Measuring mmWave Spectrum Using External Mixer

The mmWave band has this name because it uses frequencies with wavelengths from 1 to 10 mm, which in concrete terms means a frequency of 30 GHz to 300 GHz. Higher frequency signals have stronger linearity but the mmWave band also has high directivity. In terms of physical characteristics, the mmWave band suffers from large free space attenuation losses, which when coupled with the high directivity makes it an extremely difficult frequency band to use compared to the 800 MHz and 2 GHz bands currently used by applications.

In contrast to the frequency band at 6 GHz and below, which has a limited usable frequency band due to a shortage of available frequencies, the mmWave band supports broadband signals and seems likely to be an essential part of future large capacity wireless communications systems. This whitepaper explains issues in mmWave band measurements, and a new measurement method proposed by Anritsu.