March 2020
Featured Article
Becoming a "Detective Engineer" - Keysight Introduces
Students to Application-Based Interference Fox Hunting
By: Keysight Technologies
As the world becomes more connected, the need for simultaneous mobile communications is becoming evermore important. While we can make the devices operate well in a controlled environment, it is becoming much harder to control interference as more wireless devices are activated every day. As students prepare for jobs, not only will they have to be able to identify different sources of interference, they will need to ensure their devices can operate in an increasingly congested spectrum. On the bright side, tracking down the sources of interference has become much easier with the use of handheld spectrum analyzers.
Keysight Technologies’ education team has created unique opportunities for students to learn more about minimizing interference. Recently, Keysight field engineer Casey Latham, with support from our Authorized Distributor, TestEquity, presented students at the University of Houston with an opportunity to participate in an interference Fox Hunt on their own campus. Fox hunts originated within the amateur radio community, where a ham radio would transmit from an unknown environment, and participants would compete to be the first to find the hidden transmitter. Today, a similar approach is used, with more modern equipment and advanced software.
Traditionally, Fox Hunt participants used everything from handheld power meters to self-made equipment. At the recent University of Houston IEEE chapter Fox Hunt, students used the Keysight FieldFox Handheld Spectrum Analyzer, coupled with directional antennas, to search for signals originating from commercially-available IoT devices. These IoT devices were placed around the university campus, hidden in trees, cars and statues. Because of the large distance, students had to work with signal attenuation, multipath, and even other IoT devices transmitting at similar frequencies.
Out of five participating student groups, two found all the transmitters and one group found one transmitter. The winning groups found the transmitters in only 30 minutes! Each of the students learned something from the presentation, with many students appreciating the connection between the theory they learned in class to the practical application during the hunt. One student said, “the event gave me insight into the tools that companies and industries use to detect signals and find interference sources.” Another student, one of the organizers, called the event “a thrilling, innovative, and original experience; it’s like you’re a detective engineer”.
From this event, students learned about how wireless devices communicate, and why signal attenuation and multipath can cause issues. They also learned about how to use a spectrum analyzer and why it is important, even if you are not an RF engineer. One thing we learned…tell students to wear athletic clothing because they’re going to be running a lot!
Keysight continues to host Fox Hunts at Universities across the country. For an opportunity to have Keysight present a Fox Hunt at your school, please contact Noah Schmitz at noah.schmitz@keysight.com. For more information about Keysight Education solutions, please visit https://www.keysight.com/us/en/industries/education.html