Agilent N5161A/62A/81A/82A/83A MXG Signal Generators User’s Guide 173
Preliminary Basic Digital Operation (Option 651/652/654)
Preliminary Clipping a Waveform
Combining the I and Q Waveforms
When the I and Q waveforms combine in the I/Q modulator to create an RF waveform, the magnitude
of the RF envelope is , where the squaring of I and Q always results in a positive value.
As shown in the following figure, simultaneous positive and negative peaks in the I and Q waveforms
do not cancel each other, but combine to create an even greater peak.