IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool

For Keysight Arbitrary Waveform Generators

USER GUIDE
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2 IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide

Contents
1 Introduction
Overview 8
Limited Warranty 8
Software Installation 9

2 IQTools User Interface

Launching the IQTools User Interface 16
IQTools main window 18
Menu bar 18
Menu bar 18
Button Panel 25

3 Working with IQTools

Concepts of the IQTools GUI 30
Common features of most waveform generation utilities 31
Entering Numerical Values 38
Working directly in MATLAB without the IQTools GUI 39
Waveform Display 40
Waveform Download 40

Generating RF / IF Waveforms 44
Instrument Configuration 45

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 3

Contents

Multi-Tone and Noise 52

Noise 53
Equidistant and Non-equidistant Tones 54
Tones With Different Amplitudes 54
Generating a different multi-tone signal on each AWG channel 55
Multi-Tone amplitude or amplitude and phase correction 55

Digital Modulations 58
Amplitude and Phase Corrections for Digital Modulation Waveforms 62
Radar Pulses/Chirps 63
Frequency Switching 70
OFDM 71
Serial Data Generation 72
Pulse/Function Generator 85
Load Waveform from File 89
Sequencer Setup 95
In-System Calibration 98
M8199A User Calibration In-System Calibration 100
Reset M8199A User Calibration 103
M8199A Multi-Module Skew Calibration 104
M8199B Multi-Module Skew Calibration 109

Correction Management 112

Concept of operation 112
Correction Management Window 113
M8190A Specific Functions 118
Using the M8190A in Digital Up-conversion Mode 118
Working With Two M8190A Modules Simultaneously 118
M8190A-Specific Utilities: 4-Channel Synchronization 119

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 Contents

4 References
References 122

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 5

 IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool
User Guide

1 Introduction
Overview / 8
Software Installation / 9
1 Introduction

Overview

IQTools is a collection of MATLAB example applications for creating I/Q,

IF/RF, serial data, multi-tone, radar pulse, and many other types of
waveforms on the Keysight M8190A, M8194A, M8195A, M8196A, M8199A,
M8199B, 81180A, M933xA, 81150A, and 81160A arbitrary waveform
generators (AWG) as well as several Keysight Signal Generators. The
example applications are created to demonstrate the waveform generation
capabilities of these instruments, along with the value of using these
instruments together with MATLAB software.
MATLAB is a software environment and programming language that is very
well suited for calculating arbitrary waveforms, measurement and analysis
routines, and instrument applications. MATLAB is available directly from
Keysight as an instrument option (option N6171A-M03) with many
instruments, including the M8190 and M933xA. It is also available from
MathWorks.
IQTools requires the MATLAB N6171A-M03 package to operate (or the
equivalent of these options, including MATLAB, Instrument Control
Toolbox, Signal Processing Toolbox, Communications System Toolbox,
and RF toolbox). These example applications were tested with MATLAB
Version 9.7.0 (R2019b) and Version 9.8.0 (R2020a) and might not work on
older versions of MATLAB.
Some of the analysis functionality works in conjunction with the PathWave
VSA software (89600). Version 21.0 or higher is required. In this document,
the PathWave 89600 VSA software is referred to as “VSA” software.
IQTools is available as source code, except for a few routines that are
delivered in encrypted form (*.p files) because they contain specific
Keysight IP. Alternatively, IQTools is also offered as a compiled executable
that does not require a separate MATLAB installation.

Limited Warranty

IQTools is provided “as-is” at no charge. The IQTools software has not

completed Keysight’s full quality assurance program and may have errors
or defects. Keysight makes no express or implied warranty of any kind with
respect to the software, and specifically disclaims the implied warranties of
merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
IQTools may only be used in conjunction with Keysight instruments.

8 IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide

 Introduction 1

Software Installation

IQTools is available as source code or as a compiled executable that does

not require a separate MATLAB installation. The installation process
depends on which version is used.
• IQTools (Source Code Version) - The source code version of IQTools
requires MATLAB software to operate. The source code version allows
you to extend or customize the functionality. You can request a free
trial of MATLAB software from your Keysight representative or directly
at www.mathworks.com/keysight/trial.
The IQTools source code is distributed in the form of a compressed .zip
archive. Choose an empty directory and unzip the files into this
directory. Make sure that the directory structure of the unzipped files
remains intact. It is recommended to use a subdirectory of your
MATLAB working directory (for example, C:\Users\<username>\
Documents\MATLAB\ IQtools).
Set the MATLAB search path to include the directory that you have
chosen. You might want to add the following line to your “startup.m”
script:

Once you have done that, you can easily start IQTools by typing iqtools
on the MATLAB command line.
• IQTools (Standalone Executable) - It is a compiled executable that
does not require a MATLAB license. The standalone executable version
does not allow you to extend or customize the functionality.

To install the compiled version of IQTools

1 Download the required executable file from the Keysight web page.
2 Double-click the executable file.
The iqtools Installer screen appears.

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1 Introduction

3 Click Next >.

The Installation Options screen appears.

4 On the Installation Options screen,

a (Optional) Click Browse to select the installation folder. By default,
the location C:\Program Files\Keysight\IQTools is selected.
b (Optional) Select the Add a shortcut to the desktop check-box to
create a shortcut on the desktop.
c Click Next >.

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 Introduction 1

5 On the Required Software screen:

a (Optional) Click Browse to select the installation folder. By default,
the location C:\Program Files\MATLAB\MATLAB Runtime is
selected.
b Click Next >.
The License Agreement screen appears.

6 On the License Agreement screen, select Yes.

7 Click Next.
In case of Source Code Version, the following Confirmation screen
appears. The MATLAB tool of download size 910 MB is installed with
the IQTools.

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 11

1 Introduction

In case of Standalone Executable, the following Confirmation screen

appears. The MATLAB tool is already included in the .exe file.

8 Click Install. The installation process starts.

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 Introduction 1

The Installation Complete screen appears after the installation

process is over.

9 Click Finish.
This completes the IQTools installation process.

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2 IQTools User Interface

Launching the IQTools User Interface / 16
IQTools main window / 18
2 IQtools User Interface

Launching the IQTools User Interface

If you are using the source code version of IQTools, type iqtools on the
MATLAB command line. If you are using the compiled version,
1 Click Start > All Programs > iqtools.

The Keysight IQTools main window appears. At the bottom left of the
main window, you can find the build date (YYYY.MM.DD) plus “script”
or “compiled” to indicate which version of IQTools you are using. In
case you need support, include this version information.

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 IQtools User Interface 2

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 17

2 IQtools User Interface

IQTools main window

The IQTools main window consists of the following GUI elements:

• Menu Bar
• Button panel

Menu bar

The menu bar consists of various drop-down menus, which provide access
to all waveform generation utilities and functions, while the Button panel
contains short cuts to frequently used utilities.

Menu bar

The menu bar consists of various drop-down menus which provide access
to different functions, and launch interactive GUI controls.

The menu bar includes the following drop-down menus:

• File
• IQ & RF
• Digital
• Other

File Menu

The File menu provides the following selection:

• Instrument Configuration: Enables you to select the AWG or signal
generator model from the list available and connect IQTools software
with the AWG, signal generator, oscilloscope, and so on, by providing
their visa addresses. For more information, see “Instrument
Configuration” on page 45.

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 IQtools User Interface 2

• In-System Calibration: Allows you to capture the magnitude and phase

response of your AWG or signal generator. This data is used to
pre-distort a waveform to achieve a flat response. For more
information, see “In-System Calibration” on page 98.
• Show Corrections: Clicking this opens the Correction Management
window. For more information, see “Correction Management” on page
112.
• Load waveform from file: This allows you to feed external data to
IQTools by loading a waveform file. For more information, see “Load
Waveform from File” on page 89.
• Sequencer setup: This is specific to M8190A and M8195A. All the
AWGs that support sequencing allow you to play sequential data by
entering the required fields and defining the sequence as per your
requirement. For more information, see “Sequencer Setup” on page 95.

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 19

2 IQtools User Interface

IQ & RF Menu

The IQ & RF menu offers a number of frequency-domain oriented

waveform generation utilities. It provides the following selection:
• Multi-Tone & Noise: Allows you to create signals made up of one or
more tones, either equally or arbitrarily spaced. It also allows for the
definition of a frequency interval without tones (or notch) for NPR
(Noise Power Ratio) testing. Amplitudes and phases of the individual
tones can be corrected through correction factor files that you have
defined. The Multi-Tone tab allows you to generate both RF and
baseband (I/Q) signals. For more information, see “Multi-Tone and
Noise” on page 52.
• Digital Modulations: Allows you to create digitally modulated signals,
both at IF/RF and baseband (I/Q). It directly supports a large variety of
signal-carrier modulation schemes. For more information, see “Digital
Modulations” on page 58.
• Radar Pulses/Chirps: Use this option to create a variety of pulsed
signals. It allows you to generate both RF and Baseband (I/Q) signals. It
directly supports a variet y of pulse train arrangements and
intra-modulation schemes. For more information, see “Radar
Pulses/Chirps” on page 63.
• Frequency switching: Allows frequency switching between two or more
frequencies with adjustable tone duration and phase continuous
switching. For more information, see “Frequency Switching” on page
70.
• OFDM: This option enables signal generation with orthogonal
frequency division multiplex modulation scheme. For more information,
see “OFDM” on page 71.
• Multi-Emitter Pulse/AM/FM: This option allows you to generate
overlapping pulse sequences along with multiple AM or FM modulated
carriers.
• CATV Signal Generation: Generate a waveform that simulates a cable
TV signal with multiple carriers.
• Radar Demo with moving targets: Using the sequencer capability of
the M8190A or M8195A AWGs, this option allows you to generate a
signal scenario of moving radar targets.
• Draw a pulse: This option allows you to generate a pulse by drawing
the magnitude and other defining parameters of a pulse on the graph.
You can select which parameter to draw/define using the ‘Creation
Mode’ drop-down menu.

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 IQtools User Interface 2

Digital Menu

The Digital menu contains a number of waveform generation utilities for

time-domain signals. It provides the following selection:
• Serial Data: Use this option to create single lane and multi lane bi-level
and multi-level high-speed digital serial signals, both with and without
distortions. It supports a variety of channel coding and modulation
schemes and allows you to generate a clock signal on a different AWG
channel or marker output. For more information, see “Serial Data
Generation” on page 72.
• Pulse/Function Generator: Allows you to generate time-domain pulses
or pulse sequences by defining the pulse parameters.
• C-PHY / D-PHY: Generate C-PHY and D-PHY signals using this option.
• Kandou ENRZ / CNRZ: Generate ENRZ / CNRZ signals using this
option.
• Diff./CM distortion generator: Use this option to use the M8195A AWG
as a differential & common mode distortion generator in conjunction
with another instrument, such as a BERT pattern generator.

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2 IQtools User Interface

Other Menu

This menu contains a collection of example applications. Some of them are

“pushbutton demos”, which can be used to demonstrate a particular AWG
feature. Others are specialized measurements that work only in
conjunction with certain external equipment and finally, some are simply
“fun” applications, such as the “Keysight Logo” shown on an oscilloscope.
The Other menu provides the following selection:
• Sequencer Demo (M8190A only): This example demonstrates the
M8190A’s capability for static and dynamic sequencing as well as
m em o r y pi ng -po ng a nd sho w s ho w t hese funct io ns c an be
programmed through IQTools. This utility works best with the script
version of IQTools because it allows you to modify the code and
experiment with the sequence and its settings.
• 4-Channel Synchronization (M8190A only): This example
demonstrates how two M8190A modules can be synchronized. It works
with or without the M8192A synchronization module.
• 16-Channel Synchronization (M8190A only): This example shows how
to combine AXIe chassis, M8192A sync modules, and M8190A AWGs to
a synchronous 16-channel system.
• Digital Up-conversion Demo (M8190A only): This example
demonstrates the digital up-conversion capability of the M8190A. It is
best viewed with a spectrum analyzer connected to the M8190A
output. If the spectrum analyzer is set up in IQTools configuration
window, the example script will configure the spectrum analyzer as well
as the AWG.

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 IQtools User Interface 2

• Band limited noise (M8190A only): This is an example application that

shows how to generate band limited noise using the M8190A. The
“randomness” of the noise signal is improved by using the M8190A
sequencer.
• Pulse Demo (M8195A only): This is a “pushbutton demo” of the
M8195A capabilities to generate four synchronized pulse signals. It is
best viewed with the four channels of an oscilloscope connected to the
four channels of the AWG.
• Angle of Arrival demo (M8195A only): This is a demonstration of the
M8195A’s sequencing and capabilities. It is best viewed with the four
channels of an oscilloscope connected to the four channels of the
AWG.
• FIR filter control (M8195A only): This is an example on how to control
the FIR filters inside the M8195A.
• Tone with calibrated amplitude (M8195A only): This example shows
how tone power levels on the M8195A can be calibrated over
frequency.
• FMCW Radar Assistant (M8195A only): This is part of the E8742A
FMCW Radar application. Refer to the E8742A documentation for
further details.
• ENOB measurement: This example application performs an ENOB
measurement of the AWG using a DCA or a spectrum analyzer.
• KEYSIGHT Logo (M8190A and M8195A only): This “fun” application
generates a specific signal, which resembles the Keysight logo when
viewed on an oscilloscope. To view this output, you have to connect
AWG channel 1 to scope channel 1 and AWG sample marker (in case of
M8190A) or AWG channel 2 (in case of M8195A) to the scope’s AUX
Trigger input.
• Image to Spectrogram: This “fun” application takes a .JPG file and
generates a specific signal. When this signal is viewed on a spectrum
analyzer in spectrogram mode, it resembles the original JPG picture.
• Radar to Sound: This is another “fun” application, which generates
audible sounds in conjunction with the VSA software.

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 23

2 IQtools User Interface

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 IQtools User Interface 2

Button Panel

The button panel refers to the area of the IQTools user interface that
allows you to launch different applications. The buttons on the main
window have the same functionality as the corresponding menu entries
described above. Only the commonly used functions are available as
buttons on the button panel. All other functions must be called through
the menu.

IQTools – Waveform Generation Tool User Guide 25

2 IQtools User Interface

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 IQtools User Interface 2

The following buttons are available:

• Configuration
• Instrument Configuration: Enables you to select the AWG or signal
generator model from the list available and connect IQTools
software with the AWG, signal generator, oscilloscope, and so on,
by providing their visa addresses. For more information, refer to
“Instrument Configuration” on page 45.
• IQ & RF
• Multi-Tone & Noise: Allows you to create signals made up of one or
more tones, either equally or arbitrarily spaced. It also allows for the
definition of a frequency interval without tones (or notch) for NPR
(Noise Power Ratio) testing. Amplitudes and phases of the individual
tones can be corrected through correction factor files defined by the
user. The Multi-Tone tab allows you to generate both RF and
baseband (I/Q) signals. For more information, refer to “Multi-Tone
and Noise” on page 52.
• Digital Modulations: Allows you to create digitally modulated
signals, both at IF/RF and baseband (I/Q). It directly supports a
large variety of signal-carrier modulation schemes. For more
information, refer to “Digital Modulations” on page 58.
• Radar Pulses / Chirps: Use this option to create a variety of pulsed
signals. It allows you to generate both RF and Baseband (I/Q)
signals. It directly supports a variety of pulse train arrangements and
intra-modulation schemes. For more information, refer to “Radar
Pulses/Chirps” on page 63.
• Frequency Switching: Allows frequency switching between two or
more frequencies with adjustable tone duration and phase
continuous switching. For more information, refer to “Frequency
Switching” on page 70.
• OFDM: This option enables signal generation with orthogonal
frequency division multiplex modulation schemes. For more
information, refer to “OFDM” on page 71.
• Digital
• Serial data generation: Allows you to create single lane and multi
lane bi-level and multi-level high-speed digital serial signals and
clocks. It allows you to generate both data and clock signals. It
directly supports a large variety of channel coding and modulation
schemes. For more information, refer to “Serial Data Generation” on
page 72.
• Pulse/Function Generator: Allows you to generate any type of pulse
by defining the pulse parameters in this section. For more
information, refer to “Pulse/Function Generator” on page 85.

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2 IQtools User Interface

• File
• Load waveform from file: Allows you to feed external data to IQ
Tools by loading a waveform file. For more information, refer to
“Load Waveform from File” on page 89.
• Sequencer
• Sequencer setup: This is specific to M8190A and M8195A. All the
AWGs that support sequencing allow you to play sequential data by
entering the required fields and defining the sequence as per your
requirement. For more information, refer to “Sequencer Setup” on
page 95.
• In-System Calibration: Allows you to calibrate the instrument for
accurate waveform generation/acquisition by performing various
analyses on the instrument, plotting various graphs, and extracting the
data to display calibrated data. For more information, refer to
“In-System Calibration” on page 98.
• M81xxA specific function: The functionality of this button changes
depending on the selected AWG model. If you are using either the
M8190A or an M8195A, you will find some model specific functions,
such as, CATV Signal Generation, Sequencer Demo (Time Domain),
Radar Demo (Moving Target), 4-Channel Synchronization, and so on.
For more information, see “M8190A Specific Functions” on page 118.

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User Guide

3 Working with IQTools

Concepts of the IQTools GUI / 30
Entering Numerical Values / 38
Working directly in MATLAB without the IQTools GUI / 39
Generating RF / IF Waveforms / 44
Instrument Configuration / 45
Multi-Tone and Noise / 52
Digital Modulations / 58
Radar Pulses/Chirps / 63
Frequency Switching / 70
OFDM / 71
Serial Data Generation / 72
Pulse/Function Generator / 85
Load Waveform from File / 89
Sequencer Setup / 95
In-System Calibration / 98
Correction Management / 112
M8190A Specific Functions / 118
3 Working with IQtools

Concepts of the IQTools GUI

Small utility windows save screen real estate

The concept of the IQTools graphical user interface is to have separate,
small windows (sometimes referred to as “waveform generation utilities”)
for each type of waveform instead of a single, big application window that
occupies the whole screen. Each utility window is optimized to occupy as
little as possible screen real-estate and shows only the relevant
parameters for the selected type of waveform.
This concept has been chosen because often times the signal analysis
applications (for example, scope, spectrum analyzer, VSA, and so on)
require a large portion of the screen.
Generate an AWG signal with as few as possible mouse clicks
A goal of the IQTools GUI design was to get the AWG to output signals
with as few as possible mouse clicks: Whenever an IQTools waveform
generation utility window is opened, the fields are populated with a set of
meaningful parameters for the selected AWG. So, a simple “sanity check”
is to open a waveform generation utility window and click on the
“Download” button without changing any of the parameters. This should
generate a signal on the AWG without throwing an error message. (Or, if
you don’t have hardware attached or configured yet, click on “Visualize in
MATLAB” to get a graphical representation of the waveform).
Concept of a “current setting”
Another concept in IQTools is to have a “current setting”, which is
implicitly saved – and maintained across IQTools sessions. For example:
• In the configuration window, you can set up the VISA addresses of the
AWG, scope, spectrum analyzer and so on. Once you click OK, this
setting is used as the “current” setting. There is no need to save this
setting to a file (although it is possible to do so, for example if you need
to switch between two different hardware configurations).
• If you capture the frequency/phase response of the AWG using the
“In-system calibration”, it is saved as the “current correction”. There is
no need to save it to a file (but again, it is possible to do so).
Waveforms are generally calculated with complex values
Most of the waveform calculation routines work with complex-valued, that
is, I/Q waveforms (hence the name IQTools). For real-valued signals (for
example, a digital modulation signals that have been shifted to a carrier
frequency), you can simply ignore the imaginary part.

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 Working with IQtools 3

Common features of most waveform generation utilities

While the set of parameter fields is specific to the individual waveform

generation utility, there are some common features that appear on all
waveform generation windows:
Visualize in MATLAB
The image below shows the calculated plots. Depending on the type of
waveform, you shall see:
• a time-domain plot, showing the sample values over time. The
individual sample values are shown as small dots that are connected by
straight lines. Note that the actual signal coming out of the AWG will
typically ‘not’ look exactly like that shown in the image below. This is
due to the finite bandwidth of the AWG. At lower frequencies, the AWG
does not linearly interpolate between the sample points (which is what
the straight line might suggest). The Y-axis is labeled with AU
(amplit ude un its). It corresponds to t he i nte rna l wave form
representation as floating point numbers in the range [-1 to +1]. If the
waveform is complex valued, the real (I) and imaginary (Q) parts are
shown in the same plot using blue and red colors. In the legend, the
Crest Factor (CF) of the waveform is shown.

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3 Working with IQtools

• a spectrum plot, which is basically an FFT of the calculated waveform.

Note, that the Y-axis of the plot is in dB, not dBm. Hence, you cannot
derive absolute power levels from this plot. Also note, that the noise
level in these plots is due to the floating point accuracy of MATLAB. In
the real signal, the noise from the AWG hardware will dominate.

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 Working with IQtools 3

• an eye diagram plot (for serial data waveforms only). It shows all
symbols in the waveform overlaid on top of each other. Unlike the
time-domain plot, the waveform is not shown as individual samples
with straight lines between them. Instead, the waveform is interpolated
to show a smooth transition between the sample points which
represents the behavior of the AWG output in a realistic manner,
without taking its specific bandwidth limitations into account.

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3 Working with IQtools

• a CCDF plot (multi-tone, noise and digital modulation only). The CCDF
(Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function) plot shows the
probability of the signal being at or above a certain power level. The
power level is expressed in dB relative to the average power.
In the CCDF plot, the blue curve is the current signal, the red curve
shows the CCDF of a Gaussian noise signal with the same number of
samples in comparison.

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 Working with IQtools 3

• a spectrogram plot (radar pulses and chirps, AM and FM modulation)

It visualizes the magnitude (X-axis) over time (Y-axis). The intensity of
the signal is represented through a color mapping. Just like the
spectrum plot, the spectrogram plot shows only relative (dB), not
absolute (dBm) power levels.

Note, that there is no hardware required to use the “Visualize in MATLAB”

button.
Download button
This button loads the waveform into the AWG and starts playback. In order
for the download functionality to work properly, the model, mode and VISA
address of the AWG have to be set up in the “Instrument Configuration”
window (see “Instrument Configuration” on page 45).
Channel Mapping
Most windows have a “Download To…” or “Channel Mapping” field. This
setting is used to map the generated waveform to physical AWG channels.
If the AWG operates in direct mode, one check box per column can be

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selected. If the AWG operates in digital up-conversion mode, a complex

waveform (that is, both I and Q) are downloaded to the same AWG
channel.
It is possible to load the same waveform into multiple AWG channels by
selecting more than one check box per row. Note that the
frequency/phase response correction is still applied to the physical AWG
channel.
Sample Rate
Most windows have a “Sample Rate” field. This defines the sample rate for
the AWG. IQTools is aware of the valid sample rate range for the selected
AWG model and mode. If the sample rate value is outside of this range, the
background of this field turns red. In some cases, there is an “Auto” check
box next to the sample rate. Selecting this check box grays out the Sample
Rate field and the IQTools algorithm will pick a sample rate value based on
the remaining parameters.
Segment Number
Most windows have a “Segment Number” field. For AWGs that support
multiple waveform segments and a sequencer, you can select the
waveform segment into which the waveform will be downloaded. If the
“Segment Number” field is grayed out, the configured AWG model does
not support sequencing and multiple segments.
Apply Correction / Show Corrections
Most windows have an “Apply correction” check box and a “Show
Corrections” button. If the Apply correction check box is selected, both the
complex as well as per-channel corrections are applied to the waveform
before it is visualized or downloaded into the AWG hardware. The “Show
Corrections” button launches the correction management window, which
is explained in detail in “Correction Management” on page 112.
Visualize in VSA
Some windows have a Visualize in VSA button. Clicking this button starts
the VSA software, sets it up with the appropriate parameters to show the
calculated waveform in VSA. To use this function, no hardware connection
is required.
Save Waveform...
In the File menu of most utilities, you can find a Save Waveform… option.
This can be used to save the calculated waveform in several file types:
CSV, MATLAB, I/Q binary, and so on. Those files can be used for external
post-processing/analysis or they can be loaded into an AWG at a later
point in time through the “Load from file” utility. Note that it is not required

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to save a waveform to a file before it is downloaded. Saving just the

parameter settings and re-creating the waveform on-the-fly offers more
flexibility.
Load Setting / Save Setting
In the File menu of most utilities, you can find a Load Settings… and Save
Settings… option. This function can be used to load/save the parameters
of this window into a file.

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Entering Numerical Values

All of the numeric input fields in IQTools will accept numbers in fixed point
or engineering notation. Numbers without units are interpreted as seconds
or Hertz, depending on the context. Optionally, unit indicators (s, sec, Hz),
including the usual prefixes can be used in the edit fields for scalar values
and simple lists of values, but not for MATLAB expressions. For example,
• 12e9 or 12g - to indicate 12 GHz
• 6.2e-9 or 6.2n or 6.2 ns - to indicate 6.2 Nanoseconds
• 3e6 or 3M or 3 MHz - is interpreted as 3 MHz. Note, that the “M” has to
be a capital “M” to distinguish it from the “m” (milli, 1e-3) prefix
• 2e-12 or 2ps - will be interpreted as 2e-12 (2 pico)
Some fields which are marked with (*) in the graphical user interface also
accept lists of values (that is, MATLAB vectors). Lists can simply be
specified by multiple values separated by spaces or commas. For example,
• 500k, 1M, 2M - to indicate a list of frequency values (500 kHz, 1 MHz
and 2 MHz. Since it is a simple list, unit prefixes are allowed.
• 1e6 * [0.5 1 2] - same as above. Note that “1e6” must be used in this
case. 1 M is not allowed because it is a MATLAB expression.
• 1u, 3.5u, 10u - to indicate 1 us, 3.5 us and 10 us. Since it is a simple
list, unit prefixes are allowed
In addition to numbers and lists of numbers, the fields also accept
formulas using MATLAB syntax. For example,
• 1e9-5e3 - to indicate 5 kHz less than 1 GHz (or 999.5 MHz)
• 100e6:10e6:200e6 - a list of values from 100 MHz to 200 MHz in steps
of 10 MHz
• linspace(100e6,200e6,11) - different way of describing the same as
above: 11 values evenly spaced between 100 and 200 MHz
• 100e6 * rand(1,10) - 10 random frequencies between 0 and 100 MHz
(“rand” is a built-in MATLAB function)
In addition to that, all of the input fields will evaluate variable names that
are defined in the MATLAB workspace and formulas using MATLAB
workspace variables. For example,
• Fs - can be used, for example, in the sample rate field if the variable
“Fs” is defined in the MATLAB workspace
• 1e6*f - can be used to specify a list of frequencies assuming that “f”
contains the list of frequencies in MHz
• fc-5e3 - center frequency minus 5 kHz – assuming that the variable “fc”
is defined in the MATLAB workspace

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Working directly in MATLAB without the IQTools GUI

Instead of using the graphical user interfaces of the scripts, IQTools

functions can also be called directly from within your MATLAB script to
generate, display and download waveforms. This can be useful to generate
more complex waveforms, such as those, which may consist of multiple
signals added together or downloading a waveform that has been
calculated in a custom routine.
The “Generate MATLAB code” function that exists in most of the IQTools
waveform utilities is a good starting point for a MATLAB script that
calculates and downloads a waveform:
• Go to File > Generate MATLAB code on any of the IQtools utilities.
The MATLAB Code Viewer screen appears.

The input parameters of iqtone, iqmod, iqpulse, iqfsk, iqpulsegen and

iserial are specified as parameter/value pairs. All parameters have default
values if they are not specified. You can look at the headers of the
individual scripts for available arguments and ranges.
The scripts that can be used for your own programs are:
• iqtone - single and multitone
• iqnoise - generate noise signal
• iqmod - digital modulations
• iqpulse - pulsed RF signals incl. modulation on pulse (chirps, FMCW,
Barker, and so on)
• iqfsk - frequency hopping signals
• iqpulsegen - function generator (pulses, ramps, and so on)

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• iserial - serial data signals (NRZ, PAMx)

Waveform Display

The iqplot scripts can be used to display waveforms in both time and
frequency domains. You can use iqplot to display real and I/Q data that
has been generated by any of the waveform generation functions listed
above or by your own MATLAB functions. Iqplot is called as follows:
iqplot(data, fs [, options])
The first parameter (data) is the desired signal represented as a vector of
real or complex values in the range [-1…+1] and the second parameter (fs)
is the sampling rate in Hz.
Optionally, you can specify further parameters that will influence how
signals are being displayed:
• 'figure', N – the figure number to be used for plots (default is 1)
• 'no_timedomain' – the time domain plot will not be shown
• 'nospectrum' – the spectrum plot will not be shown
• 'smallspectrum' – only the “interesting” part of the spectrum will be
shown (that is, the frequency range where the signal is above -90 dBm)
• 'spectrogram' – shows a spectrogram of the signal
• 'constellation' – shows the waveform as a constellation diagram
• 'no_CCDF' – no CCDF plot will be shown

Waveform Download

The iqdownload script is used to download waveforms into the AWG and
start waveform generation. You can call iqdownload with a vector or array
of real or complex data that has been generated by one of the waveform
generation functions listed above or your own MATLAB functions.
Iqdownload is called is follows:
iqdownload(data, fs [, option, value])
The first parameter (data) is the desired signal represented as a vector or
array of real or complex values in the range [-1…+1] and the second
parameter (fs) is the sampling rate in Hz.
By default, the real part of the data vector will be downloaded to channel 1
of the AWG and the imaginary part will be downloaded to channel 2. If you
want the mapping to be different, refer to “‘channelMapping’” on page 41.

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Do not call the download routines for individual AWGs directly, since the
interface might change over time. (such as, iqdownload_M8190A,
iqdownload_81180A, and so on.)
iqdownload accepts additional parameters as name/value pairs. These are
explained in the header section of iqdownload.m. Some of them are
explained in the following sections:

‘channelMapping’

Using the ‘channelMapping’ (or ‘chMap’) parameter with iqdownload

allows you to specify to which channel(s) the real and imaginary parts of a
given column of your data will be downloaded. The channelmapping
parameter must be a 2-dimensional array with 2*N columns, where N is
the number of columns in your data array and M rows (representing the M
channels of the AWG or synchronized AWG system). The
“channelmapping” array consists of 2*N columns because you can define
the real and imaginary parts of your data vectors to be downloaded into
different channels. The individual values of the array must be either 0 or 1,
to indicate whether the corresponding signal will be downloaded to a
channel. Consider a waveform array with two columns and the following
channel mapping array:

- data column 1 data column 1 data column 2 data column 2 ...

- real part imaginary part real part imaginary part ...

channel 1 1 0 0 0

channel 2 0 1 0 0

channel 3 0 0 1 0

channel 4 0 0 1 0

...

(written in MATLAB terminology: [1 0 0 0; 0 1 0 0; 0 0 1 0; 0 0 1 0])

In this case, the real part of the data column 1 will be loaded to AWG
channel 1, the imaginary part of column 1 to channel 2. The real part of
data column 2 will be loaded into AWG channel 3 and 4 while the
imaginary part of data column 2 is ignored.

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In case of AWG setups that consist of multiple, synchronized modules, the

channel numbers are counted continuously throughout the multi-module
system; such as, in a setup with two M8195A modules and an M8197A
sync module, the channels of the first M8195A are referred to as channels
1…4, the channels of the second M8195A are referred to as channels 5…8.
Note, that for DUC mode (if supported by the AWG), both real and
imaginary part must be downloaded to a channel. A valid
‘channelMapping’ Parameter would for example be: [1 1; 0 0], which
means real and imaginary part are loaded into channel 1 of the AWG.

‘marker’

The ‘marker’ parameter allows you to specify the signal that will be
generated out of the sample marker and sync marker signals. In general,
the ‘marker’ parameter must be a vector with the same number of
elements as there are samples in the waveform.
The values of the marker array are treated as integers where the lower four
bits represent the four markers (sample1, sync1, sample2, sync2).
• A zero means that all markers are 0.
• A value of 15 (=binary 1111) means that all four markers are on.
• A value of 5 (=binary 0101) means that the two sample markers are on
at the corresponding sample time).
Note that the markers in the M8190A cannot be arbitrarily turned on and
off at any sample location, but will have a certain minimum pulse width
(See datasheet for more details). An example MATLAB code that uses
markers is shown here:

%
% automatically generated code from IQTools
%
fs = 1.2e+10;
iqdata = iqmod('sampleRate', fs, 'numSymbols', 3000,
...
'modType', 'QAM16', 'oversampling', 12, ...
'filterType', 'Square Root Raised Cosine',
'filterNsym', 80, ...
'filterBeta', 0.35, 'carrierOffset', 1e+09, ...
'magnitude', [0], 'quadErr', 0, 'correction', 0);

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% generate a marker vector with the same number of

elements as
% the analog waveform with a pulse on the sample
markers every
% 192 samples and a sync marker pulse at the beginning
of the waveform
n = length(iqdata);
pw = 192;
cnt = floor(n / pw);
marker = repmat([5 * ones(1, pw/2) zeros(1, pw/2)], 1,
cnt);
marker(1) = 10;

iqdownload(iqdata, fs, 'channelMapping', '[1 0; 0 1]',

...
'segmentNumber', 1, 'marker', marker);

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Generating RF / IF Waveforms

All of the IQTools waveform generation utilities (except iserial) will

generate I/Q baseband or direct IF/RF waveforms. In case of baseband I/Q
waveforms, the “I” signal and “Q” signals are intended to be connected to
an I/Q modulator, such as the wideband I/Q inputs of a Vector PSG
(E8267D) or an optical modulator. They can also be connected directly to
an oscilloscope for analysis of the I/Q waveform using the VSA software.
However, the tools can also be used to generate an IF/RF signal directly.
In order to generate an RF signal, make sure that:
• For Multi-Tone, both start and stop frequency are positive.
• For Digital Modulation signals, the carrier offset is positive and larger
than ½ of the bandwidth of the modulated signal.
• For Radar chirps, frequency offset is positive and larger than ½ the
frequency span.
• For Frequency Switching, all frequencies in the list must be positive.
The simulated spectrum that is shown when the Display button is pressed
should only show positive frequency components.
iserial is an exception and always generates a real-valued signal.

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Instrument Configuration

The instrument configuration screen enables you to select the required

instrument from the list available and connect IQ Tools software with the
instrument by providing the visa addresses of the instrument. The
instrument can be the generator, oscilloscope, or any other analyzer listed
in IQ Tools.
To connect an instrument with IQTools, do the following:
1 Under the Configuration pane, click Instrument Configuration.
The Instrument Configuration screen appears.

2 Select an instrument from the Instrument model drop-down list. For

some models, you must select which mode you want the AWG or
signal generator to operate in.

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3 Based on the instrument model selected, select an appropriate mode

from the Mode drop-down list.
4 Select an option from the Connection type drop-down list. The
following options are available:
• tcpip - Use ‘tcpip’ for direct socket connections.
• visa - Use ‘visa’ for connections through VISA library
5 Enter the VISA Address as given as in the Keysight Connection Expert.
6 Click Test Connection to check the connection.
In case of a successful connection, the Test Connection button is
green in color.

In case of an unsuccessful connection, the Test Connection button is

red in color.

7 Depending on the selected AWG model and mode, you can configure
the other available parameters available on the Instrument
Configuration screen.
Most of the additional parameters have a “Set” checkbox next to them.
If the “Set” checkbox is not selected, this parameter is not touched by
IQTools, that is, it remains at its default value or whatever value it was
previously configured, such as, in the instrument SFP. If the “Set”
checkbox is selected, the corresponding parameter is overwritten by
the value specified in the IQTools configuration window.
Most of the parameter fields accept either a single value, which is used
for all AWG channels or a list of multiple values separated by space or
comma. In this case, the first value is used for AWG channel 1, the

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second for channel 2 and so on. Note that changes to any of the fields
are only reflected in the hardware after you download a new waveform
from any of the waveform generation windows.
The following fields are available:
• User-defined default sample rate: When opening any of the
IQTools waveform generation windows, the “Sample Rate” field
is populated with the factory default sample rate for this AWG.
If you enter a value into the “User-defined default sample rate”,
that value is used as a default value when opening waveform
generation windows. You may still overwrite the sample rate
with a different value if desired.
• Trigger Mode: For AWGs that support triggering, you can
select between “Continuous”, “Triggered”, “Gated” or “Leave
unchanged” .
• Delay: For AWGs that support this function, you can set the
(analog) delay for each channel in this field.
• Amplitude: For AWGs that support adjustable amplitude, you
can set the amplitude for all channels or for each channel
individually.
• Offset: For AWGs that support adjustable offset, you can set
the amplitude for all channels or for each channel individually.
• Amplifier Type: For AWGs that support multiple output paths,
you can select the desired amplifier path.
• Clock Source: For AWGs that support different clock/reference
c l o c k s o u rc e s , y o u c a n s e l e c t t h e d e s i re d c l o c k
source/reference clock source.
• Clock Frequency: When selecting an external clock source or
external reference clock source, you can specif y the
clock/reference clock frequency.
• Use DAC range: Use this field to specify what percentage of the
DAC full-scale range will be used. Usually, this field should be
left at 100% (that is, use the full range).
• Interleaving Mode: Select this check box if you externally
interleave two AWG channels. This function is only supported
and tested with the M8190A. For the M8199A, DO NOT select
this check box, but use the mode selection to configure
interleaved mode.

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• Send *RST before each download: If you want to make sure

that the AWG is in a well-defined state before downloading a
waveform, you can select this check- box. It is strongly
recommended to keep this check box cleared during normal
operation because some tools perform multiple download
operations in sequence. If this check box is selected, these
won’t work because the AWG is reset every time.
• External up-conversion: You can enter the LO-frequency of an
external up-converter in this field. This will not change the
behavior of the waveform calculation, but it will populate the
“Fc” field. For example, in the Digital Modulation and Radar
Pulse utility with the appropriate value.
• Amplifier Peaking: Some AWG models support variable
amplifier peaking. Positive peaking values increase the
bandwidth, negative values decrease the bandwidth relative to
the factory setting. You can specify a list of values separated by
space or comma to define a different peaking value per
channel. Note that changing amplifier peaking to a non-zero
value is considered as over-programming and is outside of the
specification.
• Sample Marker: In this field, you can define a certain clock
pattern to be generated on the M8199A / M8199B sample
marker output – independent of the waveform that is being
downloaded. This is useful if you use the M8199A / M8199B
sample marker as a clock source for the DCA PTB/Front Panel
Trigger.
• Timeout: This field specifies the connection timeout with the
AWG in seconds. Usually, 10 – 30 seconds are sufficient, but
for instance, with remote connections, longer timeout value
may be necessary.
8 You can select the Tooltips enabled check box to enable the tooltips
throughout IQTools.
The tooltip is a small pop-up window that concisely describes the
object being pointed to, such as descriptions of the parameters.
9 Click OK when the connection is done successfully.
The instrument is now connected.
Similarly, you can connect the other instruments like spectrum analyzer,
power sensor, real-time oscilloscope/digitizer, sampling oscilloscope, VSA
and so on, using the Instrument Connection screen.

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1 Select the respective check box for the instrument.

2 Enter the VISA Address.
3 Click Test Connection to check the connection.
The Test Connection button shows green color when the connection is
successful.
4 Click OK.
The instrument is now connected.

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Multi-Module AWG Setup

1 Select an instrument from the Instrument model drop-down list and
set-up a valid connection.

2 Connect the real-time oscilloscope/digitizer on the Instrument

Connection screen.

3 After you connect the instrument and the real-time

oscilloscope/digitizer, select the number of AWG modules in the
system from the drop-down list.

4 Connect the selected modules and then click OK.

The multi-module setup is now ready.
Within IQTools, channel numbers are assigned consecutively,
throughout the multi-module setup, starting from 1.
Example: in a setup that consists of two M8199B modules, the
channels of the first M8199B module are referred to as channels 1 and
2, while the channels of the second M8199B modules are referred to as
channels 3 and 4.

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Multi-Tone and Noise

The Multi-Tone and Noise screen can be used to generate single tone,
two tone, multi tone signal with equidistant or non-equidistant spacing as
well as band-limited noise. “Notches” with variable width and depth can
be included with multi-tone or noise signals.
The algorithm in the multi-tone utility always calculates complex-valued
signals (I & Q). If you need a real-valued (non-I/Q) signal, simply choose
your tone frequencies to be all positive (or all negative). In this case, you
can simply ignore the “Q” row in the channel-mapping dialog.
If you use an AWG in conjunction with an I/Q modulator (such as, M8190A
connected to a Vector PSG), your range of tones can be from – FS/2 to +
FS/2. The I/Q modulator will move the frequency range to its carrier
frequency.
• To use the multi-tone utility, click Multi-Tone & Noise under the IQ &
RF pane.
The following figure displays the Multi-Tone & Noise parameters:

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In the following sections, some special cases are described that can be
covered by the multi-tone utility.

Noise

To generate a noise waveform in a certain frequency band:

• Set the number of tones to zero.
• Choose a large number of samples (1000000 is a good starting point).
The larger your number of samples, the more “random” is your noise.
On the other hand, a larger number of samples takes longer to
calculate and download the waveform.
The Start and Stop frequency fields can be used to limit the bandwidth of
the noise. If you check the Notch check box, this feature can be used to
generate a spectral “gap” in the noise signal with adjustable center (Notch
Freq. field) width (Notch span) and depth (Notch depth). It is possible to

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specify multiple notches with different center frequencies, widths, and

depths. By specifying adjacent notches, it is possible to generate a fully
used-definable noise spectrum.

Equidistant and Non-equidistant Tones

If you just select the number of tones and a start and stop frequency, the
tones will be distributed equidistantly between the start and stop
frequency. The algorithm will put a tone on the start and stop frequency
itself. You should take this into account when selecting the number of
tones. E.g., if you want equidistant tones from 1 GHz to 2 GHz with 10
MHz spacing, you should choose 101 tones (not 100).
For non-equidistant tones, set the number of tones to “1” and enter the list
of tone frequencies that you would like to generate in the Stop frequency
field. You can use MATLAB expressions such as:
100e6 * [-3 -1 4 5 7.5 9]
This will generate tones at -300, -100, 400, 500, 750 and 900 MHz.

Tones With Different Amplitudes

You can use the Notch feature to generate tones at different relative
amplitudes. You must only define a Notch for each tone (or range of tones)
that you want at a different level.
Example:
1 Set the Number of tones to 1 and the Stop Frequency to: 100e6 *
[-3 -1 4 5 7.5 9] to generate tones at -300, -100, 400, 500,
750 and 900 MHz. Without anything else, they will all have the same
relative amplitude.
2 Check the Notch check box, and enter 100e6 * [-3 -1 4 5
7.5 9] in the Notch frequency field.
3 Change the Notch span to 1e6 (can be any number > 0 because you
just want to hit that specific tone) and enter -5 +5 -10 +10 0 0
in the Notch depth field. This will change the relative amplitude of the
tones.
This works both with individual tones as well as with tone ranges.
4 To see an example with tone ranges at different levels, click on Preset
> Multi-tone with multiple Notches in the Multi-tone utility.
5 Click Visualize in MATLAB or Download to see the result in MATLAB
resp. in hardware.

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Generating a different multi-tone signal on each AWG channel

It is possible to open multiple multi-tone windows side-by-side by clicking

the “Multi-tone and noise” button in the IQTools main window multiple
times. This allows for example to generate a different multi-tone signal on
each AWG channel without having to re-configure the parameters every
time.

Multi-Tone amplitude or amplitude and phase correction

To improve flatness for multi-tone signals, the “iqtone” utility offers a

number of amplitude (resp. amplitude /phase) correction functions.
Through the pull-down menu, you can choose between different
algorithms and analysis instruments. Independent on which algorithm you
choose, IQTools controls the AWG as well as the analysis instrument to
perform the measurement. It is important to first configure the access to
the analysis instrument (using the IQTools config window) prior to making
the measurement. By nature, the spectrum analyzer and power sensor
measurements correct for amplitude only. Using VSA, it is possible to
measure amplitude and phase.
Each correction function has specific pros and cons as shown in the table
below:

Value in popup-menu Description

Spec.An (zero span) Spectrum analyzer uses “zero span” mode. While the AWG generates the desired multi-tone signal, the SA center frequency
is set to one tone at a time.
Pro: reasonable measurement speed, resilience against small tone deviations (for example, if AWG and SA are not frequency
locked)
Con: SA’s frequency response behavior is different between zero-span mode and regular swept mode, which leads to
inaccuracies

Spec.An (markers) Spectrum analyzer is set to swept mode. AWG generates the desired multi-tone signal. An SA “Marker” is used to measure
the magnitude of each tone.
Pro: fastest measurement speed, consistent results (because SA is always in swept mode)
Con: due to small frequency deviations between AWG and SA, markers sometimes don’t hit the peaks of tones

Spec.An (list sweep) AWG generates the desired multi-tone signal. Spectrum analyzer uses “List Sweep” mode to measure all tone magnitudes at
the same time.
Pro: fastest measurement speed
Con: same as zero span

Spec.An (single tone) AWG is programmed to generate one tone at time instead of the whole multi-tone signal.

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Value in popup-menu Description

VSA (amplitude only) AWG generates the desired multi-tone signal. The VSA software is configured to capture the whole bandwidth of the signal
and uses a marker to measure the magnitude of each tone.
Pro: works with SA or oscilloscope
Con: same as “Marker” mode with spectrum analyzer

VSA (amplitude and AWG generates the desired multi-tone signal. The VSA software is configured to capture the whole bandwidth of the signal
phase) and measures magnitude and phase of each tone.
Pro: can measure (and correct for) amplitude and phase
Con: same as “Marker” mode with spectrum analyzer

Power sensor AWG is programmed to generate one tone at time instead of the whole multi-tone signal. Power sensor is used to measure
the power of each tone.
Pro: power sensor yields more accurate magnitude results compared to a spectrum analyzer

Once the measurement has completed, the result is stored in IQTools and
can be used to correct for amplitude/phase compensation in the waveform
calculation routine.
This amplitude correction can later on also be used by the other waveform
creation utilities to improve the flatness. The amplitude flatness correction
can compensate non-flatness on the output of the AWG or perform
correction even after I/Q up-conversion in a signal generator. In this case,
the magnitude response of the signal generator is also compensated.
To perform an amplitude correction:
1 Use the Configure Instrument Connection tool to set up the
communication parameters for the AWG, spectrum
analyzer/oscilloscope/VSA.
2 Choose the desired measurement algorithm in the popup menu (see
table above).
3 Set the Start/Stop/number of tones parameter to generate a
multi-tone signal that spans the entire frequency range that need to be
corrected later on. Do not configure any notches for the correction
measurement.
A good starting point for the M8190A is the Preset 101 tones, +/- 1
GHz, asymm. (can be found in the menu bar) if you are generating I/Q
data. For a direct IF/RF signal (not using I/Q), choose a range of
frequencies that are all positive. A larger number of tones will improve
the accuracy, but increase the measurement time. Around 100 – 200
tones produces reasonable results. For demo purposes, 30 or 40 tones
are good enough. To get optimal results, the Phase should be set to
Random and when using I/Q up-conversion, the tones should be
selected such that the images don’t fall on top of generated tones.
(that is, don’t use symmetrical intervals around 0 Hz).

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4 Click Download once to see how the un-corrected waveform looks like.
The multi-tone calibration works either with direct AWG output or with
I/Q output going into the wideband modulation inputs of a PSG and
measuring the PSG output. (Ensure that Apply Correction check box is
clear).
5 Set the center frequency (“Fc – for calibration only”) in the Multi-Tone
GUI to zero if you analyze the direct AWG output. If you have the I/Q
signals connected to a PSG and correct the flatness of the final RF
output, enter the Carrier frequency set in the PSG. If you are
up-converting using a mixer, enter the difference between the LO and
IF frequency (LO – IF) if you are looking at the mixer’s upper sideband.
For the lower sideband, enter -1 * (LO + IF).
Ensure that Apply Correction check-box is clear to start a new
correction measurement.
6 Click the Calibrate button. Depending on the selected measurement
mode, the spectrum analyzer or oscilloscope will perform a
measurement. The result is used as the “current” correction. (The
current correction result is stored in the file C:\users\<username>\
AppData\local\Keysight\iqtools\ampCorr.mat. Usually, there is no
need to access this file directly). The measured frequency response is
also displayed as a MATLAB plot. This plot is just for your information
and can be closed if it no longer needed.
To further improve the calibration, you can run it again, taking the
previous correction factors into account. Experience shows that after
running the calibration about three times, no further improvement can
be achieved. The red graph indicates the measured deviation for each
tone from the average tone power. It should get close to the zero line
as you perform repeated calibrations.
7 The saved correction factors can be used by the other utilities (iqmod,
iqpulse, iqfsk) as well. Make sure to enable the Apply Correction in the
respective utility.

When performing the amplitude correction, ensure that the start and end
NOTE frequencies span at least the same range of frequencies that you will use
later on in other utilities.

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Digital Modulations

This utility allows you to generate digitally modulated waveforms with

selectable modulation schemes, pulse shaping filters and impairments –
either as I/Q baseband or as RF waveforms. The utility supports integer
and fractional oversampling, single or multi-carrier waveforms with
user-definable relative magnitudes. It also supports amplitude and phase
correction in conjunction with the VSA software.
• To use the Digital Modulation utility, click Digital Modulation under the
IQ & RF pane of the IQTools main window (or select Digital modulation
in the IQ & RF menu).
This figure shows the Digital Modulation utility:

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The following parameters are available:

• Sample rate: Can either be entered manually or it will be calculated
when changing the oversampling rate.
• Oversampling ratio: Usually, this field does not need to be set directly,
but if a certain oversampling ratio is desired, a value can be entered. In
this case, the sample rate will be re-calculated to match with the
symbol rate and oversampling ratio.
• Symbol rate: Enter the desired symbol rate (baud rate). If you change
the symbol rate, the algorithm will calculate the oversampling ratio,
which is shown as a fraction (unless you selected a symbol rate which
happens to divide evenly into the sample rate). You should pay
attention to the calculated oversampling ratio. If the numerator or
denominator are large (> 100), the calculation time for the waveform
will go up significantly. In this case, it might be better to use a different
sample rate or overwrite the oversampling ratio if that is possible.
• Number of Samples: Is automatically calculated based on the number
of symbols times the oversampling ratio. If this result does not match
the AWG’s granularity requirements, the waveform is repeated multiple
times, which increases the number of samples.
• Type of Data: can be selected from:
• Random: uses the MATLAB “rand” function to generate a random
set of symbols
• Clock: toggles between the smallest and largest possible symbol
value
• Counter: iterates through all possible symbol values
• PRBS 2^N-1: generates bits using an 2^N-1 LFSR and maps them
to symbols
• User Defined Symbols: allows you to enter a sequence of symbols.
If the modulation format has M symbols, the values in the “Data
content” field are expected to be in the range from 0 to M-1. For
details on the syntax, see “Data Content” below
• User Defined Bits: allows the user to enter a sequence of bits. The
bits are converted to symbols. For details on the syntax, see “Data
Content” below
• Symbols from file: allows the user to enter the name of a file with
symbol values in it. The values in the file are expected to be numbers
from 0 to M-1 (where M is the number of symbols in the selected
modulation format)
• Bits from file: allows you to enter the name of a file with bit values in
it. The values in the file are expected to be 0 or 1

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• Number of symbols: Defines the number of symbols that will be

encoded in the waveform if Type of data is Random, Clock, Counter or
PRBS 2^N-1. For other types of data, the number of symbols is derived
from the file or the Data content field.
• Data Content: If “Data Type” is set to “User defined symbols” or “User
defined bits”, this field can be used to specify a vector of symbols resp.
bits. Data can be entered either as a list of values separated by comma
or space or as a MATLAB expression that evaluates to a vector.
Examples:
0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 is a sequence of bits (or NRZ symbols)
3 2 0 1 2 2 3 0 0 1 1 2 is a sequence or PRM-4 symbols
• randi([0 3], 40, 1) is a MATLAB expression that evaluates to
a random sequence of 40 PAM-4 symbols
• Filename: If “Data Type” is set to “Symbols from File” or “Bits from File”,
this field is used to specify the filename that contains the symbols resp.
bits. The values in the file are expected to be in the range 0 to M-1 for
symbols or 0 and 1 for bits.
• Modulation Type: Select from modulation formats BPSK, QPSK,
QAM-n, APSK-n. The “Plot” button next to the modulation format
popup menu can be used to visualize the constellation diagram.
• Pulse shaping filter: Select between Raised-cosine or
Root-raised-cosine pulse shaping filter. Filter types Gaussian,
Rectangular and None are not tested.
• NSym/Alpha: The NSym field defines the length of the pulse shape
filter in number of symbols. The Alpha field defines the roll-off of the
pulse shape filter (0 < alpha <= 1). The smaller the alpha value, the
larger NSym should be chosen to avoid signal discontinuities. When
the alpha value is changed, IQTools replaces the NSym value with the
recommended value in case it is smaller.
• Quad Err/IQ Skew/Gain Imb.: These fields can be used to add
distortions to the signal. Quad Err (Quadrature Error) is given in
degrees. It modifies the nominal 90° angle between I and Q by a certain
amount. IQ Skew introduces a skew between I and Q. The value is given
in units of seconds. Gain Imbalance modifies the magnitude of the Q
signal relative to the I signal. Gain imbalance is specified in dB.
• Multi-Carrier: This check box turns on multi-carrier mode. When is
turned on, the “# of carriers” and “Carrier Spacing” fields become
relevant. In multi-carrier mode, a number of carriers is generated
simultaneously at different center frequencies.
• # of carriers: Specifies the number of carriers in multi-carrier mode

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• Carrier Spacing: Specifies the distance between center frequencies in

multi-carrier mode
• Carrier Offset: If the Carrier offset field is zero, an I/Q baseband signal
is generated. If carrier offset is set to a non-zero value, the waveform
will be shifted to the specified frequency. The carrier offset is specified
in units of Hertz. Note that the actual carrier offset frequency may be
rounded such that an integer number of carrier periods is used for the
calculated waveform (that is, no phase discontinuities are being
generated).
When multi-carrier mode is turned on, the carrier offset defines the
center frequency of the first (= lowest) carrier. The center frequencies
of the carriers are given by (carrier_offset + N * carrier_spacing), where
N = 0 … number_of_carriers – 1.
• Rel. Magnitudes: In mult-carrier mode, this field is used to specify the
magnitudes of the carriers relative to each other. Values are in dB and
should be entered as a vector of values, separated by space or comma.
Note, that the absolute magnitude of carriers will be reduced the more
carriers are being generated simultaneously. If fewer values than
number of carriers are specified, the list is repeated as often as
necessary.
• VSA Calibration Parameters: The fields in this pane are only relevant if
the VSA software is used for magnitude/phase response correction.
• Fc for correction: Without external up-conversion, the value should be
identical to “Carrier offset”. With external up-conversion, this value
should be set to the center frequency that VSA should measure at.
Typically, this is the frequency of the LO plus or minus the Carrier
Offset
• Result length: This value is used to set the Result length in VSA
• Filter length: This value is used to set the equalizer filter length in
VSA during a freq/phase response correction measurement
• Convergence: This value is used to set the equalizer convergence in
VSA during a freq/phase response correction measurement
• Setup VSA (HW): This button configures the VSA software for digital
demodulation with the parameters that are set in this utility (symbol
rate, modulation format, filter type, filter beta, Carrier offset, Fc, result
length). The button is particularly useful for a quick demo of the AWG
waveform.
• Calibrate using VSA: This function is described in the paragraph
“Amplitude and Phase Corrections for Digital Modulation Waveforms”

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Amplitude and Phase Corrections for Digital Modulation Waveforms

When generating a digitally modulated signal with the Digital Modulation

utility, you can improve the EVM by performing an amplitude and phase
calibration in conjunction with the VSA software. The VSA software has to
be installed on the same PC that runs the MATLAB scripts. The connection
to the oscilloscope that captures the signal must be established before
using the calibration function in the MATLAB script. The calibration routine
uses the Equalizer that is built into the VSA software to determine the
channel frequency response. After generating an (un-corrected) signal, the
MATLAB script launches the VSA software, turns on the equalizer and uses
the frequency response of the equalizer to calculate a pre-distorted
waveform. Unlike the flatness correction using multi-tone, this method
corrects magnitude and phase of the signal.
Follow these steps to generate a pre-distorted signal:
1 Set the desired parameters in the Digital Modulation tool and click
download to generate a digitally modulated signal. Ensure that the
Apply Correction check-box is unchecked.
Do not start the VSA software manually – the script will do that.
2 Click Calibrate using VSA button. This will start an instance of the VSA
software and set up the parameters to demodulate the signal that has
been configured.
3 On the ‘VSA measurement running. Please press OK when Equalizer
has stabilized’, you should first check the Input range in VSA and then
observe the Equalizer stabilizing. If it does not converge, you might
have to modify the Equalizer parameters.
4 Once the equalizer is stabilized, click Ok to continue in the calibration
process. The MATLAB script will read the current equalizer frequency
response, display it as a MATLAB plot, download the pre-distorted
waveform and turn the equalizer in VSA off.
5 Optionally, you can click the Calibrate button again (it will now be
labeled Re-Calibrate) to further improve the EVM performance.
6 If you make changes to your iqmod parameters, un-check the
Correction check box, click Download and then Calibrate (VSA).
7 The connection between the MATLAB script and the VSA software
remains intact until you either close VSA or exit MATLAB. So, for
consecutive calibration runs, the VSA software will not be launched
again, but the already running instance will be re-used.

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Radar Pulses/Chirps

Use this utility to create a variety of pulsed RF signals. It allows you to

generate both RF and Baseband (I/Q) Radar pulses. It directly supports a
variety of pulse train arrangements and intra pulse modulation schemes.
• To use the Radar Pulses/Chirps utility, click Radar Pulses/Chirps under
the IQ & RF pane or click “Radar Pulses/Chirps” in the IQ & RF menu of
the IQTools main window.
The following figure shows the Radar Pulses/Chirps window:

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The following parameters and menu items are available:

• Repeat interval: a.k.a. PRI (pulse repeat interval) defines the time from
the start of a pulse to the start of the following pulse (see Figure 1,
below). If Options > Exact PRI is clear, the specified amount of time will
be rounded to a integer number of samples. With Options > Exact PRI
selected, the pulse will be repeated as many times as necessary to get
an exact PRI timing. If PRI is set to zero, the PRI is set to rise-time +
width + fall-time. This is useful, for example, for FMCW signals.
Multiple values can be specified (separated by space or comma) to
generate a sequence of pulses with different PRIs.
• Pulse width: Defines the duration of the pulse(s) excluding the rise and
fall time (see Figure 1, below). Multiple values can be specified
(separated by space or comma) to generate a sequence of pulses with
different pulse widths.
• Rise time: See Figure 1, below. Multiple values can be specified
(separated by space or comma) to generate a sequence of pulses with
different rise times.
• Fall time: See Figure 1, below. Multiple values can be specified
(separated by space or comma) to generate a sequence of pulses with
different fall times.
• Initial Delay: See Figure 1, below. Multiple values can be specified
(separated by space or comma) to generate a sequence of pulses with
different initial delay times.

Figure 1 Pulse timing

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• Pulse Shape: defines the “shape” of the transition times:

• Raised Cosine: the transitions follow the shape of a cosine curve
• Trapezoidal: the transitions are straight lines
• Gaussian: the transitions follow a Gaussian pulse
• Zero Signal: the signal is kept at zero during raise and fall times
• Modulation on Pulse: defines the modulation signal during the pulse
on time:
• None: no modulation, that is, frequency stays at “Frequency Offset”
value
• Increasing: linear frequency ramp from (frequency_offset – ½
frequency span) to (frequency_offset + ½ frequency_span)
• Decreasing: linear frequency ramp from (frequency_offset + ½
frequency span) to (frequency_offset – ½ frequency_span)
• V-shape: Decreasing followed by Increasing frequency ramp
• Inverted V: Increasing followed by decreasing frequency ramp
• FMCW: generates a CW waveform with custom frequency
modulation. Since the signal is always “on” in an FMCW signal, the
“pulse width”, “rise time”, “fall time”, “initial delay” and “pulse
shape” fields have a different meaning: Instead of defining the pulse
envelope, they define the how the frequency changes over time:
• Initial delay: specifies the amount of time, the modulation stays
as (frequency_offset – ½ frequency_span)
• Rise time: specifies the amount of time, to transition from
(frequency_offset – ½ frequency_span) to (frequency_offset + ½
frequency_span)
• Pulse Width: specifies the amount of time, the modulation
stays as (frequency_offset + ½ frequency_span)
• Fall time: specifies the amount of time, to transition from
(frequency_offset + ½ frequency_span) to (frequency_offset – ½
frequency_span)
• Pulse shape: defines the “shape” of the frequency change (see
Pulse Shape above)

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Figure 2 FMCW pulse definition

The best way to understand/view FMCW signals is to look at the

spectrogram plot that is generated with “Visualize in MATLAB”.
• Barker-N: various forms of Barker code (180 degree phase changes
at certain points in time).
• Frank-N: various forms of Frank code (phase changes of 360/N
degrees at certain points in time).
• User defined: in this mode, a mathematical formula can be specified
that describes the frequency and phase modulation on the pulse.
For a description, see the “Freq. Mod. Formula” and “Phase Mod.
Formula” fields below. As an example, a non-linear frequency sweep
can be implemented using this function.
• Custom IQ: in this mode, the user can specify a baseband waveform
that is used as a modulation on pulse. For a description on how a
custom IQ modulation is specified, see the “Custom IQ waveform”
fields below. As an example, a multi-tone modulation on pulse can
be generated using this function.
• Custom Phase Code: in this mode, the user can specify a sequence
of phase values that are equally distributed across the pulse width.
See the “Phase Mod Formula” field for a description on how values
can be entered. As an example, pulses with arbitrary Barker or
polyphase modulations can be generated.

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• Freq. Mod. Formula: Used when Modulation on Pulse equals “User

defined”. Enter a MATLAB expression with "x" as an independent
variable. The expression will be evaluated with x set to a row-vector
with values in the range [0...1). The expression should return a
row-vector with the same length as x and values between -1 and 1 to
indicate a frequency deviation from -span/2 to span/2. In case of
multiple pulses, the variable "i" contains the pulse number starting
from 1. Example: sin(2*pi*x) will generate a sine-wave shaped FM
pulse with FM deviation equal to frequency_span. If you want no FM
modulation at all, put a zero in this field.
• Phase Mod. Formula: used when Modulation on Pulse equals “User
defined” or “Custom Phase Code”.
For the user defined modulation, enter a MATLAB expression with "x"
as an independent variable. The expression will be evaluated with x set
to a row-vector with values in the range [0...1). The expression should
return a row-vector with the same length as x and values representing
the phase in degrees. In case of multiple pulses, the variable "i"
contains the pulse number starting from 1. Example: floor(x*4)*45
generates a pulse with four 45 degree phase steps within the pulse. If
you want no PM modulation enter zero in this field.
For custom phase code modulation, the format can either be the same
as above or simply a list of phase values in square brackets. Phase
values are specified in degrees in this case. Example: [0 45 90 135]
generates the same phase modulation as the one above.
• Custom IQ Waveform: Used when Modulation on Pulse equals
“Custom IQ”. In this mode a MATLAB expression can be specified that
evaluates to a (complex-valued) signal, which is used as a modulation
on pulse. The variable “sampleRate” can be used in the expression. If
the resulting waveform is shorter than needed, it is replicated; if it is
longer than needed, it is truncated.
• Example: to generate a 3-tone modulation on pulse, enter the following
MATLAB expression into the Custom IQ Waveform field:
• iqtone('sampleRate', sampleRate, 'tone', [100e6
200e6 300e6])
The IQTools function iqtone is used in this case to generate the
multi-tone signal. Any other MATLAB function can be used as well.
After applying the custom modulation function, the result is shifted by
the value in the “Frequency offset” field.
• Amplitude: if a sequence of multiple pulses is generated, this field can
be used to specify the relative magnitude of each pulse in dB.[

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• Frequency span: specifies the frequency range(s) of modulation with

Increasing/Decreasing/V-shape/Inverted V/User defined modulations
on pulse. Multiple values can be specified (separated by space or
comma) to generate a sequence of pulses with different frequency
spans.
• Frequency offset: specifies the center frequency for the modulation on
pulse. If frequency offset is zero, an IQ baseband pulse is generated. If
frequency span is also zero, only the pulse envelope is generated.
Multiple values can be specified (separated by space or comma) to
generate a sequence of pulses with different center frequencies.
• Fc (VSA setup): Without external up-conversion, the value should be
identical to “Frequency offset”. With external up-conversion, this value
should be set to the center frequency that VSA should measure at.
Typically, this is the frequency of the LO plus or minus the Frequency
Offset.
• Visualize using VSA: calculates the pulse waveform and sends it
directly to VSA (without going through hardware). It sets up VSA to
visualize the pulse(s).
• VSA (HW): calculates the pulse waveform, downloads it into the AWG
and sets up VSA to visualize the pulse that is captured from hardware.

Generating a pulse sequence

In addition to repeating the same pulse over and over, the IQTools pulse
utility allows you to generate a sequence of pulses with different PRI, pulse
width, rise/fall time, center frequency, and so on.
This can be achieved by specifying multiple separated by spaces or
comma in one or more of the following fields: PRI, pulse width, rise time
fall time, initial delay, amplitude, frequency offset, frequency span.
The number of pulses that will be generated is equal to the maximum
number of values in these fields. The values for the other fields will be
repeated as many times as needed to achieve the same number of values.
Example: PRI contains three values (8 us, 6 us, 4 us), amplitude contains
fivevalues (0, -2, -4, -6, -8), frequency offset contains two values (1G, 2G)
and frequency span contains only one value (100M). In this case, five
pulses are generated, because five is the maximum of (3, 5, 2, 1). The PRIs
for the five pulses will be 8 us, 6, us, 4 us, 8, us, 6 us. The offset
frequencies will be 1G, 2G, 1G, 2G, 1G and the frequency span will be
100M for all five pulses.

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See also

The “Multi-Emitter Pulse/AM/FM” tool can also be used to generated

sequences of pulsed signals. The flexibility in terms of parameters is not as
large as in the “Radar Pulses/Chirps” tool. However, the Multi-Emitter
Pulse/AM/FM tool allows you to generate overlapping pulse sequences
and add continuous wave AM and/or FM modulated carriers to the
generated signal.

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Frequency Switching

This option allows frequency switching between two or more frequencies

with adjustable tone duration and phase continuous frequency switching.
• To use the Frequency Switching utility, click Frequency Switching
under the IQ & RF pane.
The following figure displays the Frequency Switching parameters:

The following parameters are available:

• List of frequencies: You can specify the MATLAB expression that
evaluates to a vector with frequencies. Example, a list of values
s e p a r a te d b y c o m m a s o r s p a c e o r a n e x p re s s i o n s u c h a s :
start:incr:stop or linspace (start,end,numPoints).
• Duration: specifies the duration for each tone. This can either be a
single value or a list of values or a MATLAB expression that evaluates to
a vector.

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OFDM

This feature enables signal generation with custom modulation schemes.

• To use the OFDM utility, click OFDM under the IQ & RF pane.
The following figure shows the OFDM modulation window:

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Serial Data Generation

The serial data utility allows you to generate digital (NRZ) or multi-level
(PAMx) serial signals with adjustable transition times with or without
additional distortions.
• To use the Serial Data utility, click Serial data generation under the
Digital pane.
The following figure shows the Serial Data window:

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The following parameters are available in the Serial Data utility:

• Symbol Rate: Allows you to set the baud rate of the signal. See
“Relationship between symbol rate, number of symbols, sample rate
and number of samples” on page 82 on how symbol rate, sample rate
and number of symbols are related to each other.
• Sample Rate: When the “Auto” check box is clear, the sample rate of
the AWG can be set. Alternatively, the IQTools algorithm will choose a
sample rate that works with the selected symbol rate and number of
symbol when the Auto check box is selected. See “Relationship
between symbol rate, number of symbols, sample rate and number of
samples” on page 82 on how symbol rate, sample rate and number of
symbols are related to each other.
• # of samples: the number of samples is calculated as follows:
Number_of_samples = symbol_rate * oversampling_ratio * K
where, <K> is selected such that the number_of_samples matches the
granularity requirements of the AWG. See “Relationship between
symbol rate, number of symbols, sample rate and number of
samples” on page 82 on how symbol rate, sample rate and number of
symbols are related to each other.
• Type of data: A pop-up menu to select the type of data content. It
works in conjunction with the encoding pop-up menu next to it, which
contains a choice of NRZ and PAM4. In the Type of data field, you can
choose from the following:
• Random: Uses the MATLAB “rand” function to generate a random
set of symbols. The Encoding field determines if NRZ or PAM4
symbols are generated.
• Clock: Uses alternating ‘0’ and ‘1’ as a sequence of symbols.
• MLT-3: Generates an MLT-3 sequence of symbols (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLT-3_encoding).
• PAM-n: (n = 3…64) generates a random sequence of PAM-n
symbols. The MATLAB “rand” function is used to generate the
random sequence of symbols. PAM-4 is an exception: When PAM-4
is selected, the Type of data field switches to PRBS 2^11-1 with the
encoding set to PAM-4.
• PRBS 2^n-1: Selects a standard pseudo-random bit sequence as a
data source. Depending on selected encoding scheme (NRZ or
PAM-4), the PRBS bits are treated as symbols (NRZ) or pairs of
PRBS bits are encoded as PAM-4 symbols via the “User-defined
levels” field described below.
• Doublet: Generates random Manchester code symbols.

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• JP03B: Generates a stress pattern that consists of 15 times 1-0,

followed by 16 times 0-1.
• LinearityTestPattern: generates a PAM-4 stress test pattern: 0 1 2
3 0 3 0 3 2 1.
• SSPRQ: Generates a PAM-4 stress pattern, see
https://www.ieee802.org/3/bs/public/adhoc/smf/16_04_19/anslo
w_01_0416_smf.pdf.
• PRBS13Q gray coded: Generates the PRBS13Q stress pattern.
• QPRBS13: Generates the QPRBS13 stress test pattern.
• QPRBS13 RZ: Generates the QPRBS13 stress test pattern with every
other bit set to zero (that is, lowest PAM-4 level).
• QPRBS13 R1/2: Generates the QPRBS13 stress test pattern with
every other bit set to the (high level + low level)/2.
• Dual PAM4: Generates the sum of two random PAM4 patterns,
effectively generating a PAM-7 signal, but with non-equal
probability of each level.
• Custom PAM4 LFSR: Generates a custom pattern. The pattern itself
can be modified in the code (see iqmod.m, line 918).
• SSPR (OIF-CEI-4.0): Generates the stress test pattern defined in
OIF-CEI-4.0.
• Pattern from file: Allows you to enter the name of a file with symbol
values in it. The values in the file are expected to be numbers from 0
to M-1 (where M is the number of symbols in the selected
modulation format) or 0, 1/(M-1), 2/(M-1), …, 1. As described in
“User defined data” further in this section, intermediate levels are
also possible.
• User defined: Allows you to enter a sequence of symbol values. The
bits are converted to symbols. For details on the syntax, see “User
Defined data” further in this section.
• # of symbols: specifies the number of symbols to be generated. When
selecting a PRBS as type of data, this field will be pre-populated with
the “native” length of the PRBS (or an integer multiple thereof). You can
overwrite the number of symbols, e.g. if you want a PRBS 2^N instead
of 2^N-1.
In case of “Pattern from file” as data type, the number of symbols will
be populated by the number of symbols read from the file. See
“Relationship between symbol rate, number of symbols, sample rate
and number of samples” on page 82 on how symbol rate, sample rate
and number of symbols are related to each other.

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• Shift: when type of data is set to PRBS, this value will “shift” the PRBS
pattern by the given number of symbols. This can be useful to generate
e.g. two PRBS patterns with the same length on two AWG channels,
but have them “misaligned” by a certain number of symbols.
• User defined data: The User defined data field is only visible if Type of
Data is set to “User defined”. It contains a MATLAB expression that
evaluates to a vector of “symbol” values. The values must be in the
range 0….1, with 0 representing the lowest voltage level and 1 the
highest voltage level. For NRZ signals, the field typically contains a
vector of 0’s and 1’s. For PAM4, the nominal values are 0, 1/3, 2/3 and
1.
You can either fill in a list of values separated by spaces or comma (such
as, 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1) or a MATLAB expression that evaluates to a vector
of values (such as, to generate a vector of 256 random 0’s and 1’s, you can
put in the expression: randi([0 1], 256, 1)). To make PAM4 signals easier to
read, it can be written as 1/3*[0 1 2 3 …], instead of 0, 1/3, 2/3, 1 …
In addition to the “nominal” values (0 & 1 for NRZ; 0, 1/3, 2/3, 1 for PAM4),
you can also use any fractional value between 0 and 1 to represent
intermediate voltage levels. E.g., 0, 0, 0, 0.8, 0, 0, 0 can be used to
generate an isolated “1” that does not quite reach the correct voltage
level.
To simplify generating PRBS sequences with errors in them, the User
defined data field behaves as follows:
• Whenever you change the selection in the Type of Data drop-down
menu, the corresponding data pattern is copied to the User defined
data field. (E.g., when you select PRBS2^7-1, PAM4 as the Type of
data, the User defined data field changes to “1/3 * [1 2 2 3 2 2 3 1 2
3 3 2 3 0 1 3 2 3 3 1 3 0 3 3 2 0 0 1 1 2……]”).
• If you change the selection to User defined data afterwards, that
same data pattern will be generated. Now you have the possibility to
change individual symbols by changing one of the numbers in the
square brackets to another number in the range 0…3 or even force
the signal to go through the middle of an eye by changing one of the
numbers to a fractional value between 0 and 3.
• User pattern file: This field is only visible when type of data is set to
“Pattern from file”. Supported file formats are .TXT, .CSV and .PTRN.
TXT and CSV format are expected to contain a sequence of symbol
values separated by spaces or newlines. The same values as described
in “User defined data” described above are supported. The .PTRN
format is a legacy file format from BERT pattern generators.

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• User defined levels: In this field, the mapping of symbol values to

output voltage levels can be defined, such as, gray coding or linear
coding. The number of values must match the number of symbol
values. The values must be in the range [0…1]. For PAM4, the default
setting for this field is “0 1/3 1 2/3” (gray coding). This means that
symbol value 0 is mapped to 0, symbol value 1 is mapped to 1/3,
symbol value 2 is mapped to 1, symbol value 3 is mapped to 2/3. By
changing the order of the values, the coding can be changed (0 1/3
2/3 1 is linear mapping). This field can also be used to generate
non-equidistant levels (for example, 0 0.2 0.5 1).
• Pre-/Post cursors: These two fields can be used to define the linear
coefficients for pre-/de-emphasis of the signal. An arbitrary number of
pre- and post-cursors can be specified. The first cursor in the “Post
cursor” field is treated as the “main” cursor. Applying the cursors can be
viewed as a convolution of the serial data signal (symbol) with the
coefficients (c).
Example: with one pre-cursor (c[-1]), the main cursor (c[0]) and two
post-cursors (c[1] and c[2]), the following formula is used to calculate
each new symbol values:
new_symbol[n] = symbol[n-1]*c[-1] +
symbol[n]*c[0] +
symbol[n+1]*c[1] +
symbol[n+2]*c[2]
As an example, cursor values -0.2, 1.3, -0.1 cause the following
pre-distortion of the signal:

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Figure 3 Change in signal form after applying cursor values

If the result of the convolution exceeds the DAC range, the signal is
automatically scaled back to the full DAC range in order to avoid
clipping.
• Pulse shaping filter: The selection in this field determines which
algorithm is used to translate the sequence of digital symbols into a
waveform that can be played back by the AWG. Unlike a pattern
generator, where one symbol per clock cycle is generated, an AWG
typically uses more than one sample per symbol to generate a digital
signal. The oversampling ratio (sample_rate / symbol_rate) does not
need to be an integer value.

Figure 4 Effects of applying pulse shaping filter

The following options are available as a pulse shaping filter:

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• Transition time: With this selection, the waveform is mathematically

constructed from cosine-shaped transition segments and
straight-line segments. The duration of the transition segments is
controlled by the transition time parameter. The samples are placed
on this “ideal” waveform at the distance of a sample interval (= 1 /
sample_rate):

Figure 5 Effects of applying transition time

Choosing “Transition time” works best with large oversampling values

(that is, low baudrate relative to sample rate), and the transition time
parameter set to value large enough so that the algorithm can place at
least 3 or 4 sample points on the transition.
• Raised cosine/Root-raised cosine (RC/RRC): With this selection,
the waveform is constructed by adding up the impulse response of a
RC resp. RRC filter which is shifted to the symbol position and
scaled with the symbol value.

Figure 6 Impulse response of an RC / 0.3 filter

Figure 7 Adding up shifted copies of the impulse response yields the final signal

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The benefit of using RC/RRC pulse shape is that the bandwidth of

the generated signal can be minimized (see “Alpha” below). This
method is best suited for high baudrate signals with only a few
samples per symbol. However, with less than approximately 1.5
samples per symbol, this method also reaches its limit.

Both algorithms (transition time and RC/RRC) work with NRZ signals as
NOTE well as multi-level (e.g. PAM-4) signals.

• Transition Time: this field is only visible when Pulse Shape Filter is
set to Transition Time. As described above, this field defines the
duration of a transition segment as relative to the symbol duration
or unit interval (UI).
Note, that this parameter describes the “0 to 100%” transition time.
The 20/80 resp. 10/90 transition times will be shorter.
The background of this field turns yellow if fewer than four samples
can be placed on the transition. In that case, you can still get a valid
signal, but it may be distorted.
It is possible to specify rise and fall time to be different values by
putting two values into the “Transition Time” field, separated by a
space or comma. Example: 0.3 UI rise time, 1 UI fall time:

Figure 8 Effect of transition time on rise and fall time

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• NSym / Alpha: These two fields are only visible when Pulse Shape
Filter is set to Raised Cosine or Root-Raised Cosine. The NSym field
defines the length of the RC/RRC filter in number of symbols. For
smaller values of Alpha, a larger NSym should be chosen because
the “wiggling tails” of the filter reach out further. IQTools populates
this field with a reasonable default value depending on the Alpha
value. However, this value can be overwritten. Note, that NSym
must be less than (number_of_symbols – 5).
In the Alpha field, the roll-off factor of the RC/RRC filter can be
defined. The alpha value must be greater than zero and less or equal
to 1. The value of Alpha determines the bandwidth of the generated
signal. The nominal bandwidth can be calculated as: symbol_rate *
(1 + alpha) / 2.
• Jitter frequency and shape: These parameters define the frequency
of added periodic jitter and the shape of the jitter function. Note,
that the jitter frequency may be rounded such that an integer
number of jitter periods fits into the generated signal. Example: if
the signal is 1 us long and a jitter frequency of 20.1 MHz is selected,
it will be rounded to 20 MHz, since round(1 us * 20.1 MHz) /
1 us = 20 MHz.
• Jitter pp: Peak-peak deviation of the periodic jitter. The value is
given as a fraction of the unit interval (UI). A value of 1 (or larger) will
cause the eye diagram to be completely closed. If this field is zero,
no periodic jitter will be added.
• RJ pp: Peak-peak deviation of pseudo-random jitter. Just like
periodic jitter, this pseudo-random jitter is calculated into the
signal. Since the signal is played back repetitively, so is the jitter. So,
it is in fact not truly “random”. The jitter function is similar to a
gaussian deviation, but with a peak value that is limited at 6 times
the RMS value.
• SSC frequency and depth: these parameters define the frequency
and depth of spread-spectrum clocking function. Note that the SSC
frequency may be rounded such that an integer number of periods
fits into the generated signal. Example: if the signal is 100 us long
and the SSC frequency is set to 33 kHz, the frequency is rounded to
30 kHz, since round(100 us * 33 kHz) / 100 us = 30
kHz. The SSC depth is given in percent of a unit interval (UI).
Example: If the SSC depth is set to 2%, the period-to-period
deviation is 2% of a UI when the SSC function is at its maximum
value. Note, that the absolute timing deviation is usually much
larger than the SSC depth because the absolute deviation is the
cumulative sum of the period-to-period deviations.

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The SSC shape is currently fixed at “Triangle”, but this can be

modified in the code, if desired (iserial.m, line 524).
• Noise frequency: defines the frequency of level noise. Note that the
level noise frequency may be rounded such that an integer number
of periods fits into the generated signal. Example: if the signal is 1 us
long and the noise frequency is set to 20.1 MHz, the frequency is
rounded to 20 kHz, since round(1 us * 20.1 MHz) / 1 us =
20 MHz.
• Noise: defines the amplitude of level noise. It is given as a fraction of
the signal amplitude, that is, if the noise amplitude is set to 1 (or
larger), the eye will be completely closed. If the noise amplitude is
set to zero, no level noise will be added.
• ISI: This is a “quick-and-dirty” method of adding some amount of
inter-symbol interference (ISI). It is implemented by running the
signal through the following IIR filter:
new_symbol[n] = (1 – isi) * old_symbol[n] + isi * new_symbol[n-1]
The ISI value must be greater or equal to 0 and less than 1. To
achieve some effect, the value must be close to, but not equal to 1.
For example, 0.95. The amount of ISI that will be generated is
difficult to quantify. Therefore it is not recommended to use this
function.
A more accurate method to add ISI is to specify an S-parameter file
in the correction management window.
• Duty cycle: for NRZ signals, defines the duration of high level in a “1
0” pattern. Nominally, the duty cycle is 50%, that is, the signal is
50% at high level and 50% at low level in a clock pattern. With a
duty cycle less than 50%, the duration of high level is reduced and
the crossing point in the eye diagram moves towards low level.

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Figure 9 Effect of duty cycle on clock pattern

• Normalized amplitude: This parameter defines which fraction of the

full-scale DAC amplitude will be used by the signal. Normally, this
field should be set to 1, meaning that the full DAC swing is being
used. Under special circumstances, a value less than 1 might make
sense. For example, if you want to define multiple waveform
segments with different amplitudes which are played back as part of
a (hardware) sequence. In all other cases, it is better to adjust the
amplitude of the signal using the amplitude setting of the AWG
(such as, through the “amplitude” parameter in the configuration
window)
• File > Save Data Pattern: In addition to the “Save Waveform…”
option, the serial data utility also provides an option to save the data
pattern (that is, the sequence of symbols). This can be useful to
analyze/modify the data pattern externally and then load it using file
type “Pattern from file”.

Relationship between symbol rate, number of symbols, sample rate and number of
samples

In most cases, the IQTools algorithm takes care of calculating the desired
waveform given the parameters in the serial data window. Occasionally,
that is not possible and an error message will pop up. In this case, it is
helpful to understand what the limitations are, so that parameters can be

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modified accordingly. The parameters symbol rate, number of symbols,

sample rate and number of samples are related to each other through the
following formula:

Both the left and right-hand side of this equation represent the overall
signal duration. On top of that, most AWGs impose a certain granularity
requirement on the number of samples in a waveform (for example, the
number of samples must be a multiple of 512 for the M8195A). If you
choose fixed values for sample rate, symbol rate and number of symbols, it
is very likely that the resulting number of samples does not meet the
granularity requirement. Normally, the algorithm takes care of that be
replicating the waveform a sufficient number of times to meet the
granularity requirement. But sometimes, this may not be possible because
it exceeds the available amount of memory. In this case, either the sample
rate or the number of symbols must be modified.
If the sample rate is fixed (that is, the “Auto” check box next to sample rate
is not selected), IQTools will modify the number of symbols, otherwise,
IQTools will modifty the sample rate in order to meet the granularity
requirements.
Example: Using the M8195A, we want to generate a PRBS 2^15-1 at 25
GBaud. Initially, using a sample rate of 64 GSa/s in 4-channel mode with
only 256 kSa/channels available.
The number of symbols is 2^15-1 = 32767. Using the formula above, the
number of samples is calculated as 32767 * 64G / 25G = 83883.52
samples. This is obviously not possible because an AWG cannot generate a
fractional number of samples. Repeating this waveform 25 times makes it
an integer number: 25 * 83,883.52 = 2,097,088. But this number is still not
divisible by 512. To meet this requirement, the signal must be repeated a
total of 200 times, which makes it 200 * 83883.52 = 16,776,704 samples.
Now this number by far exceeds the available memory size of 256 kSa.
There are several possibilities to work around this situation:
i Checking the “Auto” checkbox next to Sample Rate allows the
IQTools algorithm to choose a “convenient” sample rate. With
that, IQTools rounds the “exact” number of samples (83,883.52)
to the nearest multiple of the granularity (83,968 samples) and
adapts the sample rate to 64.064455 GSa/s, such that the

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desired symbol rate is generated. The 83,968 samples easily fit

into the 256kSa memory.
ii Depending on the intended measurement, it may not be
mandatory to generate exactly 32767 (= 2^15-1) symbols. For
example, in an eye diagram measurement, a larger number of
symbols does not hurt. In this case, the “Auto” check box can
remain clear and IQTools will automatically increase the
number of symbols in this particular case to 32800. It also
shows a warning dialog informing you that it has modified the
number of symbols. In this case, the number of samples turns
out to be 83,968 as well, which fits into the 256 kSa memory.
iii If both the exact number of symbols AND the sample rate need
of 64 GSa/s have to be maintained, the only other option is to
switch to the large memory mode, set the number of symbols
to 200*32767 (see formula above) and download the
16,776,704 samples.

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Pulse/Function Generator

This utility allows you to generate various types of pulses or a sequence of

pulses by defining the timing and level parameters. Unlike the “Radar
Pulses and Chirps” utility, where you define RF pulses, this utility only
generates the envelope or time-domain pulse.
• To use the Pulse/Function Generator utility, click Pulse/Function
Generator under the Digital pane.
The following figure shows the Pulse/Function Generator window:

The following parameters are available:

• Pulse Width, Rise time, Fall time, Off time: These parameters define
the timing of the pulse as shown in the following figure.

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Figure 10 Effect of Pulse Width on the timing of the pulse

• Repeat Interval: Is calculated based on the pulse width, rise time, fall
time and off-time parameters.
• Frequency: Is calculated as 1 / repeat_interval.
• Off DAC, On DAC: Defines the (normalized) DAC levels for the On-time
and Off-time of the pulse (refer to the figure above). A value of 1 refers
to the maximum DAC value, -1 refers to the minimum DAC value.

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• Pulse shape: Selects the “shape” of the transition. The following figure
shows a comparison of the available transition shapes:

Figure 11 Effect of Pulse Shape on the transition

The “exponential” and “gaussian” shapes can be further influenced

using the “Alpha” parameter.

Generating a pulse sequence

In addition to repeating the same pulse over and over, the IQTools pulse
utility allows you to generate a sequence of pulses with different pulse
width, rise/fall time, off-time, DAC On/Off values.
This can be achieved by specifying multiple values separated by spaces or
comma in one or more of the following fields: pulse width, rise time fall
time, off-time, On-DAC, Off-DAC. Through the combination of these
parameters, it is possible to define quite complex pulse shapes.
The number of pulses that will be generated is equal to the maximum
number of values in these fields. The values for the other fields will be
repeated as many times as needed to achieve the same number of values.
Example: Pulse width contains 3 values (8 us, 4 us, 1 us), rise/fall time
contains a single value (1 us), On-DAC contain 3 values (1, 0, -0.5),
Off-DAC contains a two values (-1, 0.5). In this case, 3 pulses are
generated, because 3 is the maximum number of values. The resulting
pulse looks like this:

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Figure 12 Example of generating a pulse sequence

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Load Waveform from File

This utility allows you to feed external data to IQ Tools by loading a

waveform file. You can select the type to input file to download. For ‘CSV’,
the file must contain one or two columns of data (separated by comma)
that are loaded into channel 1 resp. channel 2 of the AWG.
For file type ‘MAT’, the MATLAB file must contain at least one vector that
contains the data. A real data vector will be loaded in channel 1, a complex
vector will be loaded in both channels (real to channel 1, imaginary to
channel 2). Optionally, the MATLAB file can contain another scaler variable
that holds the sampling period. The names of these variable must be
specified in the fields available.
• To use the Load Waveform from File utility, click Load Waveform from
File under the File pane.
The following figure shows the Load from File window:

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The following parameters are available:

• Format: Select amongst the following file formats:
• ASCII/CSV: One or two columns with sample values plus up to four
(optional) marker columns. Sample values can either be floating
point values in the range [-1 … +1] or DAC values, e.g. -128 to +127.
Marker values must be 0 or 1.
Optionally, the CSV file can contain the sample rate in the first line
in the format “Samplerate = 64e9”.
• MATLAB: A “.mat” file that contains at least one variable
representing the vector of samples, optionally a second variable
representing the sample rate or sample period and optionally a third
variable with marker values. The variable names that contain the
sample values and the sample rate can be specified in the following
panel (Samples / Sample Period / Marker).
• 16-bit I/Q pairs: Binary file format with alternating I and Q values as
signed 16-bit integers. LSB or MSB is selectable.
• 16-bit binary: Binary file format with signed 16-bit integers. LSB or
MSB is selectable.
• 12-bit packed binary: Binary file format with signed 12-bit sample
values in a tightly “packed” structure. In this format, 3 bytes (= 24
bits) are used to represent two 12-bit sample values. The bits are
arranged as follows:

Figure 13 Structure of 12-bit packed binary format

• Oscilloscope format: The file format that is used by Keysight

oscilloscopes. Supported formats are .bin, .csv, .txt or .osc.
• ELT format: Binary file format with packed 12-bit I/Q values in a
tightly packed structure. In this format, 6 bytes (= 48 bits) are used
to represent two 12-bit I/Q pairs (= 2 * 2 * 12 bits). The bits are
arranged as follows:

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Figure 14 Structure of ELT format

• Sample Rate: If the “From File” check box is selected, the AWG sample
rate is read from the file (CSV with header or MATLAB format). If the
“From File” check box is clear, the sample rate must be specified in this
field.
• # of samples is filled in with the actual number of samples after the
“Visualize in MATLAB” or “Download” button is clicked.

Resampling panel
• Resampling check box: Enables / disables software re-sampling. Using
this functionality, a waveform file that was sampled at a low sample
rate can be brought into the sample rate range of the AWG.
• Resampling Method: The following methods are available:
• resample: uses the “resample” function that is built into MATLAB.
Note, that this function does not protect the beginning and end of
the waveform from resampling artefacts (unless windowing is also
enabled).
• interpolate: resample the data at a higher rate through lowpass
interpolation using the MATLAB function “interp”. Note that this
method can only be used with an integer resampling ratio.
• FFT: It works by first calculating the FFT of the waveform, then
extending the frequency domain signal with zeros followed by an
inverse FFT. This method works well if the original waveform is
periodic. The periodicity is preserved. This method uses the MATLAB
function “interpft” to perform resampling. This method works well
for periodic waveforms and retains the periodicity. This method
might be slow for large waveforms or large resampling factors (>>
10 MSamples).

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• Linear: Performs linear interpolation between the sample points in

the waveform.
• Arbitrary: Uses a Keysight-proprietary arbitrary resampling function.
It preserves the periodicity of a signal. This algorithm works well,
even if the resampling factor is decimal number that cannot be
expressed as a fraction with small numerator and denominator.
• Resampling Factor: Allows you to specify the factor by which the input
data will be oversampled. Both the length of the input waveform and
the sample rate will be multiplied by resampling factor to get the final
waveform length resp. the resulting AWG sample rate.
• New Sample Rate: Shows the AWG sample rate (= input sample rate
times resampling factor).

Windowing panel
• Windowing check box: turns windowing functionality on or off.
Windowing can be used to avoid a spectral glitch when there is a phase
discontinuity or a sudden transition between the end of the waveform
file and the beginning.
• Windowing method: The Cosine Taper method smoothly fades out
both the beginning and end of the waveform, such that the transition
will always be at zero, while the Crossfade method creates an overlap
between the end and beginning of the waveform, similar to a dissolve
operation.
The following three graphs in Figure 15 show the transition from the
end of a waveform (blue) to the beginning of the waveform (red) under
different windowing methods. In this example, there is both a level as
well as a phase discontinuity in the original waveform.

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Figure 15 Effect of various windowing methods

• Factor or #overlap samples: Defines the length of the overlap resp.

fading range of the waveform. It can either be given as a fraction of the
waveform length (for example, “0.01” means 1 percent of the waveform
length) or in number of samples (for example, a value of 1000 means an
overlap/fade area of 1000 samples).

Frequency shift panel

• Frequency shift check box enables / disables frequency shifting. In
mathematical terms, frequency shifting means multiplying the input
waveform with a sine wave of the desired frequency. This operation is
performed with complex-valued numbers, such that an I/Q waveform
remains intact.
• Center frequency is the frequency by which the input signal is shifted.
The center frequency can also be negative, which causes a shift
towards lower (or even negative) frequencies.
Note that the center frequency is rounded such that an integer number
of periods of the shift frequency is generated.

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Scaling panel
• Apply Scaling check box enables / disables scaling of the input
waveform. If it is turned off, waveforms that are smaller than the [-1 …
+1] interval will not use the full DAC range, which causes a degradation
of the signal-to-noise ratio. Except for special purposes, this check box
should always be selected.
• Scaling maintains zero: When enabled, it causes the scaling to be
symmetrical around zero, i.e. the sample values are simply multiplied by
a certain value. If this check box is cleared, the waveform is scaled such
that its maximum equals the “Scale max” value and its minimum equals
the “Scale min” value. A waveform value of zero may or may not end up
at zero after this operation.
• Scale max/Scale min defines the maximum/minimum of the waveform
values after scaling.

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Sequencer Setup

For some of the AWG models (currently M8190A, M8195A and 81180A),
IQTools also support the sequencer that is built into these AWGs. To set up
a sequence, you must first define and download the individual waveform
segments that will later be combined into a sequence. Then, you can
define the sequence itself. The sequence is a table that describes which
waveform segment to use, how often it will be looped and under which
condition the next segment will follow.
To define the individual waveform segments, use the Segment Number
field that is available in each of the individual waveform tools (Multi-Tone,
Digital Modulation, Radar Pulse, and so on.)

The default segment number is 1, meaning that the waveform will be

downloaded to that segment. (Waveform segments are numbered starting
from 1 up to the AWG model-specific limit).
To set up a number of waveform segments, you choose one of the
waveform creation tools (multi-tone, digital modulations, radar chirps, and
so on), define the desired parameters, set segment number to “1” and click
Download.
Now you can change any of the parameters (or use another waveform
tool), set segment number to “2” and click Download and so on until you
have defined all the individual segments that you would like to use in your
sequence.

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Next, open the Sequencer Setup tool from the IQTools main window and
edit the sequence table:
• To use the Sequencer Setup utility, click Sequencer Setup under the
Sequencer pane.
The following figure shows the Sequencer Setup window:

In each row of the sequence table, you can do the specify the following:
• The waveform segment that you would like to generate.
• The number of times this waveform segment will be looped,
• Under which condition the sequencer will advance to the next
segment.
• Whether the marker outputs that you have defined for this segment will
be output.
You can insert and delete rows from the table with the respective buttons
and also display all the available segments (M8190A only) or delete all of
them. Note that when you delete all segments, you have to go back to the
waveform tools and download the segments again.
Once you press the Download and Run button, the sequence table will be
downloaded and the AWG starts to generate the programmed sequence.
The Advance Modes offers the following choices:
• Auto – The waveform segment will be looped for the programmed
number of times. Then, the sequence will automatically proceed to the
next table entry

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• Conditional – The segment will be looped until an external signal is

applied to the ‘Event’ input (or SCPI command is sent to the instrument
to simulate such an event). A segment will always be completed -
independent on when the Event signal is asserted.
• Repeat – The waveform segment will be looped for the programmed
number of times and then the output is paused as that last sample
value. The sequence proceeds once the ‘Event’ input is asserted.
• Stepped – Similar to ‘Repeat’, except that processing is paused after
each loop.
The sequencer allows you to do much more complicated setups using
SCPI programming, but the IQTools utility currently only supports those
simple sequences.

Using the sequencer programmatically

The sequencer functionality can also be accessed programmatically from

within a user’s MATLAB script through calls to iqseq(). The comments in
the header of iqseq.m contain a detailed description of how to call
iqseq().
In addition, sequencer demo that comes with IQTools (seqtest1.m)
contains an example implementation.

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In-System Calibration

This feature allows you to calibrate the instrument for accurate waveform
generation/acquisition by performing various analyses on the instrument,
plotting various graphs, and extracting the data to display calibrated data.
• To use the In-System Calibration utility, click In-System Calibration
under the Sequencer pane.
The following figure shows the Frequency/Phase response calibration
window.

This window displays how the data is calibrated as per channel mapping
and other connections. Whenever the user opts for in-system calibration,
these calibrations will automatically be performed, provided the required
hardware connection is available.

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To achieve an optimal signal performance out of the AWG, it is necessary

to run an ‘in-system calibration’. The in-system calibration determines the
frequency- and phase response of the AWG plus the cables and adapters
that are between AWG and scope. It also determines the exact skew over
frequency between I and Q, which is important for a valid complex
modulation signal.
In the Frequency/Phase response calibration screen, you can select the
desired type of scope and define how you have connected the AWG
channels with the scope. If you plan to calibrate only a single channel, you
can leave all the other parameters unchanged and click Run.
Once the calibration executes successfully, you will see the magnitude and
phase response graphs on the right side of the screen.

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M8199A User Calibration In-System Calibration

This feature allows you to store the calibrated value in the user calibration
area using the cal table on the module itself.
1 Setup the M8199A multi-module configuration. For more information,
refer to “Instrument Configuration” on page 45.
2 Click In-System Calibration under the Sequencer pane.
The following figure displays the Frequency/Phase response
calibration parameters.

This window displays how the data is calibrated as per channel

mapping and other connections. Whenever the user opts for in-system
calibration, these calibrations will automatically be performed,
provided the required hardware connection is available.
3 Configure the following parameters as required:
• Scope Selection
• Channel Mapping
• Settings

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• Run Action
4 Click Run.
The calibration between the AWG channels and Scope channels will be
performed.
5 To de-skew the scope channels, click Run again. This will consider
channel 1 as the benchmark and performs signal de-skew between
channels (1-2), channels (1-3), and channels (1-4).
The Overwrite or Merge dialog box appears. The following options are
available:
• Overwrite: To store the calibrated value in the user cal table.
• Merge: To merge only certain channels.
• Cancel: To cancel the calibration.

6 Click Overwrite to store the calibrated value in the user cal table.
Once the calibration executes successfully, you will see the magnitude
and phase response graphs on the right side of the screen.

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Reset M8199A User Calibration

This feature allows you to reset the M8199A user calibration. This will clear
all the older values from the cal table.
1 Click In-System Calibration under the Sequencer pane.
2 Go to File > Reset M8199A User Calibration.

3 On the Reset User Calibration? dialog box, click Yes.

The reset process starts.

4 Click Run.
Once the reset process is complete, you will see the magnitude and phase
response graphs on the right side of the screen.

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M8199A Multi-Module Skew Calibration

Multi-module skew calibration consists of two steps: The Multi-module

Skew Threshold Cal makes sure that the skew between modules is
repeatable while the Frequency/Phase Response Cal measures and
compensates any remaining channel-to-channel skew. The results of these
measurements are stored in the non-volatile user calibration area on the
module.
1 Setup the M8199A multi-module configuration. For more information,
refer to “Instrument Configuration” on page 45.
2 Click In-System Calibration, which can be found below the Sequencer
pane.

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3 On the main menu of the Frequency/Phase response calibration

window that appears, click File > Perform M8199A MultiModule Skew
Threshold Cal.

The following progress window is displayed when you click the option
to perform the M8199A MultiModule Skew Threshold Cal. Note that
this step takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

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The following dialog box is displayed after the multi-module skew

threshold alignment is complete.

4 Click OK to exit and return to the previous window.

5 Perform the In-System calibration to compensate Channel-to-Channel
skew using at least three different sample rates, that is,
• 200 GSa/s
• 228 GSa/s
• 256 GSa/s
The Frequency/Phase response calibration window for sample rate
200 GSa/s is shown below:

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The number of tones (Number of freq steps) must be reduced to ‘300’,

NOTE otherwise errors pertaining to “phase outliers” could occur during
measurement. Also, the “Phase includes Ch-to-Ch Skew” option must be
enabled, otherwise the user cal table will not be updated correctly.

6 Click Overwrite on the following prompt at the end of the calibration

with each sample rate.

Here are some important points to note:

• The M8199A multi-module skew threshold calibration does not require
any external measurement equipment.

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• It is mandatory to use the official Keysight Clock Cables (M8199A-810)

and Sync Cables (M8199A-811).
• The calibration routine sweeps through the sample rate range in steps
of 500 MSa/s (or ILV 1 GSa/s) and can be performed in both
(non-interleaving and interleaving) modes.
• One calibration cycle requires at least 15 minutes.
• Multimodule cal data is valid, as long as the module order and the
cabling do not change.
• You will be informed if valid Calibration data are available. If not, you
have the choice to perform the calibration again. The following prompt
appears in such cases.

• In-system calibration requires an N1000A+N1046A or a UXR with at

least 70 GHz of bandwidth.
• When more than four channels have to be aligned, you must run the
IQTools In-System calibration more than once; (IQTools) Channel 1 is
the reference channel and must be used in each run.
For instance, if eight Channels have to be aligned,
1 insystem cal #1: ch1, ch2, ch3, ch4
2 insystem cal #2: ch1, ch5, ch6, ch7
3 insystem cal #3: ch1, ch8

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M8199B Multi-Module Skew Calibration

Overview

While individual M8199B AWG modules are pre-calibrated from the

factory, in order to ensure phase stability between multiple M8199B
modules, you must perform a user calibration, which involves two steps.
1 A skew threshold calibration must be performed to avoid UI skew
errors when the sample rate has been changed. This calibration does
not require external equipment, but takes several minutes.This
calibration is valid, as long as any of the system components (such as,
modules, clock, sync cables, and so on) remain unchanged.
2 Once the previous steps is complete, the skew between the modules is
stable, but not zero. Therefore, a second calibration step can be
performed, which measures the skew between modules and writes it
into a user cal table.

Step 1: Multi-module skew threshold calibration

1 On the Instrument Configuration window of the IQTools GUI, in the
Multi-Module AWG Setup area, select at least ‘2’ modules.

2 Provide the correct module IDs.

3 Launch the In-System Calibration window.

4 Click File > Perform M8199A/B MultiModule Skew Threshold Cal.

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Note that the IQTools utility automatically checks and prompts you in
case a skew threshold cal was already performed with the current
module configuration. For example, when the clock / sync cable
between M8199B and M8008A has been changed, a new calibration is
required. In such cases, the IQTools utility starts the Multi-Module
Skew Threshold calibration process.
While the calibration is being performed, a progress window is
displayed.

5 Wait for the calibration to finish.

Step 2: M8199B Multimodule Skew Correction

Channel mapping configuration

As mentioned earlier, after the skew threshold calibration is performed, the
skew between two or more M8199B modules is stable, but not zero and is
dependent on the AWG sample rate.
IQTools utility helps you with the skew correction also. To perform this
step, you require an oscilloscope (real-time / sampling oscilloscope).

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To perform the Multi-Module Skew Correction,

1 Connect channel 1 of each module (either normal or complement, not
mixed) to a channel on the oscilloscope.

Make sure that matched cables are used to perform connections

NOTE between the M8199B modules and the oscilloscope. Any skew, which is
not coming from the AWG, will be measured and corrected/calibrated as
well.

2 Select the corresponding mapping on the In-System Calibration

window.

3 Click File > M8199B Multimodule Skew Correction.

The skew is then measured between the channels. At the end of the
calibration process, the measured values are written in a user cal table
on each module. Therefore, even after a power cycle of the chassis, the
skew values are retained.

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Correction Management

Concept of operation

Each of the waveform generation windows has an “Apply correction” check

box. This check box determines whether the calculated waveform will be
pre-distorted to compensate for the system’s frequency/phase response.
The details on which correction(s) are applied are visualized and controlled
in the correction management window.
IQTools uses two types of corrections: complex and per-channel
correction. Complex corrections are applied to a complex-valued
waveform before channel mapping while per-channel corrections deal
with real-valued waveforms after channel mapping. In both cases, the
correction information is complex-valued (that is, contains frequency and
phase correction).
Complex corrections are derived from the VSA equalizer (see “Digital
Modulations” on page 58 for more details), while per-channel corrections
are derived through in-system calibration by capturing time-domain data
using an oscilloscope or DCA (see “In-System Calibration” on page 98)
and through loading external S-parameter files.
IQTools implicitly saves the “current” correction parameters in a file (C:\
Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Keysight\iqtools\ampCorr.mat) to
keep them persistent across re-start of MATLAB and the IQTools
application. In addition, corrections can be saved and loaded from a file –
see Export/Import below.
When “Apply corrections” is enabled, both complex AND per-channel
corrections are applied sequentially. In a first step, the complex-valued
correction is applied to the complex-valued waveform:

Next, the real and imaginary parts of the waveform are mapped to AWG
channels (as defined by the channel mapping) and the per-channel
corrections for the specific channel is applied:

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Correction Management Window

The correction management window can be accessed from the main

window under File > Show Corrections. Alternatively, most of the
waveform generation windows contain a “Show Corrections” button.

The following plots and controls are available on the correction

management window:
• Complex Frequency/Phase Response plot visualizes the current
complex correction. Magnitude (blue) and phase (red) is shown as a
separate graph.
A straight horizontal line at 0 dB means no complex correction is being
performed.

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• Per Channel Frequency/Phase Response plot visualizes the current

per channel correction. Magnitude and phase per channel are shown as
separate graphs. The two check boxes on the bottom right of the
window can be used to turn off magnitude or turn off phase for better
visibility.

Complex correction panel

• Embed / De-embed / Do-not-use selects whether the complex
correction itself or the inverse of the correction is multiplied with the
original waveform.
• Import Complex Response loads the complex response from a file.
Supported formats are .MAT, .CSV (VSA style) or .CSV (Signal
Optimizer style). After selecting a file, the following dialog opens up:

By entering a non-zero value, the frequencies in the correction file can be

shift right (with positive) or left (with negative) frequency values. A shift is
necessary if VSA captures a signal that has been externally up-converted,
but the correction should be performed at baseband. In this case, a
negative value equal to the carrier frequency should be entered. If the
AWG generates a direct RF signal, the correction signal must not be
shifted.
• Export Complex Response saves the complex response in a file.
Supported formats are .MAT and .CSV (compatible with the “VSA style”
format in Import Complex Response).
• Clear complex response clears the “current” complex response. A
straight horizontal line will appear in the complex response plot to
indicate that there is not complex response available.

S-parameter panel

The S-parameter panel “belongs” to the per-channel corrections. The

per-channel plot reflects the per channel corrections that were imported
from a file or acquired through in-system calibration PLUS the
S-parameter corrections. This can be useful in order to perform some
S-parameter “math” or to apply multiple S-parameter files.

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• Primary/Secondary/3rd/4th pull-down menu switches between up to 4

different S-parameter files. If only the Primary file is specified, it will be
used for all channels. If a primary and secondary are specified, the
primary will be used for channel 1 and the secondary for all remaining
channels and so on.
• Clear button clears all S-parameter file assignments.
• Selected S-parameter defines which column in the S-parameter file is
used for correction. Usually this is S21 (insertion loss).
• Embed / De-embed / Do-not-use determines if the content of the
S-parameter file is embedded (that is, “added”), de-embedded (that is,
“removed”) from the waveform or not used at all. By default, de-embed
is the correct choice.
• Weight defines how many times the S-parameters are
embedded/de-embedded. For example, if the S-parameter file contains
th e re spo nse o f a 1 m ca ble, a w eig ht o f 2 c an be used to
embed/de-embed a 2 meter cable. Weight can be fractional.
• Remove linear phase takes out a constant delay (= linear phase) from
the S-parameter file before applying it.
• Import AWG factory correction recalls the correction coefficients that
were stored in the AWG as part of the manufacturing process. Only
M8195A, M8196A, M8194A, M8199A and M8199B have built-in factory
corrections stored in the module.
• In-System Calibration opens the in-system calibration window (see
“In-System Calibration” on page 98).
• Import per-channel response loads the per-channel response from a
file. Once the type of file and filename are selected, the user can choose
to “Overwrite”, “Merge” or “Cancel”.

• “Overwrite” means that the current corrections are deleted and

completely replaced by the newly loaded ones.
• “Merge” means that corrections for existing channels remains intact
and the newly loaded corrections will be used for other channels.
(For example, you already have corrections for channel 1 and want
to load corrections for channel 2 without losing those for channel 1.

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Supported file formats are:

• .S2P / S4P / S6P / … – S-parameter file. After selecting a file, you
can choose which S-parameter columns should be used (for
example, 2 1 4 3 means S21 and S43) and to which AWG channel(s)
the file should be assigned (for example, 2 3 means AWG channel 2
and 3).
• .MAT – MATLAB file – compatible with the .MAT format in “Export
per-channel response”. Once the filename is selected, the user can
define to which AWG channels the file is assigned.
• .CSV – this file format corresponds to the .CSV format in “Export
per-channel response”. Once the filename is selected, the user can
define to which AWG channels the file is assigned.
• Export per-channel correction saves the per-channel information in a
file. Supported file formats are:
• Touchstone SnP – S-parameter file with N = 2*number of channels.
Saves the correction for all channels in a single S-parameter file.
Columns are S21, S43, S65, and so on.
• Touchstone S2P – individual S-parameter files, one per channel.
• .MAT – MATLAB format – compatible with the .MAT format in
“Export per-channel response”.
• .CSV – compatible with .CSV format in “Import per-channel
response”.
• .CSV (VSA style) - .CSV file compatible with VSA.
• .CAL (VSA user correction) - can be loaded as a user correction in
VSA.
• Clear per-channel response clears data from the per-channel
response. If corrections for multiple channels is available, a dialog pops
up that allows you to pick which channel(s) to clear. (For example, 1 3
clears only corrections for channels 1 and 3).
• Cut-off frequency can be used to reduce the upper frequency limit up
to which corrections are applied without re-running in-system
calibration. For example, if the per-channel response plot contains
corrections up to 100 GHz, but corrections shall only be applied up to
70 GHz, the cut-off frequency can be set to 70G.
Note that the remaining data (from 70 to 100 GHz) is not removed, it is
just not used and not displayed in the per-channel response graph.
Once the Cut-off frequency field is set to 0, the complete frequency
response information is available again.

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• Smoothing applies a smoothing filter to the magnitude and phase

response curves. The smoothing value indicates across how many
frequency points the smoothing should take place. For example,
smoothing = 20 shall smoothen across 20 points. Set smoothing to
zero to disable this function.

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M8190A Specific Functions

It allows you to control some more M8190A specific functions, such as,
CATV Signal Generation, Sequencer Demo (Time Domain), Radar Demo
(Moving Target), 4-Channel Synchronization, and so on.

Using the M8190A in Digital Up-conversion Mode

The IQTools utilities (except iserial) can also be used to generate baseband
signals for the M8190A operating in Digital Up-conversion (DUC) mode. In
order to use DUC mode, use the configuration window and select one of
the DUC mode (x3, x12, x24 or x48) in the Instrument Model pop-up
menu. Optionally, you can also select the carrier frequency in the same
window. After you click OK, open any of the IQTools utilities and define the
baseband waveform.
Notice that the Download pop-up menu now shows RF to channel 1 and
RF to channel 2 as the possible selections.

Working With Two M8190A Modules Simultaneously

IQTools supports a 4-channel setup that consists of two M8190A modules

with an optional M8192A synchronization module.

Working Without the M8192A SYNC Module

It is possible to synchronize two M8190A modules with the help of an
oscilloscope down to approx one ps skew between each pair of channels.
For more information, refer to “M8190A-Specific Utilities: 4-Channel
Synchronization” on page 119.

Working With the M8192A SYNC Module

When working with the M8192A SYNC module, ensure the following:
• You have an M8190A firmware instance running for each of the two
modules.
• You have an M8192A firmware/SFP running.
• You have both M8190A VISA addresses and the M8192A VISA address
configured in the IQTools configuration window.
With these prerequisites, the Download To button in each of the utilities
allows you to select to which of the four channels your real and imaginary
part of the waveform will be downloaded. It is possible to load the same
component to multiple channels.

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M8190A-Specific Utilities: 4-Channel Synchronization

This utility allows you to demonstrate the synchronization of two M8190A

modules (= 4 channels) either with or without an M8192A synchronization
module. It is generally possible to synchronize more than two M8190A
modules (up to 6 with the M8192A sync module), but the current
implementation of IQTools only supports two.
To run four M8190A channels fully synchronous, follow these steps:
1 Start the M1890A firmware for the first and second module (you need
one instance of the firmware for each module).
2 If you are using the M8192A module, launch the Soft Front Panel for
the M8192A module (this includes the firmware). Find the VISA address
of the M8192A (it is shown under Help > About).
3 Find out and note the IP address of the oscilloscope and add the
oscilloscope to the Keysight IO Connection Expert. If LAN (TCPIP) does
not work reliably, try to use USB to connect to the scope. Any DSO,
DSA or MSO scope will work.
4 On the IQTools GUI, click Configure Instrument.
a Select M8190A_12bit or M8190A_14bit mode. Digital upconversion
m o d e a re c u r re n t l y n o t s u p p o r t e d i n I QTo o l s ( a l t h o u g h
synchronization works in the same way)
b Enter the VISA addresses for both AWG modules (just copy them
from the firmware window – you might want to click the Test
connection button to be sure that connection can be established.
c Enter the VISA address of the scope (copy it from the IO Control,
Connection Expert) – you might want to click the Test connection
button to be sure that connection can be established.
d Enter the VISA address of the M8192A if you are using a SYNC
module. It is important that your hardware configuration and cabling
matches the configuration that you set up in IQTools. If you are not
using an M8192A module, make sure to clear the Use M8192A
check box.
5 From the main screen of the IQTools MATLAB GUI, select > specific
functions > 4-channel sync.
6 Make the cable connection described in the Connection Diagram.
7 Set the AWG#2 Clk Source to ext sample clock for best accuracy.
(Make sure you have the Sample clocks connected according to the
connection diagram). If you are using the M8192A SYNC module, the
sample clock connection is part of the blue cable connections.
8 Make sure Analog Outputs Ch1 used for de-skew … is selected.

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9 Click Automated De-skew. This will synchronize the two first channels
on both modules.
If an error message pops up, look at the scope – it should display the
rising edge of a square wave on channel 1 and 2. If one (or both) of the
channels show no signal, double check the connection diagram. Also,
make sure you using the correct output (DAC out vs. DC out).
10 The modules are now synchronized – you should see all 4 scope
channels perfectly aligned on the oscilloscope screen.
11 Choose one of the waveforms in the drop-down menu and click the
Start or Stop buttons to see how different waveform can be loaded
without changing the skew between the modules.

For Customer Specific Waveform the Script must be modified:

1 Open the file multi_channel_sync.m for editing in MATLAB.
2 Go to line 202 and decide which item of the sample list you would like
to customize.
3 The waveformID is linked to the point in the drop-down menu of the
GUI. This gives you an idea which case needs to be modified.
4 The waveform vectors testSegment1 or testSegment2 have to be
complex due to the IQ philosophy of the scripts.
5 testSegment1 is then downloaded to AWG#1 (primary)
6 testSegment2 is then downloaded to AWG#2 (secondary)
7 Once the modifications are done, save the .m-file and restart the GUI
for 4-channel-sync.
8 Select the modified waveform in the drop-down menu and play it by
pressing the buttons Start and Stop.

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4 References
References / 122
4 References

References

• Learn more about the Keysight M8190A arbitrary waveform generator

(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8190A
• Learn more about the Keysight M8194A arbitrary waveform generator
(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8194A
• Learn more about the Keysight M8195A arbitrary waveform generator
(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8195A
• Learn more about the Keysight M8196A arbitrary waveform generator
(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8196A
• Learn more about the Keysight M8199A arbitrary waveform generator
(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8199A
• Learn more about the Keysight M8199B arbitrary waveform generator
(used in this document) at www.keysight.com/find/M8199B
• Learn more about the Keysight M8070B software at
www.keysight.com/find/M8070B
• Learn more about MATLAB software and ordering it directly from
Keysight with the M8190A, other arbitrary waveform generators, and
other instruments at: www.keysight.com/find/MATLAB
• Information on all Keysight signal and waveform generators can be
found at www.keysight.com
• Additional information on using MATLAB with Keysight instruments is
available at www.mathworks.com/keysight

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This information is subject to
change without notice.
© Keysight Technologies 2023
Edition 4.0, December 2023

M8100-91B60
www.keysight.com