Rohde & Schwarz Eyes DOCSIS 3.1 Signals

April 23, 2015
At NAB in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz showed off its first test solutions for developing and manufacturing DOCSIS 3.1-based consumer ...
At NAB in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz showed off its first test solutions for developing and manufacturing DOCSIS 3.1-based consumer electronics equipment and components. The test setups include an R&S CLGD cable load generator and an R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer equipped with a new downstream signal analysis option.

The R&S CLGD signal generator is designed to simulate channel loading scenarios composed of DOCSIS 3.1, digital (J.83/A/B/C) and analog TV signals in the downstream, and DOCSIS 3.1 along with DOCSIS 3.0 signals in the upstream. With a frequency range of 47 MHz to 1218 MHz (optionally up to 1794 MHz) for the downstream, the R&S CLGD is designed to simultaneously generate up to six 192 MHz DOCSIS 3.1 channels or up to 160 QAM channels. It is also possible to use a combination of both channel types. Each individual channel is continuously modulated in real time, enabling BER measurements on each channel across the frequency range. The signal generator also simulates different types of interference such as additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), impulsive noise, microreflections (in line with SCTE 40), narrowband ingress and 50 Hz/60 Hz AC hum.

The R&S FSW-K192 option for the R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer is intended to analyze DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM downstream signals. Typical DOCSIS 3.1 signal parameters are detected automatically. The R&S FSW signal and spectrum analyzer with the R&S FSW-K192 option features a residual modulation error ratio (MER) of 57 dB and a choice of graphical displays for visualizing measurement results; for example, the MER value across all OFDM carriers of a DOCSIS 3.1 signal can be shown. The R&S FSW-K192 option can also decode detected symbols (LDPC and BCH decoding), enabling BER measurements on the DOCSIS 3.1 channels.