Test solutions for power electronics

At the PCIM Europe 2022 in Nuremberg, Germany, Rohde & Schwarz demonstrated its latest test solutions for developers of power supplies and other power electronics. The RTO6 oscilloscope supports CAN (FD) triggering and decoding.

The company’s experts shared their know-how about applications like stability analysis, power integrity, and component testing as well as EMI (electromagnetic interference) debugging and EMI precompliance testing. Rohde & Schwarz test solutions address a range of power electronics design challenges. At the exhibition, the company introduced the R&S RTO6 oscilloscope performing stability analysis and power integrity measurements.

When debugging and validating power rails, it is essential to ensure that power integrity requirements are met, said the company. The inherent low noise of R&S RTO6 oscilloscopes enables accurate power integrity measurements at the millivolt level, they continued. The update rate of the oscilloscope allows to see infrequent ripple as well as periodic and random disturbance (PARD) anomalies. The oscilloscope supports Classical CAN, CAN FD, as well as LIN. The CAN arbitration bit rate range is 100 bit/s to 1 Mbit/s; the CAN FD data phase bit rate range is 10 kbit/s to 15 Mbit/s).

Part of the setup is the R&S RT-ZPR, an oscilloscope probe for characterizing power rails. Another recent addition to the portfolio is the R&S LCX LCR meter, general-purpose impedance tester for applications. At PCIM, the product was on display, measuring inductance (L), capacitance (C). and resistance (R) of components within the supported frequency range from 4 MHz to 10 MHz. Increasing switching speed in power electronics involves the risk of higher EMI, turning EMC compliance into a challenge, said the company.

The R&S RTO6 oscilloscopes with their high-dynamic range and input sensitivity of 1 mV/div at full measurement bandwidth make it possible to detect even weak emissions, the company explained. They offer FFT capabilities, which are ideal for EMI analysis in the frequency domain thanks to their operation, acquisition rate, and manifold functions such as color coding of the spectral display according to frequency of occurrence. The zone trigger in the FFT is ideal for detecting sporadic emission frequencies.

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