LO sharing is a technique to reduce phase noise for some measurements by sharing the local oscillator (LO) between NI-RFSA and NI-RFSG sessions to the same instrument. To share the same LO between an NI-RFSA and NI-RFSG session, you must initiate both sessions and ensure both sessions use the same shared setting.

The LO for the instrument can be either an onboard LO or an external LO:

  • Onboard LO—Integrated LO within the VST
  • External LO—LO for the instrument from an external (non-NI) device that operates in place of the onboard LO

    • The exact manner in which the LO functions within your PXIe-5842 instrument depends on the instrument configuration.