- Technavio’s latest report on the global vector signal generator market provides an analysis of the trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021.
- Technavio analysts forecast the global vector signal generator market to grow to USD 153.69 million by 2021, at a CAGR of more than 2% over the forecast period.
The research study by Technavio on the global vector signal generator market for 2017-2021 provides an industry analysis based on the frequency (2 GHz, 4 GHz, and 6GHz), end-user (telecommunications, electronics, automotive, and industrial), and geography (the Americas, EMEA, and APAC).
A vector signal generator is an electronic device that is used for testing complex waveforms. These devices have been developed in light of new communication technologies emerging in the market such as W-CDMA/UMTS, Wi-Fi – IEEE 802.11, WiMAX – IEEE 802.16, and LTE.
The top three emerging trends driving the global vector signal generator market according to Technavio research analysts are:
- Development of 5G
- Emergence of new communication technologies
- Growth of FPGA-enables vector signal generators
Development of 5G
“The vector signal generators are used for the testing and measurement of the signals transmitted by telecommunication equipment. Since 5G requires a larger bandwidth, many firms are developing vector signal generators that will be able to generate these waveforms,” says Raghu Raj Singh, a lead analyst at Technavio for embedded systems research.
Emergence of new communication technologies
The emergence of the latest wireless communication technologies, such as CDMA, LTE, Wi-Fi – IEEE 802.11, WiMAX – IEEE 802.16, and UMTS, has resulted in the development of telecommunication equipment supporting these technologies. The telecommunication equipment transmits signals that use complex modulation formats, which is expected to accelerate the demand for vector signal generator to test these complex signals.
One of the major electronic devices that are incorporating these new technologies are mobile computing devices such as smartphones. Furthermore, the need to address the increase in the W-LAN speeds and the latest IEEE802.11ac standard specifies has resulted in companies designing and manufacturing vector signal generators that can meet these standards and operate on these communication technologies.
Growth of FPGA-enables vector signal generators
One of the important technologies that have been embedded into vector signal generators is the FPGA (field programmable gate array). FPGA is an IC chip that can be configured per hardware requirements by a client after its manufacturing. They consist of an array of programmable logic blocks, which can have different wire connections as per the requirement.
“One of the major reasons that vector signal generator manufacturers are experimenting with FPGA-enabled devices is because it provides an added functionality to the generators. For example, FPGA-enabled vector signal generators can simulate different scenarios and verify the input and output signal across each of these scenarios,” says Raghu.
