Siglent SVA1000X-DMA Digital modulation analysis license option
Siglent SVA1000X-DMA licence: constellation, eye, EVM and frequency error for ASK, FSK, MSK, PSK and QAM carriers.
What the SVA1000X-DMA licence adds
A digital transmitter can measure perfectly and still not work. Output power in band, occupied bandwidth within the mask, spurious emissions clean — and the link still drops at a third of the range it should manage. Every one of those measurements looks at the outside of the carrier. None of them looks at whether the symbols inside it can be recovered.
The SVA1000X-DMA licence adds a vector analyser for the inside: it demodulates the carrier and shows the constellation and the eye, then quantifies what it sees — error-vector magnitude, magnitude and phase error, frequency error, I/Q offset — and lists the recovered symbols.
It covers ASK, FSK, MSK, BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK and 16/32/64QAM, with the receive filtering the format expects, so the measurement reflects what a real receiver would make of the signal rather than what an unfiltered detector sees.
What it puts on the instrument
Constellation and eye
The two pictures that show how a signal is degraded — noise opens the cloud, compression pulls the corners in, a timing error closes the eye.
EVM and error metrics
Error-vector magnitude with the magnitude and phase error behind it, so the failure has a number and a direction rather than an impression.
Frequency and I/Q error
Carrier frequency offset and I/Q imbalance — the errors that come from the reference oscillator and the modulator rather than from the power stage.
Symbol table
The demodulated symbols themselves, for when the question is what the device actually transmitted rather than how cleanly.
A 2-FSK sensor at 868 MHz has poor range although its output power measures correctly. The constellation is smeared and the frequency-error readout shows the carrier sitting well off channel with low deviation — a crystal loading error introduced on the latest PCB revision. A normal spectrum sweep shows a healthy carrier of the right size in the right place, and hides all of it.
Which instruments it fits
The licence is keyed to the series, so it runs on every SVA1000X model — each up to its own top frequency. Quote your instrument’s serial number when ordering and the key is issued against it.
| Model | Spectrum range | Tracking generator / VNA | This licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| SVA1015X | 9 kHz – 1.5 GHz | 100 kHz – 1.5 GHz | Supported |
| SVA1032X | 9 kHz – 3.2 GHz | 100 kHz – 3.2 GHz | Supported |
| SVA1075X | 9 kHz – 7.5 GHz | 100 kHz – 7.5 GHz | Supported |
Spectrum analysis, the vector network analyser, the tracking generator and the 20 dB preamplifier are standard on the SVA1000X. Errors & omissions excepted.
Questions we get asked
Which modulation formats does it demodulate?
ASK, FSK, MSK, BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK and 16, 32 and 64QAM, with the symbol rate and receive filter set to match the signal under test.
Do I need the analog modulation option as well?
Only if you also work with AM or FM. They are separate licences because they answer separate questions — DMA handles digitally modulated carriers, AMA handles analog ones. Many benches need both; plenty need only one.
Can it decode the actual data?
It recovers and displays the symbols. Turning symbols into application-layer packets means knowing the protocol's framing, whitening and error coding, which is a protocol analyser's job rather than a modulation analyser's.
What limits the signal bandwidth I can analyse?
The analyser's own analysis bandwidth, which is why this suits narrowband IoT, ISM and telemetry links rather than wideband cellular signals.
Is this the same as a vector signal analyser?
It is vector signal analysis running on the instrument you already have, and for narrowband work it answers the same questions. A dedicated VSA buys you more analysis bandwidth and deeper standard-specific measurements.
The other SVA1000X options
All five sit on the same instrument and can be added at any time. See all licences and accessories.
Not sure this is the licence you need?
Send us your serial number and what you are trying to measure. We will confirm which option covers it — and tell you if your instrument already can.