IQxel-160 ZTEC Instruments Connectivity Test System

The Teradyne / LitePoint / ZTEC Instruments IQxel-80/IQxel-160Connectivity Test Systems are the first One Box Tester (OBT) for 802.11ac devices. Its rugged design makes it simple to deploy in high volume device manufacturing applications. IQxel-80/IQxel-160 delivers the quickest and easiest factory test capabilities because of its simple but robust architecture that uses a compact 2U high chassis. It requires no external PC for processing of captured measurements, and utilizes standard gigabit Ethernet communication and SCPI-compliant control commands.

The IQxel-80/IQxel-160 uses native dual-DUT RF connections, providing built-in ping-pong test capability and eliminating the need for external RF components that can degrade accuracy and cause reliability concerns in manufacturing environments.

The IQxel-80/IQxel-160 testers inherit the industry leading testing capability of WiFi and Bluetooth from previous generation LitePoint tester and add the capability to test 802.11ac, ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiSUN and DECT. This provides flexibility to customers who need to test multiple wireless standards. Networking products, such as set top boxes and home gateways, are incorporating more and more wireless standards besides WiFi.

Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiSUN and DECT are optional test capabilities and can be software upgraded as and when they are required. The future proofing IQxel safeguards initial hardware capital investment.

The LitePoint IQxel is designed around the challenging performance needs of 802.11ac-enabled devices that support both greater bandwidth and higher modulation order to meet the ever-increasing demands for data throughput. IEEE 802.11ac requires the capability to support the analysis of 80 MHz signals and optionally support modulation and demodulation of 160 MHz contiguous and 80+80 MHz non-contiguous signals.

In addition to increased signal bandwidth, the 802.11ac specification also requires more stringent mask measurements than previous standards-240 MHz bandwidth for the 80 MHz version and 480 MHz bandwidth for the 160 MHz version. Additionally, 256-QAM modulation requires even greater signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and distortion performance for the test system to be able to meet the stricter requirements related to EVM measurements for this standard. This translates to a more sophisticated RF design of the tester. IQxel, with its unique RF front-end architecture, is designed to exceed the demanding performance requirements of 802.11ac devices.

IQxel is also designed to test ZigBee, Z-Wave, WiSUN and DECT, classic and low energy Bluetooth devices in compliance with the industry standards, saving test time and test cost for the devices.

The flexible IQxel architecture supports MIMO testing in both R&D and manufacturing environments. In an R&D environment, IQxel provides true MIMO measurement capabilities by using both single and multiple, synchronized testers. In manufacturing environments, a composite EVM methodology can be employed using a single tester to minimize deployment cost. An R&D environment can have up to 8 IQxel units synchronized to enable generation of up to 8 independent signal streams to the DUT and 8 independent signal captures from the DUT. IQxel also has a scalable architecture that allows additional IQxel testers to be added and synchronized to each other over time as the MIMO order expands.

IQxel offers RF and differential analog baseband inputs / outputs for device characterization. The range of I/O enables IQxel to meet both RF transceiver and System on Chip (SoC) verification needs.

IQxel allows re-use of existing test scripts and software developed on the industry standard LitePoint WLAN/Bluetooth testers including IQview, IQflex, IQ2010 and IQ2015. IQxel ensures a fast and easy transition to 802.11ac testing, while still enabling existing 802.11 a/b/g/n/j/p test programs to be run on the IQxel without having to rewrite software by taking advantage of LitePoint's extensive library of IQfact chipset calibration and verification software.

IQxel provides users the option of developing test software in either a Windows C/C++ API environment (IQapi) or using a Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments (SCPI) interface. The SCPI interface provides an operating system independent interface that easily interfaces with scripting languages like Python running under Windows, Linux, or Mac based operating systems.