RTP5000 Series

The Boonton RTP5000 series Real-Time Peak Power Sensors are the performance leaders in RF and microwave peak power measurement. They offer industry-leading performance with the widest video bandwidth, fastest rise times, finest time resolution, narrowest minimum pulse widths, highest pulse  repetition  rates, and  superior  measurement    reading    rates. In addition, the RTP5000 series sensors incorporate Boonton’s unique Real-Time Power Processing™ technology.

Key Features

• Real-Time Power Processing™
• 16 automated pulse measurements
• Crest Factor and statistical measurements (e.g., CCDF)
• Synchronized multi-channel measurements (up to 8 channels with GUI, >8 with remote control)
• Power Analyzer: advanced measurement and analysis software

With superior performance and a small form factor, the Boonton RTP5000 series is ideal for many purposes ranging from design and verification, through manufacturing, to field installation and maintenance. The sensors are trusted by engineers and technicians at industry-leadering companies to measure pulsed, bursted, and/or modulated signals used in commercial and military radar, electronic warfare (EW), wireless communications (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, and 5G), and consumer electronics (WLAN), as well as education and research applications.

Key Specifications

Frequency range                                 50 MHz to 40 GHz

Measurement range                           -60 dBm to +20 dBm

Video bandwidth                                 195 MHz

Rise-time                                             < 3 ns

Time Resolution/Trigger Jitter            100 ps

Min Pulse Width / Max PRF               10 ns / 50 MHz

Real-Time Power Processing™

Boonton Real-Time Power Processing™ dramatically reduces the total cycle time for acquiring and processing power measurement samples. By combining a dedicated acquisition engine, hardware trigger, integrated sample buffer, and a real-time optimized parallel processing architecture, Real-Time Power Processing™ performs most of the sweep processing steps simultaneously, beginning immediately after the trigger instead of waiting for the end of the acquisition cycle.

The advantages of the Real-Time Power Processing™ technique are shown in Figure 1a. Key processing steps take place in parallel and keep pace with the signal acquisition. With no added computational overhead to prolong the sweep cycle, the sample buffer cannot overflow. As a result, there is no need to halt acquisition for trace processing. This means gap-free signal acquisition virtually guarantees that intermittent signal phenomena such as transients, dropouts, or interference will be reliably captured and analyzed, shown in Figure 1b. These sorts of events are most often missed by conventional power meters due to the acquisition gaps while processing takes place.

Superior Time Resolution

The RTP5000 series features 100 ps time base resolution and with an acquisition rate up to 100 MSPS, can provide 50 points per division with a time base range as low as 5 ns / division. This enables users to see meaningful waveform information (Figure 2a) missed by alternative power analyzers (Figure 2b). In addition, Boonton’s superior time management enables several other advantages. Pulse widths as narrow as 10 ns can be captured and characterized with outstanding trigger stability (< 100 ps jitter, rms).

To simplify test, the RTP5000 series can measure and calculate 16 common power and timing parameters and display the parameters of interest(Figure 3). Other parameters include: rise time, fall time, pulse average, overshoot, and droop.

Use markers to define a portion of the waveform on which to make measurements. “Between Marker” measurements are ideal for monitoring parameters such as pulse power or crest factor over long intervals.

Powerful Statistical Analysis

Crest factor, or peak-to-average power ratio, is an important measurement for characterizing device- under-test (DUT) performance, such as amplifier linearity. With the Boonton Power Analyzer soft- ware package, users can utilize the complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) to assess the probability of various crest factor values to gain further insight into DUT performance. The CCDF and other statistical values are determined from a very large population of power samples captured at a 100 MSPS acquisition rate on all channels simultaneously.

Measurement Buffer Mode

The RTP5000 series Measurement Buffer mode is a remote control function that works in conjunction with Real-Time Power Processing™ to provide only the relevant burst or pulse information, eliminat- ing the need to download and post-process large sample buffers. As a result, users can collect and analyze measurements from a virtually unlimited number of consecutive pulses or events. A wide variety of parameters can be calculated and plotted, such as duty cycle, pulse repetition rate, pulse width variation, and pulse jitter. In addition, anomalies, such as dropouts, can be identified.

• 84620400A — Information Card
• 57500800A — 0.9 m BNC (m) to SMB (m) cable
  
• 57500900A — 0.9 m SMB (m) to SMB (m) cable
  
• 57401000A — 1.8 m USB A (m) to USB B (m) locking SeaLATCH cable