Experiment 4: To measure the PvT of a GSM modulated RF signal.

Apparatus Required:

NI PXIe-1075 Chassis, NI PXIe-8108 Embedded controller, NI PXIe5652 RF Signal Generator, NI PXIe-5601 RF Down convertor, NI PXIe-5622 16-bit IF digitizer, NI
PXIe-5450 400MS/s I/Q signal generator, NI PXIe-5611 I/Q vector modulator, NI PXI-5610 RF up
convertor, NI PXI-5441 100MS/s AWG OSP.
Agilent EXA N9010A Signal Analyzer (9 KHz-26.5GHz), Tektronix AFG3021B, Cables, Adaptors etc.

Theory:
PvT measurements determine if the mobile station's transmitter power stays within specified
power and timing ranges. During a PvT measurement, the test set makes a narrowband pointby-point measurement of the instantaneous power received during the signal burst as it varies
across a single burst or up to six adjacent modulated TDMA bursts. The Burst Capture
Range parameter determines the maximum number of TDMA bursts that the PvT
measurement can measure. When the Burst Capture Range is set to Single , the PvT
measurement can measure up to 2 adjacent modulated TDMA bursts. When the Burst Capture
Range is set to All , the PvT measurement can measure up to 6 adjacent modulated TDMA
bursts. A single pass or fail result is returned for the entire multislot configuration. This means
that if any part of the multislot configuration fails the multislot mask, the result is a Fail.
Additional information is provided to indicate which segments of the multislot configuration
have failed.
Included with the narrowband measurement are broad-band carrier power measurements,
labeled as Transmit Power on the Burst Numeric Resultsscreen. The PvT Transmit Power
measurement is synchronized to the burst midamble as recommended in 3GPP 51.010
(formerly ETSI GSM 11.10). (The test set also provides a faster transmit power measurement
that is synchronized to the burst's amplitude.
You can also control the modulation and coding scheme (either GMSK, 8PSK or 16QAM
modulation) used by the data connection to be measured using CALL:(PDTCH|
PDTChannel):MCSCheme . Additionally, you can manually control what modulation should
be expected for individual bursts using CALL:MODulation[:FORMat]:CONTrol:AUTO .
This measurement conforms to ETSI GSM 05.05 (Ver 8.2.0, 7.2.0, 6.6.0), section 4.5 and
Annex B. It will also conform with 3GPP 51.010 (formerly ETSI GSM 11.10) if used as part
of a type approval system.
Types of Signals Power vs. Time Can Measure

The following list summarizes the input signal attributes for making PvT measurements.

1. A Single normal burst, or up to 2 normal bursts when Burst Capture Range is set to
Single.
2. A Single normal burst, or up to 6 normal bursts when Burst Capture Range is set to All.
3. GSM RACH burst when Burst Capture Range is set to Single.
4. CW signals.
For details on the multislot configurations which the test set supports.

Typical GSM PvT Measurement

Typical PvT Mask for a Two Burst Multislot Configuration

Operating Consideration

You can perform the PvT measurement in all operating modes except CellOff and Fast
DeviceTune . However, you must set the modulation format and the expected power correctly
in order to get the accurate power result of the measured bursts.
In the Active Cell mode, the test set automatically passes the Training Sequence Code
(TSC) to the measurement with no action required by you. However, you must specify the
TSC manually in the test mode.
The dynamic range of the PvT measurement is approximately 70 dB.

1. Power vs. Time Parameters

Burst Capture Range
This parameter determines whether the uplink burst are captured individually or
simultaneously during the PvT measurement. The default value for this parameter
is Single . When Burst Capture Range is set to Single , the PvT measurement can
measure up to two bursts, which are captured in two TDMA frames. When Burst
Capture Range is set to ALL , the PvT measurement can measure up to six bursts, which
are captured in one TDMA frame.
The GPIB command to set this parameter is SETup:PVTime:BURSt:CAPTure .
3

Burst Synchronization
The PvT measurement provides you with a choice for the time reference setting (burst
synchronization) for a single uplink burst. In the case of measuring multiple uplink
bursts the burst synchronization is fixed to Midamble. If a valid midamble cannot be
found, the measurement will complete on a best effort basis using RF Amplitude
synchronization.
Description

Burst
Synchronization
Midamble
RF Amplitude

References measurement timing to the midamble transmitted within a timeslot.

The amplitude rise and fall of a transmitted burst determines the measurement
time reference.
No edge of the burst will be detected, the measurement will be made using the
first 87 or 147 bits of data found centered around the middle of the expected
burst position. None may be used when measuring non-bursted (CW) signals.

None

Note, the Burst Synchronization is set to Midamble and can not be changed in the
following scenarios:
o
o
o

When measuring multi-bursts.

The Burst Capture Range is set to All.
The operating mode is Active cell (EGPRS), EGPRS BCH, EGPRS
BCH+TCH, or EGPRS BCH+PDTCH+TCH.

The GPIB command to set this parameter

is SETup:PVTime:BSYNc or SETup:PVTime:SYNC .

Graph Power Reference

This parameter determines which burst's Transmit Power is used as the reference value
for the PvT graph. This value will effect the results from the FETCh:PVTime:SECTion
and FETCh:PVTime:TRACe commands.
Note, when Burst Capture Range is set to SINGle , setting Power Reference to Burst 3
to 6 will cause "Illegal parameter value" error.
The GPIB command to set this parameter
is: SETup:PVTime:GRAPh:POWer:REFerence

Graph State
This command is used to turn on or off the PvT Measurement graphics state. Setting
the Graph State to ON does not automatically force the graphical view to be displayed.
You should manually change the view to Graph. Noted that turning the graph state to
ON will slow the measurement.

The GPIB command to set this parameter is: SETup:PVTime:GRAPh:STATe

Graph Time Reference

This command is used to determine which burst is used as the time reference for the
graph.
Note, when Burst Capture Range is set to SINGle , setting Power Reference to Burst 3
to 6 will cause "Illegal parameter value" error.
The GPIB command to set this parameter
is: SETup:PVTime:GRAPh:TIME:REFerence

Log Detector Video Filter

This parameter allows you to choose a filter to apply to the log-detector (LD) trace
output. You can select a 1MHz Video Bandwidth Filter or a 300kHz filter. The default
setting is 1MHz Video Bandwidth Filter. 300KHz Filter can helps you to filter out
more noise. However the 300KHz filter is only applicable to GMSK modulated
signals.
This parameter can only be set via GPIB command.
The GPIB command to set this parameter is: SETup:PVTime:VIDeo:FILTer:BWIDth

Mask Type
This parameter allows you to select the type of mask to be used for a specified burst.
There will be four independent mask definitions available:
o
o
o

One fixed GMSK Mask according to ETSI GSM 05.05 v8

One fixed 8-PSK Mask according to ETSI GSM 05.05 v8
Two custom Masks configurable by the user

The first two masks are configured according the ETSI GSM 05.05 v8. These two fixed
masks are selectable through the Mask Type ETSI, have a fixed length and can not be
modified by the user. The two custom masks are of variable size and user settable, you
can specify up to a maximum of 32 upper points and 32 lower points to define a
custom mask.
The GPIB command to set the Mask type
is: SETup:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:MASK[:SELected] or SETup:PVTime:BURSt2|3|4|5|
6:MASK[:SELected] .
The GPIB commands to set the lower limits for the specified custom mask
are SETup:PVTime:CUSTom1:MASK:LOWer? and SETup:PVTime:CUSTom2:MAS
K:LOWer? .
Use SETup:PVTime:CUSTom1:MASK:LOWer:POINts? andSETup:PVTime:CUSTom
5

2:MASK:LOWer:POINts? to query the number of reference points for the specified

user settable lower mask.
The GPIB commands to set the upper limits for the specified custom mask
are SETup:PVTime:CUSTom1:MASK:UPPer? and SETup:PVTime:CUSTom2:MASK
:UPPer? .
Use SETup:PVTime:CUSTom1:MASK:UPPer:POINts? and SETup:PVTime:CUSTom
2:MASK:UPPer:POINts?to query the number of reference points for the specified user
settable upper mask.

Measurement Offsets
The PvT measurement has a fixed number of twelve offset settings for every active
burst of the TDMA frame, up to 6 uplink time slots (only when capture mode is set
to ALL ). Each burst's offset times are referenced to the centre of symbol 0 for that burst
(the start of the useful part of the burst). A single reference point for a multislot
configuration is not used because the measurement may be made in two separate passes
and the guard period between bursts can vary in length.
The GPIB command to set this parameter
is: SETup:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:TIME[:OFFSet][:SELected] or SETup:PVTime:BURSt
2|3|4|5|6:TIME[:OFFSet][:SELected]

Measurement Timeout
You can set the timeout state and time for this measurement. To set them separately,
use SETup:PVTime:TIMeout:STATe to set the timeout
state, SETup:PVTime:TIMeout:TIME to set the timeout time;
use SETup:PVTime:TIMeout[:STIMe] to set the state and time simultaneously.

Multi Measurement
You can set Multi-Measurement state and count for the PvT measurement. If MultiMeasurement State is On , Multi-Measurement Count determines how many
measurements are to be performed for a measurement request. If Multi-Measurement
State is Off , no Multi-Measurement are performed.
The PvT measurement use the standard Multi-Measurement implementation. Each
Multi-Measurement returns the average value, maximum value, minimum value and
standard deviation for the number of counts selected. No intermediate results are
returned during a Multi-Measurement.
Multi-Measurement count specifies how many loops are measured for a measurement
request.
To set Multi-Measurement state and count separately,
use SETup:PVTime:COUNt:STATe to set the Multi-Measurement
state, SETup:PVTime:COUNt:NUMBer to set the Multi-Measurement count;
use SETup:PVTime:COUNt[:SNUMber] to set the state and count simultaneously.
6

Ranging Mode
This parameter is only applicable when measuring two bursts and the Burst Capture
Range is set to Single.
The Ranging Mode parameter helps you to strike a balance between dynamic range and
Linearity. There are two Ranging Modes available:
o

High Linearity Mode (HLINear)

The High Linearity Mode ensures the accuracy of the PvT trace during the
active part of the burst at the expense of some loss in dynamic range.

High Dynamic Range Mode (HDynamic) The High Dynamic Range Mode
gives you the full dynamic range but the power result slightly higher at the front
and the end of the burst.

The GPIB command to set this parameter is SETup:PVTime:RANGing[:MODE]

Trigger Arm
Trigger arm can be set to Single or Continuous , See Trigger Arm (Single or
Continuous) Description for more information.
The GPIB command to set this parameter
is SETup:PVTime:CONTinuous[:SELected] .

Trigger Delay
This is the specified time between the trigger event and when the test set begins
sampling data. See Trigger Delay Description for more information.
The GPIB command to set this parameter is SETup:PVTime:TRIGger:DELay .

Trigger Source
The triggering choices available for the PvT measurement are RF rise, protocol,
immediate, and auto. In most cases, auto triggering provides the optimum measurement
triggering condition for the PvT measurement.
When auto triggering is selected, the test set chooses a trigger source based on the
optimum trigger source available. For example, PvT measurements are automatically
triggered by a protocol trigger if a data connection is established or data connection
processing events provide the protocol trigger source.
In situations where no protocol trigger is available, the test set chooses RF rise
triggering for the PvT measurement. An example of this situation is when the test set is
in one of the test mode operating modes.

Recommended Trigger Source

Operating
mode

Recommended Trigger Source

RF Rise or Protocol

Active Cell

Test mode
CW signal

Note: RF Rise should be selected when measuring bursted signal with no valid
midamble.
RF Rise
Immediate

The GPIB command to set this parameter is SETup:PVTime:TRIGger:SOURce

TX Power Method
This parameter allows you to select the transmit power measurement method for an
8PSK or 16QAM modulated signal.
In EGPRS operating mode, there are two methods to determine the transmit power of
an 8PSK or 16QAM modulated signal: Burst Power and Estimated Carrier Power.
o

Burst Power
This is the average power measured across a single timeslot. This value varies as
a function of the modulating data.

Estimated Carrier Power

This is an estimate of the power of the unmodulated carrier. The Estimated
Carrier Power is equivalent to the Long Term Average Power which is the
primary definition of 8PSK or 16QAM modulated signal power in the ETSI
standards. Long Term Average Power is the average power of many individual
bursts when the individual bursts are modulated with PRBS data. The Estimated
Carrier Power measurement uses knowledge of the modulating data to determine
the carrier power from the power measurement.

The GPIB command to set this parameter is: SETup:PVTime:ETXPower[:METHod]

2. Power versus Time Measurement Results

The primary result of a PvT measurement is the pass/fail result. The pass/fail result that the
test set returns indicates whether the entire multislot configuration falls within power and
timing ranges determined by a point-by-point comparison of the power versus time
measurement mask.
The PvT measurement examines the multislot configuration to determine the points which
have failed the most, or the points which are closest to failing the upper and lower limits.
These worst case points provide the upper and lower limit margin results. A negative value,
8

along with the offset time, is returned for the result if the multislot configuration fails the
mask. A positive value indicates the multislot configuration is within the mask. The
command FETCh:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:MASK:ALL? and FETCh:PVTime:BURSt2|3|4|5|
6:MASK:ALL? are used to return these values for the burst you specify.
For statistical analysis, the test set allows you to set up to 12 time markers per burst. These
markers do not define the mask, but are merely used to get results from specified points on the
mask. To set these markers you can use SETup:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:TIME[:OFFSet]
[:SELected] andSETup:PVTime:BURSt2|3|4|5|6:TIME[:OFFSet][:SELected] . Note that these
points are a subset of those used in the point-by-point comparison which determines the
pass/fail result.
The Power versus Time measurement allows you to use the ETSI mask specification or define
up to two custom masks of your own. For more information refer to Mask Type .
The following lists show the results available for single measurements, multi-measurements
and statistical measurements:

Results for a single PvT measurement are listed below. Results 1 through 6 can be
obtained using the query FETCh:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]
[:ALL]? and FETCh:PVTime:BURSt2|3|4|5|6[:ALL]? . Results 6 through 9 can be
obtained using the
queryFETCh:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:MASK:ALL? and FETCh:PVTime:BURSt2|3|4|5|
6:MASK:ALL? .
1. PvT measurement integrity indicator for each burst in the multislot configuration
2. PvT multislot mask pass/fail result (0 = Pass, 1 & NaN = Fail)
3. Transmit power with midamble synchronization (average power during the
burst) for each burst in the multislot configuration
4. PvT maximum power at up to 12 time offsets
5. PvT mask error code (this indicates which parts of the multislot configuration
are causing failure). For more details on the mask error code result
see FETCh:PVTime:MASK[:FAIL]:SEGment? .
6. Upper limit power margin worst case for each burst in the multislot
configuration (how close to or where the signal exceeded upper power limit)
7. Upper limit timing margin worst case for each burst in the multislot
configuration (the time offset where the signal came close to or exceeded upper
timing limit)
8. Lower limit power margin worst case for each burst in the multislot
configuration (how close or where the signal exceeded lower power limit)
9. Lower limit timing margin worst case for each burst in the multislot
configuration (the time offset where the signal came close to or exceeded lower
timing limit)
9

In addition to the results you can obtain for a single measurement the following results
are also available for multi-measurements . These results can be obtained using the
query FETCh:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]:TXPower[:CARRier]:ALL? andFETCh:PVTime:B
URSt2|3|4|5|6:TXPower[:CARRier]:ALL? .
1. Minimum transmit carrier power measured across each burst
2. Maximum transmit carrier power measured across each burst
3. Average of transmit carrier power measurements (average of averages) for each
burst in the multislot configuration
4. Standard deviation of transmit carrier power measured across each burst

Statistical PvT measurement results, calculated from measurements taken at each of the
active time offset markers or across a subset of the markers and available only through
programming commands are listed below. These results can be obtained using
theFETCH:PVTime[:BURSt[1]]|BURSt2|BURSt3|BURSt4|BURSt5|BURSt6:POWer queries.
1. Average Power (in dBc) measured at the marker(s) relative to transmit power
(carrier power)
2. Maximum power (in dBc) measured at the marker(s) relative to transmit power
(carrier power)
3. Minimum power (in dBc) measured at the marker(s) relative to transmit power
(carrier power)
4. Standard deviation of power (in dBc) measured at the marker(s) relative to
transmit power (carrier power)

The measurement integrity indicator is another result available for any completed PvT
measurement. This result provides information about error conditions which occurred
and may have affected the accuracy of the most recently completed measurement. For
more information about measurement integrity, refer to Integrity Indicator .

The measurement progress report is a feature that allows you to periodically see how
far a multi-measurement cycle has progressed. When the multi-measurement count is
greater than 1, the progress report indicates the number of individual submeasurements that have been completed, n, out of the total number to be
completed, m . "n" is referred to as ICOunt remotely. "m," the total number of
measurements to be made, is based on the PvT settings you make and the input signal
attributes.
The progress report is displayed on the test set's screen in an "n of m" format. The
number of measurements completed, n , increases from zero to the total number of
measurements which need to be made, m .

10

3. Power vs. Time Input Signal Requirements

The PvT measurement will complete and meet the PvT measurement accuracy specifications
when the signal meets the following input signal conditions.
1. Input signal level is between -15 dBm and +37 dBm for GMSK modulated signal.
2. Input signal level is between -15 dBm and +33 dBm for 8PSK modulated signal.
3. Input signal level is between -15 dBm and +30 dBm for 16QAM modulated signal.
4. Input signal level is within +/-3 dB of expected input level.

Experimental Steps:
Make the connections as follows:
1. Using the appropriate cables, adapters, and circulator, connect the output signal of the
BTS to the RF input of the instrument.
2. Connect the base transmission station simulator or signal generator to the BTS through a
circulator to initiate a link constructed with sync and pilot channels, if required.
3. Connect a BNC cable between the 10 MHz OUT port of the signal generator and the EXT
REF IN port of the instrument.
4. Connect the system controller to the BTS through the serial bus cable to control the BTS
operation.
Measurement Procedure
Step 1.Press the Preset key to preset the instrument.
Step 2.Press the MODE,GSM (w/EDGE) keys to enable the measurements.
Step 3. Press the Mode Setup, Trigger keys to select a trigger source as .
Step 4.Press the Radio,Bandkeys to select the desired band. This determines the frequency
and band-related presets.
Step 5.Press the FREQUENCY Channel key to select the desired center frequency or ARFCN.
Step 6.Press the Burst Type key to select the desired burst type .
Step 7.Press the MEASURE,GMSK Pwr vs Time keys to initiate Power vs Time measurement.
1.

Action-Observation-Interpretation Table:
PKM:-PEAK TO MEAN POWER
P1-P2: INCREMENT IN POWER DURING T RISE.
ACTION

OBSERVATIONS

INTERPRETATION

T RISE=
6.407105 u sec.
MEAN POWER=

AS GAIN IMBALANCE IS INTRODUCED,

FLUCTUATIONS IN PEAK POWER
INCREASES.

GAIN
IMBALANCE
A) 2 db

11

-2.12 dbm
PKM= 1.707 db
P1-P2 =-54.11
dbm
B) 4 db

T RISE = 6.1656
u sec.
MEAN POWER =
-1.936 dbM
PKM = 2.027 db
P1-P2= -58.21
dbm

I OFFSET
A) 5 %

T RISE= 5.19
usec
MEAN POWER=
-2.122 dbm
PKM= 1.44 db
P1-P2=25.62dbm

B) 10%

T RISE =
4.81663 usec.
MEAN POWER =
-2.169 dbm
PKM= 1.651 db
P1-P2=20.44dbm

MEAN POWER IS NOT AFFECTED WITH

THE INTRODUCTION OF I OFFSET.

Q OFFSET
A) 5 %

T RISE= 5.193
usec
MEAN POWER =
-2.675 dbm
PKM= 1.498 db
P1-P2=21.3dbm

B) 10%

T RISE= 7.389
usec.
MEAN POWER =
-2.654 dbm
PKM= 1.859 db
P1-P2=20.28dbm

MEAN POWER REMAINS CONSTANT.

AWGN
ENABLE
SNR
A) 63 db

T RISE = 7.186
usec
MEAN POWER =
-2.7 dbm
PKM = 1.143 db

12

AS WE INCREASE SNR, NOISE FLOOR

LOWERS DOWN. MEAN POWER AND PKM
REMAINS THE SAME.

P1-P2=58.84dbm
B) 81 db

T RISE = 6.39
usec.
MEAN POWER =
-2.721 dbm
PKM= 1.171 db
P1-P2=68.01dbm

QUADRATUR
E SKEW
12 DEGREES

T RISE = 6.491
usec
MEAN POWER =
-2.748 dbm
PKM = 2.03 db
P1-P2=61.38dbm

24 DEGREES

T RISE = 4.396
usec
MEAN POWER =
-2.851 dbm
PKM = 2.913 db
P1-P2=59.1dbm

13

SLIGHT DECREASE IN RISE TIME IS

OBSERVED AS WE INCREASE THE
QUADRATURE SKEW.