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Phase noise is an unwanted short-term variation or fluctuation in the phase of a waveform, and some degree of phase noise is present in any fixed or tunable frequency source. Phase noise can increase when a system has numerous components that are connected, such as amplifiers, attenuators, and frequency mixers. These additional components along a source’s signal path contribute residual phase noise which can also be characterized by phase-noise measurements. Signal sources with low phase noise, including oscillators and frequency synthesizers, are essential for many electronic systems, such as communications and radar systems.
This paper explores various phase noise measurement methods and introduces a test solution that provides high-volume-production phase noise measurement speed and accuracy across wide frequency and dynamic ranges. It employs cross-correlation technology to achieve low phase noise measurement levels at offset frequencies close to and far from the carrier.
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