AXIe High-Speed Digitizer with Real-Time Digital Down Conversion Capability
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In an array of antennas with hundreds or thousands of elements, where it is necessary to characterize the phase and gain alignment between elements, the ability to accelerate test by using multiple coherent measurement channels is a significant benefit. Of equal importance, as technology evolves and antenna configurations continue to have higher and higher antenna element densities, is a scalable platform that can accommodate additional parallel channels. This application note describes an innovative solution for accelerating calibration of multi-antenna arrays using a high-speed, multi-channel digitizer with real-time digital downconversion (DDC). The solution characterizes the element-to-element phase and magnitude errors of the various components in the array. The misalignment of the radiating elements can then be accurately identified and calibrated out to ensure efficient operation of the antenna system.