The Automated Radio Measurement System (ARMS) for Characterizing Broadband Performance of Transmitters and Receivers

Accurate prediction of RF interference (RFI) requires high fidelity measured data. There are many ways transmitters can interfere with receivers. The output spectrum of transmitting radios is made up of the fundamental signal, harmonics, spurious emissions, and broadband noise. Receiving radios are capable of detecting extremely low-level signals in their pass band, but can also be sensitive to signals outside the pass band such as mixer products and spurious responses. Manual measurements to obtain this data is very time consuming, especially when the radios can operate over hundreds or thousands of channels. This paper discusses an Automated Radio Measurement System (ARMS) that can accurately perform these broadband measurements with high dynamic range.