510                                                                                                                     Keysight N9927-90001 User’s Guide
AM/FM Metrics (SA Only and Option 355)
Using AM/FM Metrics
Table 25-1  Measurement Details
Measurement details
Modulation Rate The modulation rate quantifies how fast the modulation is and equates to the 
frequency of the baseband signal that modulates the carrier.
SINAD (Signal to Noise 
and Distortion Ratio)
Another commonly used distortion measure is signal to noise and distortion 
ratio (SINAD). SINAD, in nature, is the reciprocal of the modulation distortion 
provided by the “distortion/total Vrms,” but the SINAD is usually expressed in 
a logarithmic term as follows:
Where: 
S = Signal Power
D = 
N = Noise
SINAD = [(S + D + N) / (D + N)] OR
Refer to “SINAD and THD Calculations” on page 516. 
THD (Total Harmonic 
Distortion) 
The total harmonic distortion (THD) measurement further isolates the total 
harmonic distortion component from the noise component in the total 
unwanted signal. It helps the user to troubleshoot the root causes of 
modulation distortion.
S = Signal Power
D = 
N = Noise
THD = [(D + N) / (S + D + N)]
RF spectrum of the 
modulated signal
This is the most traditional spectrum analyzer measurement viewing the 
modulated carrier signal power in frequency domain. Prior to being 
modulated, the signal power of a sinusoidal carrier concentrates at the carrier 
frequency. By contrast, modulation causes sidebands indicating the power 
redistribution over frequencies. The pattern of the sidebands depends upon 
the modulation format.
Demod waveform This measurement retrieves the baseband signal from the modulated signal 
via the demodulation process, and displays the baseband signal in a pattern of 
modulation depth/deviation versus time. Since the modulation 
depth/deviation is directly proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the 
baseband signal, the measurement result helps to intuitively evaluate the 
quality of the baseband signal. 
AM modulation depth AM modulation depth = (Peak-to-Peak / 2)