Even with gapless capture, the task of resolving RF interference problems is challenging enough that it deserves to be guided by a systematic process. One such process includes:
. Step 1. Capture
In this step, data is acquired using long-duration recording to ensure the capture of the culprit event. Long duration is required because the signals in the RF environment are often long duration. Also, RF environments change over time and typically have crowded spectrums. Moreover, the increasing bandwidth of modern communication signals means the noise spectrum is wider and interactions are often intermittent, subtle or transient.
. Step 2. Search
Once acquired, a recording is played back and analyzed in the lab, as necessary, to extract information about the culprit interferer. Signal search tools, which can perform automatic searches based on many different criteria, are highly recommended for finding interferers in very large records. The search results in a list of signals from the data record that matches the criteria. Once found, these signals can be clipped out and played back using a signal analysis application.
. Step 3. Re-capture Data
Once the engineer has a better understanding of the problem scenario or what the potential culprit interferers are, it may be necessary to capture more specific recordings. In this optional step, the engineer uses that knowledge of the culprit to trigger additional recordings with better signal-to-noise ratio. These recordings can focus on a specific reaction of a victim receiver to a specific culprit interferer. Here, a dual-channel recording system may prove especially useful as it can be configured to use one of its channels to trigger the recording.
. Step 4. Analyze
Finally, the engineer can uncover the effect of the culprit interferer using analysis software.
Utilizing this process, engineers not only acquire knowledge of the RF environment, but are also able to record information in the frequency band over a long duration. As a result, they can efficiently use RF recording to record, search and analyze target signals in complex RF environments.