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What is the best TI solution to measure RF transmitted power?

Derek
Mastermind 9802 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC2500, CC2520

Hello,

   I'm putting together a simple test fixture to measure the RF power from a device under test (DUT) which is a TI LPRF module. It will be transmitting RF carrier at a given frequency, e.g. 2435MHz or so depending on the channel. Can I use any of the TI dev kits and firmware to verify that the output power is what we expect? I figure I just need to get the other chip (like a CC2520 or CC2500) to measure RF on one channel. How do I do this? Preferably a LPRF IC that connects to an MSP430.

 

Thanks,
Derek

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 36395 points

    Derek, 

    Please always use a real power meter as your reference, like this Agilent one.

    http://www.testequity.com/products/973/

    But for simple power measurements where you know the limits (frequency and power range) then you can use a CC2500 pretty easily. It will give you 0.5dB resolution, but with averaging you can get to 0.1dB.

    Regards,
    /TA 

  • 0
    TI__Mastermind 33190 points

    If you want to have a sanity check on the output power then a simple method would be to use an 2.4 GHz EM and measure the RSSI level at the desired frequency. Both CC2520 or CC2500 EM boards will do this. If you perform the RF output power measurement by measuring the conducted output power (RF cable connected to CC2520 / CC2500 EM board) then the RSSI level should correlate to the output power level from your DUT.

    Using SmartRF studio in combination with the EM boards is a very cost effective way to check output power and sensitivity levels. Obviously this setup will not be as accuracte as a power meter or signal generator approach but this is ideal when requiring a simple test setup.

    One nice feature with SmartRf studio is that the output power frequency can also be sweept from a low frequency to a high frequency with a certain interval. This is ideal to check antennas when network analyzers are not available.

    Regards,

       Richard.