• USB wide dynamic range peak/average power sensor
• Frequency range: 10 MHz - 33 GHz
• Power range: -70 to +26 dBm
• Connector type: 3.5mm (male)

Keysight X-Series power sensors are power sensors with the widest dynamic range of 96 dB (-70 dBm to +26 dBm). The 96 dB dynamic range enables accurate power measurements of very low signal levels for a broad range of applications such as the wireless chipset, power amplifier and module manufacturing, satellite payload testing, test system or instrument calibration, and radar pulse parameter measurements.

The X-Series power sensors are available with average only and peak and average feature sets, supporting frequency ranges to 67GHz. The average-only versions have extensive features to help optimize the average power measurements, while the peak and average models add gated power measurements and pulse analysis.

The X-Series power sensors take up to 50,000 super-fast readings per second (in fast/buffer mode/ average mode), a ten times improvement over Keysight’s previous sensor offerings, allowing test engineers to increase test throughput capacity and reduce the cost of test, especially in high volume manufacturing environments such as mobile chipset manufacturing.

This measurement speed is fast enough to measure every continuous pulse without leaving time gaps in between measurement acquisitions. While conventional sensors only provide a snapshot of continuous pulses, leaving dead time where a glitch could slip by unnoticed, the X-Series power sensors measures continuously in real-time and keep pace with very fast pulses, up to 10 kHz PRF. Users are also able to fully control which portion of the signal is measured and what throughput they can expect because the aperture duration precisely defines the maximum measurement speed as 1/aperture duration. For example, setting the aperture duration to 20 μs offers 20 μs of measurement time per reading, equaling a measurement speed of 50,000 readings per second.

Built-in radar and wireless presets

Begin testing faster; the X-Series power sensors come with built-in radar and wireless presets for common signals such as DME, GSM, EDGE, WCDMA, WLAN and LTE.

The X-Series power sensors make accurate average or time-selective average power measurements of any modulated signal and cover all common wireless signals such as 5G, LTE, LTE-Advanced with 100 MHz bandwidth, and WLAN 802.11ac with 80/160 MHz bandwidth. A 4-path diode stack design with parallel data acquisition paths offers seamless range transition with high accuracy and repeatability. This design enables all the diodes to operate in their square law region, allowing the X-Series power sensors to function like thermocouple power sensors to provide accurate average power for broadband modulated signals.

Time selectivity in average mode with variable aperture duration

The X-Series power sensors offer a new feature called average mode time selectivity, whereby users can configure the aperture duration of measurement capture with reference to immediate trigger, external trigger, and internal trigger. The aperture duration can be set from 20 μs to 200 ms with a resolution of 100 ns, a resolution low enough to cover any radio format.

This new feature enables precise control of what portion of the signal waveform is measured in a similar manner to time-gated measurements in peak power sensors. The key benefit of this feature is that it enables the sensor to measure average power with time selectivity across the full dynamic range and provides real-time measurements up to 50000 readings per second. This is a significant improvement when compared to conventional power sensors; a conventional sensor’s time-gated power dynamic ranges are typically clipped at around 50 dB with a maximum speed of 1000 readings per second.

An external trigger enables the accurate triggering of low-level signals close to the sensor’s noise floor. The X-Series power sensors come with the built-in trigger in/out connection, allowing you to connect an external trigger signal from a signal source or the device-under-test to achieve precise triggering timing. Once the trigger output is enabled, a TTL trigger output signal will be generated on every triggered measurement. The built-in trigger in and out is particularly useful when users need to synchronize the measurement acquisition of a series of daisy-chain power sensors.