Functional Overview

This chapter provides the overview of the features provided by the SHFSG Instrument. The first section contains the description of the functional diagram and the hardware and software feature list. The next section details the front panel and the back panel of the measurement instrument. The following section provides product selection and ordering support.

Features

The SHFSG Instrument consists of several internal units that generate digital signals (light blue color) and several units that transform the digital signals into analog signals with the appropriate center frequency (dark blue color). The front panel is depicted on the left-hand side and the back panel is depicted on the right-hand side. The arrows between the panels and the interface units indicate selected physical connections and the data flow. The SHFSG 8.5 GHz Signal Generator comes in a 4-channel and an 8-channel variant, providing either 4 or 8 output channels, respectively. The ordering guide details the available upgrade options for each instrument type and whether the option can be upgraded directly in the field.

Figure 1. SHFSG instrument functional diagram

Each channel has signal generation (AWG, Modulation) functionality, as well as common functionality such as the shared communications (32-bit DIO, ZSync). The digital, complex-valued signal from the signal generation is up-converted to microwave frequencies in the analog domain using the Signal Output Module.

Super-high-frequency Signal Outputs

Low-noise Outputs, DC - 8.5 GHz frequency range, 1 GHz modulation bandwidth
Broadband double superheterodyne frequency upconversion
Calibrated (Output) Power Range, selectable from -30 dBm to 10 dBm when using the RF path and from -30 dBm to 5 dBm when using the LF path

Advanced Pulse Sequencer

Arbitrary Waveform Generator capability
Advanced sequencing
- looping, branching
- command table
- advanced trigger control
Digital modulation

Hardware Trigger Engine

1 Trigger Engine per Channel
1 Marker Output and Trigger Input per Channel

High-speed Connectivity

SMA connectors on front and back panel for triggers, signals and external clock
USB 3.0 high-speed host interface
Maintenance USB connection
LAN/Ethernet 1 Gbit/s controller interface
DIO: 32-bit digital input-output port
2 ZSync connectors for clock synchronization and fast data transfer
Clock input/output connectors (10 MHz)

Software Features

Web-based, high-speed user interface with multi-instrument control
Data server with multi-client support
LabOne APIs, including Python, QCoDeS and Labber
Turnkey software and firmware features for fast system tune-up

Front Panel Tour

The front panel SMA connectors and control LEDs are arranged as shown in Figure 2 and listed in Table 1.

Figure 2. SHFSG 8.5 GHz Signal Generator front panel

Table 1. SHFSG Signal Generator front panel description
Position	Label / Name	Description
A	Trig	TTL Trigger Input
B	Mark	TTL Marker Output
C	Out	single-ended waveform Signal Output, DC-8.5 GHz, max. 10 dBm
D	Aux In	analog Auxiliary Input, max. 10 V
E	multicolor LEDs	off Instrument off or uninitialized blink all LEDs blink for 5 seconds → indicator used by the Identify Device functionality
	Busy	unused
	Ext Ref	off External Reference Signal not present/detected blue External Reference Signal is present and locked on to yellow External Reference Signal present, but not locked on to red External Reference Signal present, but lock failed
	ZSync	off no connection blue steady: ZSync fully connected AND synchronized blinking: ZSync synchronized but not yet fully connected yellow ZSync plugged in, but not connected red ZSync interface error
	Status	off Instrument off or uninitialized blue Instrument is initialized and has no warnings or errors yellow Instrument has warnings red Instrument has errors
F	Soft power button	Power button with incorporated status LED off Instrument off and disconnected from mains power blue flashing rapidly (>1/sec): Firmware is starting flashing slow (<1/sec): Firmware ready, waiting for connection constant: Instrument ready and active connection over USB or Ethernet red breathing: Instrument off but connected to mains power → safe to power off using the rear panel switch, or restart using the soft power button flashing: Instrument booting up constant: Fatal error occurred

Back Panel Tour

The back panel is the main interface for power, control, service and connectivity to other ZI instruments. Please refer to Figure 3 and Table 2 for the detailed description of the items.

Figure 3. SHFSG Instrument back panel

Table 2. SHFSG Instrument back panel description
Position	Label / Name	Description
A	Earth ground	4 mm banana jack connector for earth ground, electrically connected to the chassis and the earth pin of the power inlet
B	AC 100 - 240 V	Power inlet, fuse holder, and power switch
C	MDS 1	SMA: bidirectional TTL ports for multi-device synchronization
D	MDS 2	SMA: bidirectional TTL ports for multi-device synchronization
E	Maintenance	Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 port for maintenance and instrument control
F	LAN 1GbE	1 Gbit LAN connector for instrument control
G	DIO 32bit	32-bit digital input/output (DIO) connector
H	USB	Universal Serial Bus (USB) 3.0 port connector → do not use for standard operation
I	ZSync Secondary	Secondary inter-instrument synchronization bus connector Attention: This is not an Ethernet plug, connection to an Ethernet network might damage the instrument.
J	ZSync Primary	Primary inter-instrument synchronization bus connector Attention: This is not an Ethernet plug, connection to an Ethernet network might damage the instrument.
K	External Clk In	External Reference Clock Input (10 MHz/100 MHz) for synchronization with other instruments
L	External Clk Out	External Reference Clock Output (10 MHz/100 MHz) for synchronization with other instruments

Ordering Guide

Table 3 provides an overview of the available SHFSG products. Upgradeable features are options that can be purchased anytime without the need to send the Instrument back to Zurich Instruments.

Table 3. SHFSG Instrument product codes for ordering
Product code	Product name	Description	Field upgrade possible
SHFSG4	SHFSG Signal Generator	Base 4-channel Super-High-Frequency Signal Generator (SHFSG)	-
SHFSG8	SHFSG Signal Generator	Base 8-channel Super-High-Frequency Signal Generator (SHFSG)	-

Table 4. Product selector SHFSG
Feature	SHFSG 4 channels	SHFSG 8 channels
Number of Output Channels	4	8
Number of analog RF synthesizers	4	4
Digital oscillators per channel	8	8
Mixer-calibration-free analog frequency upconversion (double super-heterodyne)	yes	yes
Frequency range	DC-8.5 GHz	DC-8.5 GHz
Total number of Markers/Triggers (1 each per channel)	4/4	8/8
Vertical resolution Output	14 bit	14 bit
Digital IQ modulation	yes	yes
ZSync capability	yes	yes
Sequencing	yes	yes
USB 3.0	yes	yes
LAN 1 Gbit/s	yes	yes