NI 5661 Signal Paths

A signal takes the following path from the RF Signal Analyzer front panel to the PXI controller:

1. A signal enters the RF Signal Analyzer through the INPUT front panel connector of the NI 5600 RF downconverter module.
2. The NI 5600 RF downconverter module "zooms in" on a 20 MHz block of spectrum and frequency-translates it to center around 15 MHz. The translated IF signal is sent to the NI 5600 downconverter module OUTPUT connector.
3. The IF signal is passed from the NI 5600 RF downconverter module front panel OUTPUT connector to the NI 5142 IF digitizer module front panel INPUT connector.
4. The NI 5142 IF digitizer module filters and conditions the signal and applies gain and dither.
5. The A/D Converter (ADC) converts the signal from analog to digital.
6. The data is sent to onboard memory (the buffer).
7. The data is transferred to the host computer.