RF record and playback system, spectrum management, product testing and validation, signal acquisition, RF system design, communication security, and academic research, all are known for performing or delivering benefits to capture signal activity “off-the-air” over long periods, digitize and store it, and then play it back. Real-time spectrum signal or analyzers are effective and excellent equipment to capture signal information over a short or long duration, digitizing it with high fidelity and storing it. In general, when long-term signal capture is needed, these spectrum analyzers can be employed as the front-end of recording due to the limited internal storage. Hence, RF playback solutions which can record and store signal-capture data for long hours or days are important. The function generators or arbitrary waveform generators can be used as playback components.
This solution describes the basic knowledge of RF recording and playback systems, including the recording components, the storage components, and the playback components. It also illustrates several benefits of the real-time spectrum analyzers when they are considered as the capture components to record and playback system.
Why is it needed?
In today’s advanced era of wireless electronics, the necessities for recording real-world signal environments with high fidelity for replay with products under test to test for coexistence and reception in the lab are proving quite challenging. Also, when it comes to spectrum management, instead of using spectrum analyzers with less internal storage, recording, as well as playback systems with large storage capacity, they can be recoded with long-term signal for several hours or days based on the requirements.
In general, the process of finding signals in dense electromagnetic environments is quite challenging due to the proliferation of wireless communication services. Hence, a system that includes a sensitive receiver to regenerate the fidelity of the captured signal is the main thing to meet the challenge.
RF Recording and Playback System
A recording and playback system includes three main elements: signal capture, signal recording, and signal playback. The data stream can be stored either internally or externally on the basis of the capacity of capture storage as well as the length of the captured signal. In addition, the software can be used as software playback in order to analyze the stored data. When it comes to hardware playback, the recorded can convert the digital I/Q samples to analog I/Q data and streams them to an external source for remodeled and retransmission.
Main Examples
There are three examples for which the recording, as well as playback systems, can be used. They are:
Interference Hunting
For many decades, as wireless service has become important to our regular lives, the population of wireless devices like cell phones, microwave ovens, shielded power lines, neon lights, fluorescents, or even dimmer switches, keeps increasing. The main disadvantage of having many electronic devices in one area is that they emit electronic signals that can create the disruption of other radio and wireless signals. The noise can be created by the signals – intermittent or time-varying, creating interference or RFI with other nearby signals that can disrupt transmissions and becomes an important problem for engineers and spectrum managers who can capture, identify, locate, and terminate several interfering sources.
DAS
The distributed antenna system or DAS is an ideal solution for accessing wireless communication and data systems. The network of DAS offers several separated antennas connected to a common source. It can separate the transmitted power via different antenna elements with the same area as a signal antenna but with reduced total power as well as enhanced reliability.
Wearable Technology and IoT
Wearable technology has evolved these days that is a current topic related to the IoT. Wearables like fitness trackers, hearables, smartwatches, and smart glasses are changing the way that customers interact with the environment.
