Oscillator and Synthesizer Development: If you're designing a VCO, PLL, or frequency synthesizer, phase noise is likely the primary specification that determines whether your design is competitive. The PNM option provides direct measurement of your oscillator's phase noise profile across offset frequencies from 10 Hz to the maximum span—revealing the close-in (1/f³) noise, the PLL loop bandwidth, the reference spur levels, and the far-out noise floor in a single measurement. This is the feedback loop that drives oscillator optimization: change a loop filter component, remeasure phase noise, iterate.
Communications System Performance: Phase noise directly limits receiver sensitivity in digital communications. In an OFDM system (Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G NR), local oscillator phase noise causes inter-carrier interference that degrades EVM—and the relationship isn't linear. A few dB of excess phase noise at close-in offsets can cost you an entire modulation order (e.g., forcing 64-QAM instead of 256-QAM). The PNM option helps you characterize the LO sources in your receiver chain and verify that phase noise doesn't limit system performance.
Radar Doppler Sensitivity: In coherent radar systems, LO phase noise sets the minimum detectable velocity (Doppler shift). Phase noise at offsets corresponding to target Doppler frequencies directly masks weak returns. The PNM option enables characterization of radar LO sources to verify that phase noise specifications are met at the offsets that matter for your target detection requirements.
Integrated Phase Jitter: The PNM option calculates integrated RMS phase jitter over user-defined offset ranges—the specification that clocking and data converter engineers care about. Phase jitter at the ADC sampling clock directly limits achievable SNR, and the PNM measurement provides this number directly rather than requiring manual integration of the phase noise curve.