high levels, as well as have wide dynamic range, fast switching, and long service life.

Increasing Production Yield
The MS2830A supports high-speed spectrum analyzer functions, such as sweeping and frequency switching time, and can conduct measurements and update the display results in 2.1 ms. Additionally, remote measurements can be made and transferred in 4 ms. In-band measurements, such as ACP, OBT, and channel power, can be conducted much faster when the MS2830A is in VSA mode because the analyzer uses FFT batch capture in a 31.25 MHz analysis bandwidth. The result is that measurement times are cut and adjustment efficiency improved.

Also helping improve yield is high RF performance. The MS2830A is designed with a unique calibrator that delivers excellent absolute level accuracy of =/-0.3 dB. This, coupled with high dynamic range of 168 dB, eliminates false negative evaluation errors when distortion and spurious measurements are conducted.

Reduce Manufacturing Costs
Combining multi-instrument functionality in one box does more than improve production yield. It also helps lower the cost of test on the production floor. For example, manufacturing environments can reduce test expenses by as much as 30% with the MS2830A. Other benefits include simplified configuration of measurement systems and less bench space being used.
A single-instrument solution also conserves energy. Power consumption can be lowered by 45% compared to using multiple instruments. Reduced heat exhaust can lower air conditioning expenses. Other benefits include a reduction in CO2 emissions, and waste is lowered by more than 50% due to a lightweight frame.

Confidence in Product Performance
All of these advantages mean little if the performance is not what is required for today’s manufacturing environments. High-speed measurement accuracy is achieved with the MS2830A. It has an average display noise level of -153 dBm (at 1 GHz without preamp) and Third Order Intercept (TOI) of +15 dBm for a high degree of measurement confidence.
A large-capacity 128 Msample waveform memory is built in to the MS2830A. This permits waveform capture over long periods for more detailed analysis. Maximum capture time varies according to the frequency span, as shown in Table 1.

Improve Time to Market
The combination of high-speed spectrum analysis and VSA measuring capabilities, along with the high degree of confidence created by exact measurement accuracy, all aid in improving time to market. Additionally, measurements can be conducted faster with a single instrument and the high RF performance means false-negative evaluation errors during distortion and spurious measurements are eliminated to increase yield. All of this leads to high-quality products being shipped to the market in a more timely manner.

Conclusion
Controlling costs on the manufacturing line is critical to the successful rollout of wireless products used in the highly competitive 3G and 4G markets. A new level of signal analyzer that supports high-level measurement speeds and performance at an affordable price point can help improve efficiency and productivity. It is one step in the process that can help expedite time to market, lower test costs, and ensure the performance of wireless devices.

Anritsu Company
www.us.anritsu.com
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