Error Vector Magnitude (EVM)

The error vector magnitude (EVM) is a measure of modulation quality of a digital radio transmitter or receiver. A signal sent by an ideal transmitter or received by a receiver would have all constellation points precisely at the ideal locations, however various imperfections in the implementation (such as carrier leakage, low image rejection ratio, phase noise etc.) cause the actual constellation points to deviate from the ideal locations. Informally, EVM is a measure of how far the points are from the ideal locations.

EVM Formula

An error vector is a vector in the I-Q plane between the ideal constellation point and the point received by the receiver. In other words, it is the difference between actual received symbols and ideal symbols. The average amplitude of the error vector, normalized to peak signal amplitude, is the EVM

EVM is defined as a percentage in a compatible way: