Advanced Radar Analysis

Tools for Measuring Modern radars

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application note
Application Note

Table of Contents
Introduction..................................................................... 3 Examining Intended Signals......................................... 17
Monitoring Example: Weather Radar
Time and Frequency Domain Analysis........................... 4 using RSA Series.....................................................17
Instrument Considerations.................................................4 Troubleshooting Incidental Modulation
Signal Characteristics.........................................................4 Example: Wideband chirp using a DPO7000 Series
Measurement Considerations.............................................4 oscilloscope and SignalVu.......................................19
Oscilloscope Measurements.........................................5
Unintended Signals....................................................... 21
Pulse Measurements.................................................6
Spurious..................................................................21
Oscilloscope Triggering..............................................6
Transient Signals
Manual Timing Methods............................................7 (DPX Live RF Spectrum Display)..............................21
Automated Oscilloscope Timing Measurements........7 Frequency Mask Trigger (FMT)
Observing Time Varying Behaviors in the RSA Series................................................24
in the Frequency Domain.........................................10 Signals in both Time and Frequency Domains.....25
DPX™ Live RF Spectrum Display...............................11 Event Isolation and Analysis.................................26
Automated measurements on an RSA........................11
Related Measurements...............................................13 External Threats............................................................ 26
Measurement Equipment Selection Chart........................14 Interference.............................................................26
Jamming and Spoofing............................................27
Example Measurements................................................ 14
Instrument Operation..................................................14
The difference between
Amplitude vs. Time and Time Overview...................15
The Trace Decimation Control..................................15

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Introduction technology and tools. Tektronix innovative test equipment

reduces testing uncertainty during the design process and
In designing modern electronic warfare and radar systems,
delivers confidence in the integrity of increasingly complex
you face significant challenges. You must develop solutions
designs. Tektronix Arbitrary Waveform Generators, Real-time
with the flexibility and adaptability required for next-generation
Spectrum Analyzers and High-Bandwidth Oscilloscopes
threat detection and avoidance. To succeed, you need
offer the capabilities you need to manage the requirements
capable tools for the generation and analysis of extremely
of modern radar applications. Real-time visibility of advanced
complex pulse patterns and you need to validate designs with
pulse compression systems and the generation and
advanced scanning methodologies – tools that can handle
analysis of all digital dynamic signal types help you create
complex radar baseband, IF and RF signals as well as identify
highly reliable, cost-effective system designs for defense
multi-system interference.
and commercial electronic systems. The broad portfolio of
With today’s rapid advances in radar technology, developing Tektronix generation and analysis tools represents a scalable
and manufacturing highly specialized and innovative architecture that can protect your investments and speed your
electronic products to detect radar signals takes leading-edge design development.

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Application Note

Time and Frequency Domain Analysis Signal Characteristics

As discussed, two types of signals need to be characterized,
Instrument Considerations
CW and Puled, with each having its own mission advantages
To understand the best measurement device, we need to and disadvantages.
understand the signals we are dealing with. First, we assume
CW Radar - Continuous-wave radar is a type of radar system
a sensor (Radar) or an ECM is mostly characterized as a time
where a known frequency of continuous wave radio energy
domain phenomenon, as fundamentally we are dealing with
is transmitted and then received from any reflecting objects.
the transmission of a quantity of electromagnetic energy that
Continuous-wave (CW) radar is excellent for calculating
illuminates a target - we then measure the time it takes for
velocity using the Doppler effect by comparing the frequency
the reflected residual energy to arrive back at the receiver.
shift of the received signal with that of the transmitted.
The signal could be a continuous wave or a sequence of
Test equipment needs to have the required broadband
pulses with a specific mission goal. However, pulse rise and
performance to capture the CW signal with enough fre quency
fall times, the type of modulation and the behavior of the
resolution to analyze the Doppler frequency shift.
transmitter amplifier and most importantly the frequency of
transmission can create a broad range of responses that Pulsed Radar - A pulsed radar emits short and pow¬erful
need to be considered. pulses and in the silent period receives the echo signals.
It is excellent for determining range by measuring the time
Time domain measurements are traditionally performed with
difference between the transmitted pulses and the received
oscilloscopes while spectrum analyzers are best suited for
pulses. The Doppler effect can also be observed to measure
frequency domain measurements. However, our problem is
velocity, however it is usually calculated over multiple pulses.
unique; in that we have time domain behaviors we want to
observe, but they are exhibited in the frequency domain. While Both types of radar could employ various types of modulation.
swept spectrum analyzers offer wide frequency and dynamic
ranges, their ability to characterize time domain data is limited. Measurement Considerations
Oscilloscopes offer excellent time domain analysis, but lack in For CW radar the instrument must be able to capture the
dynamic range especially at high frequencies. Advancements transmission frequency plus the reflected doppler shifted
however in analog to digital converter technologies and in frequency. For pulsed radar there are two options – the first
measurement instrumentation architectures such as FFT is capture the lower frequency envelope information such as
based analyzers or Vector Signal Analyzers capturing both the PRI (Pulse Repetition Interval) using a detector, or capture all
phase and amplitude components of the signal, or its vector) the signals information with a broadband instrument such as
now allow for wide instantaneous bandwidth captures of high a wide bandwidth Oscilloscope or Spectrum Analyzer. The
dynamic range time domain data in the frequency domain. darker line in Figure 1 shows the time domain envelope of the
This is key when dealing with a transient/pulse-based time pulse and the lighter lines show the sinusoidal energy that
domain system with transmission frequencies in the giga-hertz fundamental makes up the pulse.
ranges such as a radar or ECM.
Real Time Spectrum Analysis drives to the next level of insight.
The advantage of real-time measurement capability is the
ability to capture transient events in the frequency domain;
real time multi-domain triggering, time-selective spectrum
analysis, continuous wide bandwidth waveform storage and
high-quality persistent displays that provide the higher levels of
measurement capability and insight.

Figure 1. The autonomy of a pulse.

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Another important factor is to ensure the instrument has

enough bandwidth to capture the rise/fall times correctly. For
example, an impulse radar may have a very short duration
pulse therefore a very broadband oscilloscope may be the
best tool to capture the pulse and characterize its parameters
such as overshoot and rise and fall times. Very fast transition
times or very short duration (sub-nanosecond or shorter) can
be accurately seen on a 70 GHz bandwidth oscilloscope such
as the DPO70000SX family.

Figure 3. The 5 Series MSO and RSA500 can be used together to perform multiple
domain measurements.

If the pulse has vector modulation as used in data link

or communication systems, this may require specialized
demodulation measurements such as error vector magnitude
(EVM). Advanced frequency and vector analysis is provided
the SignalVu PC that can connect to both Oscilloscopes and
Spectrum Analyzers.
Figure 2. The DPO70000SX ATI Performance Oscilloscope delivers the industry’s most
accurate capture of high-speed signal behavior to verify, validate and characterize you
nest generation designs.
Oscilloscope Measurements
The oscilloscope is the fundamental tool for examining
For measuring on/off ratio a wide amplitude is required, varying voltage versus time. It is very well-suited for displaying
Understanding the dynamic range of the instrument is key for the shape of baseband pulses. The origin of oscilloscope
this measurement, sometimes referred to the dynamic range performance parameters traces back to characterizations
of an instrument, ab and can be expressed in decibels, actual of early radar pulses. Today’s real-time oscilloscopes have
bits or effective number of bits (ENOB). bandwidth up to 70 GHz, and are designed to capture and
For example, the Tektronix MSO 5 Series oscilloscope has display either repetitive or one-shot signals.
a 12 Bit analog to digital converter (ADC) and can capture Modern Oscilloscope triggering systems are very highly
signals with up to 2GHz in bandwidth. In comparison to the developed and can trigger on both analog and multiple
lower performing MDO4000C oscilloscope that can capture channels of digital data. For example the MSO-5 series
up to 1GHz of bandwidth with 8 bits of resolution. The oscilloscopes eight input channels can be assigned as trigger
MDO4000C has an optional Spectrum Analyzer built in with inputs for both analog signals such as the envelope of an
an RF frequency range up to 6GHz not only does this allows individual pulse, a defined stream of pulse envelopes or each
for cross domain triggering but also provides higher dynamic channel can be assigned to a further eight digital inputs,
range for frequency domain measurements The MSO 5 Series providing the capability to trigger on multiple parallel data lines
can be used alongside a USB spectrum analyzer such as the or words. Utilizing the external trigger RF devices such as the
RSA300 or RSA500 families when wider frequency coverage RSA300 or RSA500 families of spectrum analyzers can be
and better dynamic range is required, especially for frequency triggered to perform frequency domain measurements based
domain measurements. on real-time analog or digital domain events.

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Application Note

Figure 4. FastAcq shows a single too-narrow pulse out of many tens of thousands. Figure 5. Discovery of a single transient glitch in a train of pulses.

Pulse Measurements Oscilloscope Triggering

The FastAcq feature of the oscilloscope operates on live One of the most highly developed capabilities of the
time-domain data using DPX™ acquisition technology. All oscilloscope is triggering. Recent advances in oscilloscope
frequency domain measurements are made on the time- trigger have enabled methods of triggering an acquisition or
sampled acquisitions of stored data. measurement based on the voltages and voltage changes in
one or more channels.
The FastAcq display on the oscilloscope can discover
baseband pulse time-domain transient errors. Figure 4 shows These range in complexity from simple edge or voltage-
just one single pulse that has a narrower pulse width than level triggering to complex logic and timing comparisons for
even hundreds of thousands of correct pulses. The blue color combinations of all of the input channels available. Pattern
on the temperature scale representation of signal persistency recognition, both parallel and serial, triggering on “runt” or
represents the least frequent occurrence, while the red areas “glitch” signals and even triggering based on commercial digital
are the parts of the signal that are the same every time. communications standards are all available in oscilloscopes.
The FastAcq capability on the DPO, DSA, and MSO Series The MSO 5 Series, DPO7000 and DPO/MSO/DSA70000
provides a time-domain display with a high waveform capture Series oscilloscopes allow the user to specify two discrete
rate. The DPX acquisition technology processor operates trigger events as a condition for acquisition. This is known as
directly on the digital samples live from the A/D converter. a trigger sequence, or Pinpoint™ triggering. The main or “A”
It discovers rapid variations or one-shot events in the time- trigger responds to a set of qualifications that may range from
domain display. a simple edge transition to a complex logic combination on
multiple inputs. Then an edge-driven “B Delayed” trigger can be
For wideband measurements using an oscilloscope, FastAcq
specified to occur after a delay expressed in time for events.
can be used to see even momentary transient events using
the voltage vs. time display.
Figure 5 shows a one-time transient in blue. For this display,
blue represents very low-occurrence transients, while red
represents parts of the waveform that are constantly recurring.

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

The B-trigger is not limited to edge triggering. Instead, the Manual Timing Methods
oscilloscope allows the B-trigger to look, after its delay Traditional measurements of pulses were once made by
period, for a condition chosen from the same broad list of visual examination of the display on an oscilloscope. This is
trigger types used in the A-trigger. A designer can now use accomplished by viewing the shape of a baseband pulse. The
the B-trigger to look for a suspected transient, for example, measurements available using this method were timing and
occurring hundreds of nanoseconds after an A-trigger has voltage amplitude. These measurements were sufficient, as
defined the beginning of an operational cycle. Because pulses were generally very simple.
the B-trigger offers the full range of triggering choices, the
The baseband pulses were used to modulate the power
engineer can specify, for instance, the pulse width of the
output of the radar transmitter. If it was necessary to
transient they want to find. Over 1,400 possible trigger
measure the RF-modulated pulses from the transmitter,
combinations can be qualified with Pinpoint triggering.
then a simple diode detector was often used to rectify the
Sequences can also include a separate horizontal delay after
RF signal and provide a reproduction of its baseband timing
the A-trigger event to position the acquisition window in time.
and amplitude for the oscilloscope to display. Generally, the
The Reset Trigger function makes B-triggering even more oscilloscope did not have sufficient bandwidth to be able
efficient. If the B-event fails to occur, the oscilloscope, rather to directly display the RF-modulated pulses, and if it did,
than waiting endlessly, resets the trigger after a specified time the pulses were difficult to clearly see, and was even more
or number of cycles. In so doing it rearms the A-trigger to look difficult to reliably generate a trigger.
for a new A-event, sparing the user the need to monitor and
For these baseband pulse measurements, the measurement
manually reset the instrument.
technique first used was to visually note the position on-
The system can detect transient glitches less than 200 ps screen of the important portions of the pulse and count the
wide. Advanced trigger types, such as pulse width trigger, can number of on-screen divisions between one part of the pulse
be used to capture and examine specific RF pulses in a series and another. This is a totally manual procedure performed by
of pulses that vary in time or in amplitude. Trigger jitter – a the oscilloscope operator and as such was subject to errors.
crucial factor in achieving repeatable measurements – is less
than 1 trillionth of a second (1 ps) rms. Automated Oscilloscope Timing Measurements

For baseband pulses, the triggers based on edges, levels, With the advent of Analog-to-Digital converters, the process
pulse width, and transition times are of the most interest. If of finding the position on-screen became one of directly
triggering based on events related to different frequencies is measuring the time and voltage at various portions of the pulse.
needed, then the RSA Series spectrum analyzer is required. Now there are fully automated baseband pulse timing
measurements available in modern oscilloscopes. Single-
button selection of rise time, fall time, pulse width, and
others are common. However, most of these measurements
do not focus on the measurement envelopes of modulated
radar signals.
When used on pulse-modulated carriers, these measurements
are of limited utility, because they are presented with the
carrier of the signal instead of the detected pulse. This results
in pulse width measurements that are made on a single carrier
cycle, and rise times of the carrier instead of the modulated
pulse. Detectors may be used on the input of the oscilloscope
to remove the carrier and overcome this.

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Application Note

Time Domain Frequency Domain

Pulse Repetition
|A|
Narrow Pulse
Pulse Width (PW) Frequency
Fast Rate

t 1 1 f
PW PW

|A|
Wide Pulse
Fast Rate

t f

|A|
Narrow Pulse
Slow Rate

Pulse Repetition
Interval
(PRI=1/PRF)

t f

|A|
Wide Pulse
Slow Rate

t f

Figure 6. Spectrum plot measurements of pulse width and repetition rate.

When choosing the correct tool, most engineers us an based analyzers or Vector Signal Analyzers (the instrument
oscilloscopes when performing time domain measurements, capture both the phase and amplitude components of
but spectrum analyzers are best suited for frequency domain the signal, or its vector), now allow for wide instantaneous
measurements. As discussed earlier, radar and EW is unique, bandwidth captures of high dynamic range time domain data
in that time domain behavior is exhibited in both the time and in the frequency domain. This is key when dealing with a
frequency domain. A swept spectrum analyzer offers wide transient/pulse-based time domain system with transmission
frequency and dynamic ranges, but its ability to characterize frequencies in the giga-hertz ranges such as a radar or ECM.
time domain data is limited. Oscilloscopes offer excellent time
Real Time Spectrum Analysis drives to the next level of insight.
domain analysis and trigger capability, but lack in dynamic
The advantage of real-time measurement capability is the
range, especially at high frequencies.
ability to capture transient events in the frequency domain; real
Advancements in analog to digital converter technologies and time multi-domain triggering.
in measurement instrumentation architectures such as FFT

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 7. Alternate instrumentation block diagrams.

Figure 7 puts it all into context. All architecture use a super then either display it as time domain data translate it to the
heterodyne process to convert high frequency signals to a frequency domain utilizing an Fast Fourier Transform. A Real
lower frequency for analysis. The swept spectrum analyzer Time Spectrum Analyzer conceptual is the same as a VSA,
essential only measures the power in a filter (Resolution however more processing is performed earlier in the signal
Bandwidth Filter) at a specific frequency point derived from chain allowing for faster processing of FFT’s and triggers thus
the frequency of the Local Oscillator (LO). It can display a providing the enhanced measurement capability required for
range of power vs frequency by ‘sweeping’ the LO and the a successful test.
x-axis of display. This allows for very broad frequency displays
What this all means is that the RTSA architecture allows us
with excellent dynamic range, but the time domain acquisition
to observing time varying behaviors in the Electromagnetic
bandwidth is limited to that of the resolution bandwidth filter.
Spectrum, analysis in the time and frequency domain the
A Vector Signal Analyzer uses a fixed local oscillator, with
systems under test behavior, while simultaneously recording
a much larger IF filter (instead of the RBW filter bank). This
the events to a hard disk array.
allows us to acquire large amounts of time domain data,

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Application Note

RF Down-Converter Real-Time Digital Processing Post Capture Processing

Displays
Low-Pass Down Convert Real-Time
Attenuator IF Filter Amp./Phase & Filter I-Q Out Capture
Input (Option 55) X-Y
DDC/
ADC Corrections Memory
Decimation

External
Band-Pass Local
Oscillator
Free
Run

Processor
Trigger
100 or 300 Msps

Micro-
Variable BW
Level
Live Signal Processing
FMT
DPX™
1 Hz 26.5 GHz Up to 800 MHz Pixel Buffer
X-Y
Turning Range Acquisition Bandwidth DPX™ Memory

RSA7100 + Option 110

Real-Time Bandwidth Display Processing

Figure 8 Simplified RSA block diagram.

Observing Time Varying Behaviors in the century. A CRT utilizes a magnetically-controlled electron gun
Frequency Domain that fires electrons on a phosphor-coated screen. The screen
As the RTSA architecture acquires many time domain illuminates and then slowly decays over time.
records and converts them to frequency in real time, we Figures 9 and 10 show a typical display using a phosphor
can simultaneously observe time and frequency. One way to emulation technique. Without phosphor emulation, the screen
display this is with a spectrogram. A spectrogram adds the in Figure 10 would just show the large LFM signal, with the CW
dimension of time while still allowing you to observe frequency signal “popping out” the top on the left. But with phosphor
and amplitude. The x axis represents frequency, the y axis emulation, you can see a second lower power LFM overlapped
represents time and amplitude is represented by color. Usually in frequency. In addition, several single-frequency pulsed
red for high power and green for low power. carriers and two continuous wave (CW) interferers can be
An alternate method is to visualize this measurement by observed. Of course, the bandwidth and acquisition speeds
emulating the anomalies of a cathode ray tube (CRT) common are much fast than a turn of the century spectrum analyzer.
as the display on a spectrum analyzer before the turn of the

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 9. Interference to a pulse. Figure10. Multiple chirps in one band.

Figure 11. The automated pulse measurements results table.

DPX™ Live RF Spectrum Display Automated measurements on an RSA

The RSA Series enables DPX™ Live RF spectrum display on While the RSA Series can be used in a manner similar
up to 800 MHz acquisition bandwidth. The name DPX comes to the swept spectrum analyzer to measure in either the
from the concept of a “Digital Phosphor Technology” display, frequency domain or the time domain, automated pulse
which re-creates the slow-fade memory effect of a CRT measurements are available that offer much more signal detail
phosphor. For the RSA, the hardware processor performs up and measurement repeatability. The Advanced Signal Analysis
to 292,969 FFTs per second. This gives continuous real-time suite, Option 20, includes the pulse measurement capability.
visibility of varying RF signals without interruption. Figure 9 is For this analysis, the analyzer stores a digital acquisition, finds
a radar pulse with an interfering carrier sweeping through the the pulses within it and measures a full set of parameters for
pulsed spectrum. each pulse. Timing, frequency and phase parameters are
all measured. Any selected set of these parameters can be
The continuous non-interrupted visibility guarantees 100%
displayed or exported.
probability of intercept of signals or transients as short as 3.7
µs because there is no dead time. The DPX spectrum display These measurement results can be further processed to
is observing all the time. display trends and analyze these trends.
Interference to radar pulses and situations of multiple signals
on the same frequency can all be discovered. As mentioned
earlier, figure 10 is a DPX spectrum display of a chirp that
has a second lower power chirp overlapped in frequency
as well as several single-frequency pulsed carriers and two
Continuous Wave (CW) interferers.

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Application Note

The RSA Series pulse measurement suite provides a

comprehensive set of pulse parameter measurements for
up to 800 MHz bandwidth, including readouts of timing,
distortions, amplitude, frequency, phase and pulse time.
Some of the measurements are specifically for chirped pulses,
including Frequency Deviation, Frequency Error, Phase
Deviation and Phase Error. Any of the parameters with a
numeric result can also have these results plotted versus pulse
number, giving visibility of time-trends of errors. And lastly,
these trends can be input to an FFT to determine if the errors
Figure 9. Pulse measurement results table, with seven parameters selected for display.
have a coherent frequency of error variation, possibly leading
to discovery of the cause of the variation.
Any or all of the measurements with numeric results can be
included in the pulse table display as seen in Figure 9.
The automated pulse measurements operate on a record of
data captured in a bandwidth selectable up to a 800 MHz,
which is tunable anywhere up to to the 26.5 GHz RF coverage
for the RSA7100.

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 10. SignalVu vector signal analysis software showing a 1 GHz wide chirp and table of pulse parameters.

Related Measurements The vector signal analysis software can use any of the input
The SignalVu vector signal analysis software that includes channels of the oscilloscope. It can also use the oscilloscope’s
Option SVP - Advanced Signal Analysis has the same “math trace” capability to combine data from multiple
automated pulse measurement functionality of the RSA channels and use math functions on the data.
Series. It can be installed on DPO/MSO5000, DPO7000 and The measurements will have the same dynamic range as
DPO/DSA/MSO70000 Series oscilloscopes. This combines the oscilloscope, while maintaining its full bandwidth. Figure
the extremely wide bandwidth available from, for example, the 10 shows a span of 1.25 GHz, and a chirped pulse that is 1
DPO70000 Series at 33 GHz, with the spectrum analysis and GHz wide. The frequency span capability is limited only by
fully automated Pulse Measurement Suite from the RSA Series the bandwidth capability of the oscilloscope on which the
spectrum analyzers. software is installed.
When installed on an oscilloscope, the internal software limits Just like the RSA, the pulse measurements are performed
on setting frequency coverage, bandwidth, and record length on data in the acquisition memory on a continuous capture/
automatically adjust to use the frequency and memory limits analyze cycle, or on waveforms stored on the instrument hard
of the oscilloscope on which it is installed. The SignalVu disk drive.
vector signal analysis software provides control of the
oscilloscope attenuator, gain, sampling rate and sweep rate
controls by allowing the user to control “Reference Level,”
“Frequency Span” in a manner with which spectrum analyzer
users are familiar.

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Application Note

Rise Time (20%/80%) / 3rd Order Intermodulation

Instrument Series Frequency Range Bandwidth
Min Pulse Width Detection Distortion (typical)
Spectrum Analyzers
RSA5000 1 Hz to 26.5 GHz 25 MHz std; 40 ns/120 ns <-84 dBc @ 2 GHz
40 MHz opt 25 ns/120 ns
85 MHz 12 ns/50 ns
110 MHz 10 ns/50 ns
RSA7100A 16 kHz to 14.2/26.5 GHz 320 MHz std; -85 dBc @ 100MHz to 3.4GHz
800 MHz opt. -65 dBc @ 3.4GHz to 6GHz
-80 dBc @ 6GHz to 26.5GHz
Oscilloscopes
DPO7000 DC to 3.5 GHz 500 MHz 310 ps/16 ns -40 dBc @ 2 GHz
1 GHz 200 ps/8 ns
2.5 GHz 100 ps/3 ns
3.5 GHz 95 ps/2.25 n
DSA/DPO/MSO70000 DC to 33 GHz 4 GHz 65 ps/2 ns -55 dBc @ 2 GHz
6 GHz 43 ps/1.3 ns -48 dBc @ 10 GHz
8 GHz 33 ps/1 ns -50 dBc @ 18 GHz
12.5 GHz 23 ps/640 ps
16 GHz 21 ps/500 ps
20 GHz 17 ps/400 ps
25GHz 17 ps/400 ps
33 GHz 17 ps/400 ps

Table 2. Measurement equipment overview.

Measurement Equipment Selection Chart of Volts, Watts or dB (the default is dB, but some tasks
The measurement tasks and the pulse parameters that are may require alternate units to be selected); Alignments (the
important for each task have been presented, as well as the internal alignment routines may be disabled if needed for a
capabilities and limitations of the various test equipment. measurement for which interruption due to internal alignment
Table 2 summarizes the test instrument choices based on the procedures would be unacceptable).
measurement characteristics needed. The time-domain displays (Frequency, Phase, and Amplitude
versus Time) have an additional measurementilter whose
Example Measurements bandwidth can be adjusted.

Instrument Operations All the measurements made in the RSA5000 and RSA6000
rely on getting signals which have passed through an IF
Whether using an oscilloscope or a Real-time Spectrum frequency converter system. For the 110 MHz bandwidth
Analyzer, there are some controls providing flexibility of option of the RSA5000 and RSA6000, the IF filter is
operation which may need to be set differently from the default approximately 120 MHz wide.
to allow proper signal acquisition and pulse measurements.
Usually it becomes necessary to adjust these only when Due to the nature of frequency conversion schemes that are
operating outside of one or more “default” instrument settings. this wide, the filter used must have relatively sharp frequency
Measurement results can be affected by adjusting these response roll-off at the filter edges. For pulses this may
advanced settings. cause as much as 40% overshoot. For the purposes of pulse
measurements there is a need for a Gaussian response filter to
The more common of these include: Delay after Trigger minimize this overshoot on a pulse. This Gaussian filter can be
(delays the start of acquisition after a trigger has been added to flatten pulse response at the expense of bandwidth.
recognized); Acquisition Time and Acquisition sample length A non-Gaussian filter can also be selected if narrower but flat
(normally these are automatically coupled to settings of response is desired.
Span, Bandwidth, and type of measurement in use); Units

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 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 11­­­­. Trace Decimation is set for a maximum of 100,000 points on the upper-right parameter vs. time display.

For the RSA hardware, there are some hardware controls analyzer. This display has its own “Time Domain Bandwidth”
to be considered, including: Internal/External frequency filter which can be used to reduce the bandwidth of this
reference, used for locking the frequency reference so that measurement for noise reduction or glitch reduction.
the analyzer measures frequency referred to the external
The Trace Decimation Control
system reference; external gain or loss, used to account for
an attenuator which may be used to lower transmitter power Another one of these lesser-used controls is the “Trace
to the limits of the RSA hardware; and attenuator limits which Decimation” setting. Particularly for the “parameter vs. time”
prevent the internal attenuator from being set to zero, thereby displays, the acquisition record being analyzed can be very
protecting the analyzer’s front-end mixer from damage by large. It can be as large as the entire acquisition memory,
large signals. as compared to the “Pulse Trace” which can have only the
samples for one pulse. When there are several million or more
For the SignalVu vector signal analysis software, some of the
acquisition samples, the trace processing may become slow.
oscilloscope controls may interact with the software controls
This usually happens when the digitizing rate is very high at
or settings. While the default setting locks the oscilloscope
the same time as the acquisition record length is set very long.
controls to the analysis software settings, it is possible to
override this setting and manually set sample rate, input The trace processor has a user-selected Trace Decimation
attenuation, etc. This will cause the software to change span, that will set a limit on the number of resulting trace points
RBW, and Reference Level to accommodate the manual allowed in these “parameter vs. time” displays, providing
oscilloscope settings. faster display results.

The difference between In most cases, 100,000 points should be plenty. But in
Amplitude vs. Time and Time Overview the case of a radar pulse with very small duty cycle, there
may be a need to zoom in on the display much more than
At first glance, it would appear that these two displays might
normal. In Figure 11, the acquisition was 18.722 ms long,
well be the same thing. They are not.
and has 936,112 samples taken at 40 MHz sample rate.
The Time Overview is a very simple magnitude display which These acquisition parameters can be found in the acquisition
has as its source all of the decimated I/Q sample pairs of the control tab. The maximum trace points are decimated down
acquisition. It is here that the subset of the full acquisition to 100,000 as seen in Figure 11. But to see just one pulse in
intended to be analyzed can be seen and adjusted. The the amplitude vs. time display in the upper right of the screen,
portion of the acquisition that is used to create the Spectrum the display has been zoomed to 10.36 µs wide to see just one
Display is also shown, and can be separately adjusted. pulse. This provides only 10.36/18722 * 100,000 = 55 points
for the display. As can be seen here, 55 points is not enough
The amplitude vs. time display is one of the analyses which
to clearly see the character of the pulse.
use the “analysis” subset of the acquisition record. This display
is equivalent to the “zero-span” setting in the traditional swept

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Application Note

Figure 12­­­­. The selection is set to “Never Decimate” the trace points.

The solution is to remove the limit on trace points as further compress the 405-point trace. There would be
seen in the lower middle of Figure 12. Now the full set considerable compression of the 100,000 points if the
of samples (936,122) of the digitized record is available trace were displayed without zoom.
for the un-zoomed trace, providing 10.36/18722 *
Even when the on-screen display is further
936,122 = 405 points in the on-screen zoomed display.
compressed by Windows, measurement
Now the amplitude vs. time trace has enough points to accuracies are not affected. The markers and other
show the true character of the digitized pulse, visible in measurements operate on the full “trace resolution.”
the upper right of Figure 12. The full-resolution traces can also be exported for
further analysis or record keeping.
The number of points in the trace may not be the same
as the points that are seen on-screen. The LCD screen
is only capable of normal personal computer display
resolution (in this case 1,024 points horizontally). If the
chosen display has more points than can be displayed
on the LCD, the trace must be further compressed for
the display. This is done by the Windows operating
system. In Figures 11 and 12, the trace has only 40%
of the full screen size, or 410 pixels. Therefore, in
this case the computer display has not needed to

16 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Examining Intended Signals which the pulse Analysis and the Spectrum analysis will be
Monitoring the intended signals emanating from a radar respectively performed. Which pulses out of the total acquisition
system may be necessary to assure compliance with record contribute to each of these sets of measurements can
regulations as well as to confirm interoperability when multiple be separately selected.
systems are installed in close proximity to each other. The blue bar on the top of the Time Overview measurement
indicates the Analysis Time. Note that the Analysis Length
Monitoring Example: Weather Radar using
and Offset (the 2 blue buttons) will apply to all displays on
RSA Series
the instrument except the Spectrum Display. The Spectrum
After understanding the importance of signal acquisition and Length and Offset can be set with the red buttons. The
trace decimation, this example demonstrated how we use minimum Spectrum Length setting will be automatically
time overview and amplitude versus time measurements to determined by the amount of samples necessary to realize
isolate the pulses measurements to be made. This example the requested RBW setting when in Auto mode. For example,
is a set of observations of a weather radar at 9.6 GHz. This narrow RBW filter will require a longer Spectrum Time. The
radar is pulsed, and has a rotating antenna scanning the full Spectrum Length and Offset are indicated by the red bar at
360 degrees. With several of the measurement windows the top of the plot.
separately displayed, the markers in all simultaneous windows
are correlated across the multiple displays.
For a ground-based monitoring position, the measured power
of the pulses will vary as the transmit antenna swings across
the monitor receiver antenna.
Here the Time Overview window shows the pulses and
their amplitude changes as the antenna sweeps across the
monitor antenna. The marker has been placed on the highest
amplitude pulse which corresponds to the time when the
transmit antenna was pointing directly at the monitor antenna.

Figure 14. Amplitude vs. time with no trace decimation.

The amplitude vs. time trace window can be set to analyze

any part or all of the acquired record. This display is the
equivalent of the zero-span mode in swept spectrum
analyzers. Since this particular acquisition is long enough to
assure capturing the full antenna rotation across our position,
there is quite a lot of data. The trace decimation may need to
be disabled if zoom is needed.
The marker seen here is time-correlated with the one in the
Time Overview window. This means that if either marker is
moved, the other one will move to exactly the same time
position. This allows measurements of different parameters to
correlate all at exactly the same time.

Figure 13. Time overview of the Weather Radar.

Figure 13, the four small boxes near the upper left of the
display with the letter A in one pair (for Analysis) and the letter
S in the other pair (for Spectrum) select the entries for the
programming of the portion of the acquisition record over

tek.com 17
Application Note

Figure 15­­­­. The Pulse Table showing the measured results.

This is a real off-the-air radar measurement, so the antenna

used and some local objects may have an impact on pulse
the distortions seen here.
Now that the pulses are found, a table can show all of the
parameters to be reported, as seen in Figure 15. Note the
one cell is dark blue. When the mouse is clicked in any
results cell it will become blue to signify that it has been
selected, and the pulse trace window will configure itself
and graphically display that particular pulse parameter. If
the parameter being examined in the Pulse Trace window is
changed in that window, the blue highlight selection in the
Pulse Table moves accordingly.
Figure 16. Pulse Trace of the Width showing the pulse lines and cardinal points.

Pulse Trace is selected as the display in Figure 16 and Width

is entered as the parameter to display. The readout says pulse
number four is displayed. This selection will be made in the
next window. For this display, the units were changed from
dB to Volts. This gives a linear display and now the pulse lines
and cardinal points are displayed. They are disabled whenever
the display has a non-linear scale, as the lines would also go
non-linear.

18 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Troubleshooting Incidental Modulation Example:

Wideband chirp using a DPO7000 Series oscilloscope
and SignalVu
This is an example of using the SignalVu vector signal analysis
software on an oscilloscope to measure a radar signal with
errors in the transmitted signal. It is a chirped pulse with chirp
width of about 500 MHz, which requires the greater bandwidth
of the oscilloscope.

Figure 17. The 300 ns pulse width mode of the Weather Radar.

This particular weather radar radar has two modes with

different pulse widths. The next pulse examined is the 300 ns
pulse width in Figure 17.

Figure 18. The voltage waveform of a 500 MHz wide chirped pulse.

A simple view of the modulated pulse waveform is seen in

Figure 18.
With multiple pulses included in one waveform, it is not easy
to see differences between the individual pulses. If there are
differences, they are more subtle than can be seen from a
voltage waveform.

Figure 19. Waveform with 16 pulses shown.

When there is a need to verify many pulse measurements

at once, the Pulse Measurement Suite gives rapid and
complete answers.

tek.com 19
Application Note

Figure 20. Spectrum display of the 500 MHz chirp using SignalVu vector signal Figure 22. Plot of the trend of the amplitudes of the measured pulses.
analysis software.

The SignalVu vector signal analysis software uses the digitized The Average ON power of the pulse numbers have very small
voltage waveform stored in the oscilloscope and uses the variations showing. But they do not appear at first glance to
same software as the RSA Series to make all of the RF be significant. The graphical plot of the numerical results will
measurements. The frequency spectrum is shown in Figure be more indicative if there is in fact a coherent variation. Figure
20. This pulse chirps from 250 MHz to 750 MHz. 22 shows the Trend Plot of the Avg ON parameter.
Next the Pulse Table is selected with basic timing and To be able to see the small variations, the vertical scale has
amplitude measurements. been “zoomed” to a sensitivity of 0.1 dB per division. At this
setting there is very clearly a periodic variation of the pulse
amplitude. The total peak-to-peak amplitude variation is
about 0.07 dB.
The horizontal scale is simply the number of the pulse whose
amplitude is plotted vertically. The effective way to fully analyze
the variation is to use the FFT of the trend data from this plot.

Figure 21. The Pulse Table on SignalVu vector signal analysis software showing the
parameters of the 500 MHz chirp.

20 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Unintended Signals
When examining an installed radar system, one important task
is to check for emissions that do not help the radar and very
well may cause interference. The use for radars must consider
spectrum allocations as well as other nearby RF equipment
and facilities. Unintended signals may also provide increased
visibility of radar, or an unwanted signature which can be used
to identify the radar.

Spurious
There may be signals radiated from a radar system that
will create interference to other systems. These may be at
Figure 23. FFT of the trend of the pulse amplitudes.
frequencies outside the assigned channel of the main radar
transmitter signal. Some of these signals may be active all the
time and some may be active only during pulse transmission.
Selecting “FFT” instead of “Trend” in the drop-down box in the
This requires stepping across the entire frequency range of the
lower left of Figure 23 brings up the frequency spectrum of the
analyzer. The wideband oscilloscope with an FFT spectrum
measured parameter. The spectrum plot distinctly shows a
plot can provide a single view of both in-channel and out-of-
peak disturbance at 4 kHz, which is 53 dB below the average
channel emissions.
value of the amplitude. Something is modulating the pulse
power at a 4 kHz rate. The frequency of the disturbance can Transient Signals (DPX Live RF Spectrum Display)
assist in the troubleshooting of components or subsystems
Some signals may only be present during the pulse, but be
within the radar causing this problem.
on a different frequency. Some signals may be completely
To convert this dB reading to the amplitude variation, work unrelated to the pulse, and may be on any frequency including
backwards through the decibel formula: V = antilog (dB/20). within the pulse frequency itself.
Minus 53 dB equates to an RMS voltage variation of 0.22%.
To discover signals such as these, a monitor is needed which
This is 0.63% peak-to-peak. This agrees very closely with the
is continuous and also one that can show a single signal
“eyeball” value seen in the previous Figure 22.
deviation out of the continuous examination.
A very subtle disturbance of this radar transmitter has proven
The DPX Live RF Spectrum Display can do exactly that. This
easy to analyze.
technology is implemented in the RSA hardware, so it can
not be used by the SignalVu vector signal analysis software
on stored acquisition records. The DPO/DSA/MSO Series
oscilloscopes also utilize DPX technology for voltage vs.
time traces.

tek.com 21
Application Note

RF Transform Sample Sets DFT Spectrums Pixel Histogram Temp. Grading

1
Analog RF Discrete 1 Pixel Display
3
To Digital Fourier Buffer Color
3
1
1 3
1
4 1 1
3 4
3 4
1 3 3 1
Conversion Transform Memory Grading
1
3
3 3
4
4
4 4 4 4 4 4 4

Real-Time Spectrum Analysis

(DFT Computation is Completed Before Next Sample Set)

1 Hz 100 Msps
or 292,969 FTT/s >14,000 FFT/Frame 10 - 33 Frame/s
26.5 GHz
300 Msps
(Opt. 110)

Figure 24. The DPX spectrum display hardware engine on the RSA.

Refer to the previous Figure 5 for the RSA block diagram. Once the main display monitor is ready to accept the next
The A/D converter operates continuously. Samples of whatever update, the buffer pixels are converted to the different colors
signal is in the IF are passed to the hardware signal processor that represent the density of hits – blue for very few hits up to
without interruption. These samples are processed at up to red representing many hits. In this fashion the DPX spectrum
292,969 seamless spectrum measurements per second. display information is updated to the display monitor without
missing the presence of even one of the 48,000 spectrum
These spectrum measurements are done in the DPX run-
measurements per second.
time engine. The next step uses a small buffer memory
(virtual screen) into which a bitmap of the spectrum display is One last step is for the DPX spectrum display processor to
placed. Then as each spectrum display is produced, another check the user entry for “persistence.” If the persistence is set
bitmap is added to the pixel buffer, one pixel at a time. This to minimum, then the pixel memory will be zeroed out before
creates a bitmap in which each pixel contains a single number the next set of spectra is entered. If the persistence is high,
representing the number of times that the spectrum trace “hit” then the older data will slowly be divided out so that the effect
that location on the virtual screen. from an old spectrum event will slowly fade away. However,
when the persistence is set to Infinite, the pixel histogram
behind the image will be a complete histogram and not
fade away.

22 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 25. RSA measurements of the Frank Coded pulse.

Now the DPX spectrum display is used to “discover” some pulse duration. A standard spectrum display cannot show the
otherwise invisible artifacts. This Frank Coded pulse has some spectral results of these very narrow transitions.
very interesting characteristics. Each pulse was programmed
The DPX spectrum display in the upper left dramatically
to have controlled transition times. This should somewhat limit
shows the infrequent wideband splatter due to the phase
the bandwidth of a CW pulse. The pulse timings can be seen
transitions. The dark blue of these excursions denotes that
in the pulse table in the lower right of Figure 25 to be 100 µs
they are very infrequent compared to the central portion of
width and 11 µs rise and fall times. However, the transitions
the pulse spectrum.
between the different segments of phase are not phase-
continuous. This creates very short-time wide frequency The spectrum trace is the result of one measurement
transient spectral components at these transitions. (depending on the spectrum settings) that may happen once
for each pulse, or may integrate for many pulses. The DPX
The entire Sin(x)/x spectrum of the pulse occupies only the
spectrum display with 292,000 individual spectra per second
very center of the 110 MHz wide standard Spectrum Display
has (for this 100 µs pulse width and 120 µs pulse period) at
in the lower left of Figure 25. This display does not show that
least six spectrum measurements per pulse with no gaps. This
there is extended spectral energy present due to the phase
provides discovery of all the spectral energy including the wide
discontinuities incorrectly allowed at the transitions between
splatter from the phase transitions.
the segments of different phases of the modulation. These
phase transitions are only a very small percentage of the DPX spectrum display allows discovery of infrequent or
otherwise low probability of intercept signals.

tek.com 23
Application Note

The signal is being continuously digitized and fed into the

acquisition memory. When the data reaches the end of the
memory, it seamlessly starts at the beginning of memory
and replaces the oldest data. In this circular fashion there is
always an entire memory of captured data being updated.
When the trigger occurs, the instrument marks the trigger
location in memory.
In the same manner as digital oscilloscopes or Logic
Analyzers, there are user-specified pre-trigger and post-trigger
memory sizes. Once the trigger location is marked in memory,
the acquisition will continue until the post-trigger amount of
memory is filled.
Figure 26. A Frequency Mask that triggered on the small signal in between two
large ones. In this manner the memory can be optimally configured to
contain a seamless capture of the events both before and
Frequency Mask Trigger (FMT) in the RSA Series after the trigger.

The run-time process engine that is used for DPX spectrum The mask can be drawn arbitrarily with as many fingers or
display can be used to monitor the acquisition bandwidth other shaped areas as desired. Alternatively, the “Autodraw”
without interruption and trigger the instrument on the function can be used to automatically define the spectrum
incoming frequency spectrum. from existing traces in DPX spectrum or Spectrum views with
a user-definable frequency and amplitude offset. These points
For triggering on specific frequencies at specific amplitudes,
can then be manually modified around specific frequency
Tektronix invented the Frequency Mask Trigger (FMT). The
events of interest.
user can draw a mask on the spectrum display. This mask
could define a “Trigger if a signal enters here” mask. An This mask can trigger on a very small signal at one frequency,
example of a mask is in Figure 26. This one is drawn so that while preventing the surrounding huge signals from generating
in between two of the legitimate signals there is a trigger area a trigger. A normal power trigger will always trigger on any
drawn. The magnitude of the FFT of a signal is compared signal within the IF bandwidth which is above the trigger
again the mask as fast as necessary to satisfy Nyquist threshold. The FMT will only trigger on the frequencies
criteria. Now if a small signal intrudes on the mask, a trigger is specified by the user.
generated which will capture the signal into memory.

24 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Figure 27. Spectrum analyzer and frequency vs. time views of the PLL unlock transient. Figure 28. DPX spectrum display of the PLL unlock transient.

Signals in both Time and Frequency Domains second and the duty cycle of the transient is 0.015%. This
Some signals may exhibit transient behavior in both the time is why the spectrum trace in the upper window has only the
and frequency domains simultaneously. One example of this intended carrier and not a clue that there is a problem.
is a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) that is marginal in its lock and The lower trace is a frequency vs. time demodulation view.
occasionally unlocks. When it unlocks it may quickly snap If a problem can be located, then its nature can be seen.
back and not unlock again for many hours. Such transient Next the DPX spectrum display is used to look for any
behavior can be very difficult to capture. transient problems.
But complicating the troubleshooting is the likelihood that With the DPX spectrum display, the problem is rapidly visible.
when unlocked, the oscillator may sweep over a wide The very low duty cycle is the reason for such a dim blue color
frequency range. Such a transient in both time and frequency for the transient frequencies while the rest of the spectrum
requires a tool like DPX spectrum display to understand the that is continuous shows as very bright red.
character of the fault.
Once the problem is discovered to exist, and the frequencies
Figure 27 is such an occasionally unlocking PLL. Without DPX are known where it is doing its work, the FMT can be set up
spectrum display there is virtually no way to even discover to capture a record only when the transient slips into the right
that there is a problem at all. The transient unlock and re-lock part of the blue display components.
takes 150 µs total. This transient repeats about once per

tek.com 25
Application Note

External Threats
There may be many signals external to radar or other
electronic systems which will cause problems. When a
system utterly ceases to function, it will be known that there
is a problem. But some signals may be more subtle such
that the radar simply gets the wrong result. This may well be
much worse than outright failure.
In the case of the more subtle interference, a method is
needed to discover that there is a problem, trigger on it,
capture and then analyze it to learn what, and possibly
where it is.
Depending on the type of external problem, the techniques
for discovering and locating it may differ.

Figure 29. FMT captures the transient. Now frequency vs. time analyzes it. Interference
Interference to a pulsed signal may be hard to find. The
Event Isolation and Analysis next example is the case of a “scanning monitor receiver”
The upper trace in Figure 29 is the same spectrum trace as located near a radar installation. The Local Oscillator (LO)
before, but now it has a FMT set up in the blue box uppermost in the receiver was radiating a harmonic physically near the
in the display. That represents where the trigger found the radar receiver. As the scanner hopped through the band it
signal, and the spectrum plot displays the frequencies present was monitoring, the harmonic was hopping through the radar
at that time. pulse frequency.
The frequency vs. time display now shows the nature of the
transient. The display had been zoomed in to see the detailed
shape of the transient. Markers can be used to take exact
measurements if needed.

Figure 30. Ordinary analyzer display of the spectrum in the area of the radar.

However, initially it was only known that every four seconds

or so the radar experienced errors. Figure 30 shows the
spectrum as measured by an ordinary spectrum analyzer
or VSA. Only the outline of the sine(x)/x pulse spectrum is
visible. If the radar could be turned off other signals might be
seen, but in this case the interference was only present for
limited periods of time, so the radar would need to be turned
off for several days.
An ordinary analyzer does not have enough spectrum
measurements, nor does it combine them so as to be sure
not to miss the effects from any one of them.

26 tek.com
 Advanced Radar Analysis

Signal
The trace alternates wildly between parts of signals, and
Interference
only when “max hold” is enabled is the upper trace in Figure
32. This is the maximum of all signals and does not give any
detail. It would seem that there is a chirp and maybe a narrow
interferer near the low-frequency end of the chirp.

Figure 31. The RSA with DPX Live RF spectrum display can see the interfering signal
hopping underneath the radar pulse.

The DPX spectrum display can see all of the spectrum effects.
Note how the stepping LO harmonic is easily visible even
inside the spectrum lobes of the pulse transmitter. When
viewing this on a real RSA Series spectrum analyzer (not a
still image as shown here) the Live RF view really makes the
interference more visible yet, as the visibility is improved by its
Figure 33. DPX spectrum display showing multiple chirp and CW.
movement inside the stationary pulse spectrum.

Jamming and Spoofing In Figure 33, there are two chirps visible in the same
Jamming is usually just the spraying out of a signal with spectrum. DPX spectrum display shows that one is lower
enough power to overwhelm the intended signal in the amplitude and has less frequency deviation and is effectively
receiver. This will disrupt the operation of the receiver. “hiding” inside the larger one. In addition there is a pulsed
It should be noted that a radar may not know it is being carrier inside both chirps and two small CW carriers
jammed, because the result might be failure to detect a target. present all the time. With DPX spectrum display, this image
Spoofing involves the intentional creation of “copycat” radar becomes visible very quickly. While other means (such as a
pulses that in part or entirely imitate the ones from the radar Spectrogram) may be available, DPX spectrum display greatly
being spoofed. These pulses appear, to the radar, to be target improves the time to insight.
reflections from its own transmit signal (such as a range gate The continuous carriers might have been visible in the ordinary
pull-off) which confuses the target processor, or can even
analyzer plot, but the varying noise in the noise floor obscured
cause wrong tactical decisions to be made.
them until the DPX spectrum display captures all of the noise
Identification of spoofing signals usually requires much more variations, and therefore the noise looks much more constant.
careful and complete analysis than for a jammer. In effect, all 292,969 of the noise spectra are included instead
of only as many as the display can handle sequentially, as is
the case with the older technology.
The chirp radar pulse is the wide high-amplitude one. There
are several interferers now clearly visible. A smaller chirp and
the very large pulsed jamming signal are now also completely
visible. Only the very top of the CW pulsed jammer was visible
before, as that part had more amplitude than anything else.

Figure 32. VSA spectrum shows limited visibility of the real environment.

First, a VSA was used and limited spectrum activity is seen.

tek.com 27
 Contact Information:
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United Kingdom / Ireland 00800 2255 4835
USA 1 800 833 9200
Rev. 06/18

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