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WLAN Test and Measurement Equipments

wlan testing rf protocol analysis ieee 802.11

This page covers WLAN test and measurement equipment from various vendors including generic benefits. These WLAN equipments are used for testing radio conformance, protocol conformance, and pre-certification testing of WLAN devices.

Introduction to WLAN

WLAN is the short form of Wireless LAN. Devices based on WLAN follow the IEEE 802.11 series of standards. This includes 802.11a, 11b, 11g, 11n, 11ac, 11ad, etc. Different standards have been developed to meet various data rate and coverage requirements of the user.

The 802.11a/b/g uses a single antenna-based transmitter and receiver, known as SISO (Single-Input Single-Output). The 802.11n/ac/ad uses multiple antenna-based transmitters and receivers, known as MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output). Different versions of MIMO are supported in the 11n/11ac/11ad versions.

A typical WLAN device consists of RF, baseband (i.e., Physical layer or PHY), MAC, and upper layers. There are various WLAN test and measurement equipment options for RF and baseband testing. The most popular among them are referred to as VSG and VSA. Refer to the comparison between [VSG and VSA](comparison_link_here - placeholder).

WLAN RF Test Equipments

VSG stands for Vector Signal Generator, which is used to test WLAN receiver functionality. VSA stands for Vector Signal Analyzer, which is used to test WLAN transmitter functionality. VSG and VSA are used to test RF and baseband (i.e., PHY) layers.

Typically, VSG and VSA equipment are generic, which can be used to test other standard-based products also, such as WiMAX, GSM, CDMA, LTE, Zigbee, Zwave, IoT, RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Lora, etc., with their appropriate baseband applications.

The baseband application includes signal generation software and signal analysis software, which comes as a separate bundle such that it can be integrated seamlessly with VSG and VSA equipment.

National Instruments WLAN Test Solution

The table below mentions popular VSG and VSA manufacturers used to test and measure various RF/PHY parameters of WLAN devices. The figure above depicts one such solution from NI for IEEE 802.11ac device testing.

WLAN RF test equipmentsDescription
TektronixRSA5000B series and RSA6000B series of real-time spectrum analyzers are available. RSA5000B supports different models up to 26.5GHz range, RSA6000B supports different models (6.2 GHz, 14 GHz, 20 GHz). SignalVu software can be used with a digital oscilloscope and RTSA for WLAN-802.11ac and WiGig-802.11ad compliant signal analysis.
KeysightThere are various RF VSG and VSA equipments available along with WLAN signal generation and signal analysis application software. N9077A, V9077B are WLAN measurement applications used to analyze WLAN signals. N7617B signal studio is used to generate WLAN-compliant signals as per unit configurations. The applications support various WLAN standards viz. 802.11a/11b/11g/11j/11p/11n/11ac etc.
Rohde & SchwarzDifferent WLAN test and measurement equipments are available which supports bandwidth up to 160GHz and supports MIMO tests. It supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad etc.
  • CMW500 used for WLAN network emulation, signal generation and analysis
  • R&S®FSW and R&S®FSV as signal/spectrum analyzer
  • R&S®SMW200A and R&S®SMBV100A as VSG
  • R&S®TS-ITS100 as WLAN RF conformance testing as per 802.11p
  • R&S®TS8997 used as regulatory test requirement as per wireless standards
National Instruments (NI)VSG and VSA are available to support frequencies up to 6.6 GHz, Refer to [WLAN NI solutions](NI_solutions_link_here - placeholder).
AnritsuModel MT8860C can be used for 802.11a/11b/11g/11n Tx/Rx measurements. Supports various measurements e.g. EVM, CCDF, spectrum mask, PER etc.
Bird Technologies, SA-XT Site AnalyzerThis is a simple spectrum analyzer. There are two versions of the equipment. The version-1 (SA-3600XT) analyzes up to 3600MHz and version-2 (SA-6000XT) analyzes up to 6000MHz frequency.

WLAN Protocol Test Equipments

As we know, the WLAN protocol stack consists of MAC and upper layers. In order to test and analyze MAC and upper layers, a protocol analyzer or WLAN sniffer is needed.

There are WLAN VSGs available that provide the user with a separate window to configure MAC messages, including payload. WLAN VSAs which provide bit level MAC layer analysis are also available.

WLAN protocol test equipmentsDescription
TamosoftUsed for wifi packet analysis. It is a popular wlan packet sniffer.
Acrylic WiFi professionalIt is also a wlan sniffer which analyzes wlan traffic in windows based system.
Frontline Test EquipmentComProbe 802.11a/b/g/n protocol analyzer

Conclusion

WLAN test and measurement equipment plays a crucial role in ensuring reliable, high performance wireless networks by providing accurate signal analysis, protocol testing, and interference detection. These tools help in network optimization, compliance verification and troubleshooting, ensuring seamless connectivity in diverse environments. By enabling real time monitoring, RF performance evaluation, and security assessment, WLAN test solutions contribute to the development, deployment, and maintenance of advanced Wi-Fi technologies such as Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7. Their importance spans industries like telecommunications, IoT, aerospace, and consumer electronics, making them indispensable for efficient and secure wireless communication systems.