HP-AN1287-5_Improved Throughput in Network Analyzer Applications

8/14/2019 HP-AN1287-5_Improved Throughput in Network Analyzer Applications

1/24

Improving Through pu t inNetw ork AnalyzerApplications

Applica t ion Note 1287-5


2/24

2

Int roduct ion 2

Throughput Considerat ions 3

Sweep Speed 5

Inst rument Sta te Recall Speed 12

Automat ion and Data Transfer Speed 13

Measurement Accuracy 15

Device Connect ion Time 18

Inst rument Upt ime 20

Product Quality 20

Conclusion 20

Checklist for Increasing Measurement Throughput 21

Appendix 22

Third-Par ty Companies 23

In t odays compet itive environm ent , prices for electr onic componen ts a re

cont inually decreasing. Reducing m anu factur ing cost by improving

thr oughput, while mainta ining product quality, is an im portan t goal for

ma ny production test engineers an d man agers. The topic of improving

thr oughput is very broad, and it can span meth ods from how to minimize

testin g and t he nu mber of specificat ions t o using just -in-time (JI T)

ma nufactur ing with a Kanba n inventory-control system. This note will

not cover broad thr oughput issues su ch a s whether distributed t esting

versus centra lized t esting is more efficient or cost effective. Inst ead,

this applicat ion n ote will focus only on t est pr ocesses t hat include

network analyzers.

Even with in t he r elatively focused t opic of network a na lyzer a pplicat ions,

ma ny factors need t o be considered when deciding how to improve

th roughput . It isnt always as simple as a na lyzing instru ment specificat ions

and choosing a network analyzer with the best measurement speed per

data point. It is a lso importa nt t o consider all the aspects of thr oughput

tha t m ay be applicable for your situa tion. This applicat ion n ote explores

a var iety of throughpu t issues a nd h ow they might affect different

applicat ions. It s uggests ways to improve network an alyzer perform an ce

for bett er th roughput in specific situa tions, and how to get an a ccur at e

pictur e of how an a nalyzers performan ce might impact overa ll throughpu t.

This application note broadly covers net work a na lyzer th roughput and

applies to ma ny different models of HP network ana lyzers. Ther efore, for

specific details on how to use cert ain featu res with the HP 8753, 8711,

or 8720 fam ilies of network a nalyzers, please refer to the opera ting an d

program ming ma nuals for these products.

The level of information pr esented here a ssumes t hat the r eader ha s some

familiarity with network a nalyzers an d their u sage. If you need basic

inform ation, please refer to the r eferences listed in th e appendix.

Introduction

Table of Conte nts


3/24

3

When considering th roughput , it is importan t to examine the overa ll

meas urem ent process, which is likely to consist of a n um ber of steps.

For example, a production line might ha ve a process where operat ors use

network an alyzers to perform ma nua l tuning on filters. The process mightinclude connecting a filter, recalling a test setup (or inst ru ment sta te) on

the a nalyzer, tun ing, and wat ching for a desired resu lt (indicated perha ps

by marker s tha t display values, or limit lines tha t display whether a device

passes or fails). More t uning m ight be necessary, then t he operator m ight

move on to a different instr ument stat e to tune another par ameter, and

so on. (See Figu re 1)

Another example is an automated final test that uses a par t ha ndler. Here

the process might include the part handler placing a pa rt in a t est fixture,setting up an instrument st ate, taking data, transferring data to a PC,

having a P C perform calculat ions or store dat a to a file, and th en sett ing

up an analyzer for th e next test. The instrument-state setu p might be done

by recalling an instrument-state file that had previously been set up and

stored, or t he PC could issue comm and s to the an alyzer to set up th e

desired conditions.

Connect Tx, Ant filterports to analyzer

Recall instrumentstate and calibration

Adjust screws totune Tx -> Ant path

Connect Ant, Rx ports to analyzer;Recall new state and calibration

Adjust screws totune Ant->Rx path

MeasurementOK?

Lock adjustment

screws

Verify Tx -> Ant measurements

Recall instrument stateand cal for Ant -> Rx

Verify Ant -> Rx measurements

Disconnect filter

15 sec

3 sec

Total for multiple

measurementsand adjustments:90 sec meas. time210 sec adjust. time

15 sec connection3 sec recall

Total for all measurementsand adjustments:90 sec meas. time210 sec adjust. time

15 sec connection3 sec

60 sec

Total for all tests:20 sec

3 sec

Total for all tests:20 sec

15 sec

NO

YES

Connect Tx, Ant ports to analyzer;Recall Tx->Ant state and cal

Connection

Recall

Measurement time

Adjustment

8%

2%

62%

28%

This is a simplified exampleof a m anu al tun ing process for abase st ation duplexer filter. Thefilter is a 3-port device with twomain signal pat hs of interest: theone between th e tran smit (Tx) and

ant enna (Ant) ports, an d the onebetween th e Ant a nd r eceive (Rx)ports. With a stan dard two-portnetwork a nalyzer, two filter portsare measur ed at a t ime, with aload (termination) connected tothe un used port. Some steps ha vebeen left out for s implicity.

This pie char t shows that withone pass of tun ing, measu rementtime is only about one-quar ter ofthe total throughput t ime.

Figure 1.Example

Manual-TuningProces s for aBase-Stat ionFilter

ThroughputConsiderations


4/24

4

These two examples demonstrate how throughput issues might be

different in var ious a pplicat ions. For ma nua l tunin g, faster sweep speed

is importan t. However, once the u ser per ceives a cont inuous upda te of

dat a (approxima tely 30 upda tes per second), any fast er upda te speedwould not be noticeable or r esult in a increase in filter th roughput .

Conversely, faster s weep speed could be useful in aut omated t esting

where a computer is faster t han an a nalyzer. Par t-handler speed and

data-tra nsfer speed ar e not relevant to the ma nual t uning application,

but t he time n eeded to manua lly connect th e test device is relevant .

The time required to recall or set u p an instr ument state is important

in both a pplications.

It is also import an t to consider t he relat ive importa nce and value of

improving each par t of the process. Many people focus on th e sweep time

of a net work a na lyzer when t rying to impr ove thr oughput, but impr oving

sweep time alone does not always pr ovide the best t hr oughput

improvement. For example, in a mu ltiport t est application, if it ta kes

the opera tor 1.5 minu tes t o connect a n ew device into place, while theana lyzer ta kes 10 seconds to perform t he test , then cutting th e analyzer

test time in h alf only reduces the t otal test t ime from 100 seconds to 95

seconds for a 5% improvemen t. However, redu cing the device conn ection

time t o 1 minute will reduce the total t est t ime to 70 seconds, which is

a 30% impr ovement .

The complete test process might include add itiona l items such a s

calibrat ion tim e tha t ar e not part of testin g every device, but they might

need t o be done occasionally and will affect t he overall th roughput .

Calibration time can ra nge from a few minutes for a simple one-port

calibrat ion t o severa l hours for a s eries of two-port calibrat ions for test ing

a h igh dynamic-ra nge mult iport device.

For th is application note, thr oughput considera tions are divided into thefollowing topics.

Sweep speed

Instr ument stat e recall speed

Automation and dat a tra nsfer speed

Measurement accura cy

Device connection t ime

Inst rument upt ime

Product quality

Ea ch topic will be described in grea ter detail an d suggestions for im proving

thr oughput in each ar ea will be provided.


5/24

5

Sweep speed (also referred t o as sweep time) can be a confusing ter m,

becau se not everyone means th e same th ing when he uses these words. In

general, sweep speed refers to the a mount of time n eeded for the a nalyzer

to take one sweep of the s ource and acquire dat a over the defined ra nge.Many a nalyzers technical specifications r eport a num ber in t he form of

time per da ta point, which one might a ssum e would yield the sweep time

when mu ltiplied by the nu mber of point s in a tra ce. Many instr umen ts also

have a function tha t r eport s a value for ha rdwar e sweep time. However,

users m ay never get this sweep time in their measur ements, because in

rea lity wha t t hey will get is th e cycle time. This cycle time in cludes

sweep (har dware) set-up tim e, band-switch t imes (when the s ource or

receiver crosses frequency bands), data-acquisition t ime, retr ace time

(for the source to move from the end of one sweep to th e sta rt of the next

one), data-calculat ion an d form att ing time, and display updat e time (see

Figure 2). Also, error-correction time might not be included, and if two-port

calibrat ion is used, the a na lyzer might n eed to take two sweeps instea d

of one for each display update (see the Measurement Accuracy section

for more details on calibration). So, for the purpose of consistency in thisapp licat ion note, sweep speed refer s to cycle time unless other wise

stated.

Also, it is importan t not to assu me th at an a na lyzer s sweep speed under

actua l test conditions will be th e same a s th e time-per-point nu mber

published in the technical specifications. I n most technical specificat ions,

the value reported is a best-case nu mber. Often it is measur ed at th e

instr um ents widest IF ban dwidth (which might h ave too mu ch tra ce noise

and too little dynam ic range to be useful), with a single-band sweep to

avoid band switch delays, an d with th e highest n umber of points (to

sprea d out the effects of overhead item s such as sweep set-up tim e and

obta in th e sma llest time value p er point). Actual sweep speed is closely

tied to an instr umen ts set-up para meter s, including the num ber of point s

and frequen cy ra nge, and th e degree of accuracy and am ount of dynam ic

ra nge requir ed (which a lso impa ct the type of calibrat ion n ecessar y).

Sw e e p Spe e d

Figure 2.C omponent s of Cycle Time

,

,

, , ,

, , ,

,

,

Sweep and data acquisition

Data calculationand formatting

Band switches

Displayupdate

Retrace

(Diagram not to scale)


6/24

6

Here a re some ideas to optimize sweep speed an d cycle time.

IF Bandw idth: Use the widest IF bandw idth w ith acceptable dynam ic

range and trace noise.Wider IF bandwidths result in faster measu rements, but they also give

you more tr ace noise (ripples in high-power-level measu rem ents) an d

higher noise floor (less dyna mic ra nge). Typically, a t en-fold red uction

in IF bandwidth will give you a 10-dB reduction in the noise floor.

Use the widest IF ban dwidth th at will give you rea sonable results,

especially with r egard t o tr ace noise and dynam ic ra nge. Figure 3

shows an exam ple of some t ypical relat ionsh ips between IF ba ndwidth,

tr ace noise, and sweep speed for the HP 8753E RF network an alyzer.

Note that n arr owing the IF bandwidth in some HP n etwork a nalyzers

such as t hose in the HP 8753 and 8720 families has th e same effect as

increasing point-by-point a veraging in other an alyzers such as th e

HP 8510. In th e HP 8753 and 8720 fam ilies, the avera ging featu re

perform s a tr ace-by-tr ace average. Refer to the opera ting ma nua ls for

th ese ana lyzers for more deta ils.

Test S et Chan ges: Consider special test set configu rations for h igher

dynam ic range.

If a lower noise floor is required only in the forward direction, you can

configur e th e test set t o bypass t he u sua l coupler loss on port 2 fortr ans mitt ed signals. The HP 8720D fam ily provides this capability

with Opt ion 012, direct sa mpler access. As shown in F igure 4, you can

connect t he outpu t of your device under test directly int o the B sam pler,

instea d of to port 2. This direct connection increases your dyna mic

ra nge by about 20 dB, which is t he a mount of th e coupling loss.

Figure 3. IF

Bandw idt h vs .

Trace Noise an dSw eep Speed

HP 8753E Full 2-port Cal Sweep Update Time (201 points)

0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.0454

4.5

5

5.5

6

6.5

7

7.5

8

Typical Trace Noise (dB peak-to-peak)

Sweeps per second

3 kHz

IF BW

3.7 kHz

IF BW

6 kHz

IF BW


7/24

7

For a nalyzers such a s th e HP 8753, you can get a special version

of the t est set with th e coupler r eversed on port 2 (see Figur e 5).

The r eversed coupler will improve the sensitivity becaus e th e signal

entering port 2 is routed to the sampler via the through ar m of thecoupler (with a few dB of loss) rat her t han th e coupled ar m, which has

a loss equa l to the coupling factor (typically 15 to 20 dB). The outp ut

power from port 2 will now be redu ced by the couplin g factor, so

reverse direction measurements will have less dynamic range than

norma l, which is why th is configur at ion is only recommended if high

dynam ic range is n eeded in one direction. The sam e noise floor

improvement can be obtained for measurements in the reverse

direction by r eversing th e port 1 coupler (with the corr esponding loss

of dynam ic ra nge for forwar d measu remen ts).

Using one of these special test set configurat ions allows you t o use a

higher and faster IF ban dwidth t o achieve the sa me dynamic range

compa red to a sta nda rd test set, so you can us e these configur ations to

get faster meas ur ement s even if you dont n eed the impr oved dynam icra nge to tes t your d evices specificat ions.

Figure 4.Improving

D ynamic R angew it h D irectSampler Access

Measure filter rejection to -120 dB by

connecting directly to B sampler

Transferswitch

Source

R

R ChannelJumper

BA

Samplers

Port 1 Port 2

HP 8720D Option 012 Test Set Configuration

R

BA

Samplers


8/24

8

S ource power: Use the highest source power that does not overload the

device or netw ork ana lyzer.

To extend th e upper limit on dynam ic ra nge, use the highest sour ce

power from th e network a nalyzer th at will not overload the device

und er t est or caus e th e an alyzers r eceiver to overload.

Frequency span: Choose smaller frequency spans th at m inim ize the nu m ber

of band switches.

Test only the frequency spans t hat ar e necessary for your device.

Informat ion on th e band switch frequencies for each network a nalyzer

can usu ally be found in t he operating or service ma nua l.

Num ber of points: Use the minim um num ber of points required for the

measurement.

For most a nalyzers, sweeping fewer points resu lts in less time per

sweep. However, network an alyzer sources have a m aximum sweep

ra te limited by th e har dware. Once th is limit is reached, reducing the

num ber of point s will not fur th er redu ce the sweep time.

List frequency sweep: Use list m ode to focus test d ata w here you w ant it.

List frequency sweep allows you to define an ar bitra ry list of frequency

points at which the analyzer makes measurements. This capability is

useful for optimizing sweep time, because you can choose a larger

num ber of sweep point s in frequency ra nges of inter est, while

minimizing the num ber of points for r anges that are n ot a s importa nt.

Figure 5.Improving

D ynamic R angew it h a R eversedPort-2 Coupler

Transferswitch

Source

R

R ChannelJumper

BA

Samplers

Port 1 Port 2

Typical standard test set configuration

Transferswitch

Source

R

R ChannelJumper

BA

Samplers

Port 1 Port 2

Test set with port 2 coupler reversed


9/24

9

For example, in a filter m easur ement , you might choose to measu re

man y points in th e reject ban ds and in the passban d, but very few

points on the skirt s of the filter. The frequency list can even sk ip over

frequency ran ges where no dat a is n eeded. This will enable you t o getth e detail you want , with fewer total points m easur ed. Also, you can

choose to sweep a single segment in th e list without losing calibra tion

or needing to inter polat e the calibra tion data.

Some network an alyzers such as th e HP 8753E also offer an enha nced

version of this mode that provides two additional featu res:

a. Swept li s t mode: Many network an alyzers normally default

to a st epped sweep mode when list frequency is used, which

slows the a na lyzer down. In swept list m ode, the net work

ana lyzer sweeps a segment instea d of stepping th e sour ce,

resulting in a faster measur ement.

b. Abi l i ty to change IF bandwidth and pow er leve l for

e ac h se gm e nt : For regular list frequency mode, the sa me IF

bandwidth and power level are us ed for all segment s in the

sweep. Swept list mode includes a featur e tha t allows you to

choose a higher power level and sm aller IF bandwidth in

segments where better dynamic range is needed, such as in th e

reject ba nds of a filter. You can use a wider IF bandwidth an dlower power for faster m easur ement s in segments with high-

level (low loss) signals, such as in the passband of a filter.

The a bility to cha nge power levels can be esp ecially helpful for

a device such as a filter combined with a low-noise amplifier,

where high power is desired for m easur ing the reject bands,

but lower power is needed in the passba nd to avoid dama ging

the am plifier or th e an alyzers r eceiver. When th e best

dynam ic range is not n eeded, you can also use h igher power

with a wider IF ban dwidth for mea sur ing filter stopbands to

provide adequa te dyna mic ran ge while sweeping m ore quickly.

Figure 6.Linear Sw eep vs .Swe pt List

Frequency F i l t erM easurement

CH1 S21 log MAG 12 dB/ REF 0 dB

START 525.000 000 MHz

PRm

PASS

STOP 1 275.000 000 MHz

Linear sweep:676 ms

(201 pts., 300 Hz, -10 dBm)

Swept-list sweep:349 ms

(201 pts., variable BW's & power)

Segment 1: 87 ms

(25 points, +10 dBm, 300 Hz)

Segments 2,4: 52 ms(15 points, +10 dBm, 300 Hz)

Segment 3: 29 ms

(108 points, -10 dBm, 6000 Hz)

Segment 5: 129 ms(38 points, +10 dBm, 300 Hz)

No specs here, so no pointsmeasured in this span

No specs here, so no pointsmeasured in this span


10/24

10

Averaging: Use the minimum number of averages necessary for the

measurement.

Averaging can be u seful for reducing noise and improving dynamic

ra nge. But it might a lso be helpful to compare t he effects of using anarrower IF bandwidth versus averaging to achieve the same noise

redu ction to see which yields a fast er mea sur ement .

Type of calibration: Choose the fastest type of calibration f or the required

level of accuracy.

For most net work a na lyzers, sweep speed is about th e same for

uncorrected measurements and measu rements done using a response

calibra tion, enhan ced r esponse calibrat ion, or one-port calibrat ion.

However, sweep speed might be at least twice as slow for a full two-

port calibration. A full two-port calibration requ ires both forwar d an d

reverse sweeps to updat e all four S-para meter s for err or correction,

even when only a single S-par am eter is displayed. So, use th e

calibra tion tha t yields the fastest sweep speed for the desired level of

accur acy. See th e section on Mea sur ement Accuracy for more deta ils.

Fast two-port mode: For faster tuning with full two-port calibration,

minimize reverse sweeps.

If a full two-port calibration is used for a tu ning application, th e sweep

speed and tr ace update tim e can be improved by using a featu re in

some HP network a na lyzers called fast t wo-port mode. Norm ally, the

an alyzer will switch t he output power sequen tially between port one

an d port t wo in order t o meas ur e all four S-param eters , which is

necessary for calculat ing the corr ected results with t wo-port

calibra tion. This mea ns it ta kes th e ana lyzer two sweeps (one forward,

one reverse) before it can u pdat e th e tr ace. With fast two-port m ode,

you can specify how many forwar d sweeps the a nalyzer should ta ke

before it switches th e power to port two to take t he r everse sweep. Thean alyzer will then u pdat e the tr ace on every forward sweep (using

data from t he last r everse sweep), until it ta kes the n ext reverse

sweep. This mak es it twice as fast un til the reverse sweep is ta ken.

Fa st two-port mode can also be used to tun e reverse para meter s by

specifying the num ber of reverse sweeps to tak e before t he a nalyzer

ta kes a single forward sweep.

Fa st t wo-port mode provides a more r eal-time response for t uning. It

gives good results because th e reverse S-par amet ers only have a

secondar y effect on th e corr ected forward S-para meter s. Genera lly,

upda ting the r everse para meter s less often will not cause large err ors

on the forward pa ra meter s. All data is fully error-corrected

immediately after th e reverse sweep is ta ken.


11/24

11

S weep m odes

Chopped vs. alt ernate m ode: Use alternate sweep instead of chopped

mode for better dynamic range.

The default sweep mode in most HP network a nalyzers is choppedmode, in which both inpu t ports a re mea sur ed when active (using th eir

corr esponding samplers) dur ing one sweep by measu ring on one

sam pler and t hen switching to th e oth er at ea ch point. Chopped mode

provides the fastest measur ements, but it m ight n ot be th e best mode

in all situa tions. There is also a mode called altern at e sweep, in which

only one sampler is measured during a sweep. The analyzer measures

th e other sam pler dur ing the next sweep. Altern ate m ode is slower,

but it pr ovides the best dynam ic ra nge by turn ing off the u nu sed

sam pler to reduce crossta lk. It is also selected au tomat ically when the

measurement channels are uncoupled, so two different instrument

sta tes can be measu red on the t wo chann els sequentially. Using

alternat e mode can yield faster results th an using a lower IF

bandwidth (with chopped mode) to get bett er dyna mic ran ge, or

recalling an additional instru ment state to make an othermeasurement.

S wept vs. stepped sw eep: Use swept m ode to m inim ize sweep tim e

when possible.

Many an alyzers can also do a frequency sweep in swept mode, stepped

mode, or a combination of both, depending on th e instr um ent st at e

sett ings. Setting th e sweep time to aut o mode (usua lly the defau lt)

causes th e ana lyzer t o sweep as quickly as possible for the curr ent

settings. Some analyzers also allow you to specifically select either

swept m ode or stepped m ode. Use swept mode when possible, since

th is will be fast er. However, some m easur ement s might r equire slower

sweep time, especially meas ur ement s th rough devices with long

electrical dela y such a s cables or su rfa ce acoust ic wave (SAW) devices.The slower s weep time can be set either by selecting st epped mode,

or by ent erin g a longer sweep t ime valu e. You can ver ify if the device

needs a slower sweep time by examining the measur ement r esults

using both the fast er an d slower sweep speeds. If ther e is no

significant difference, then it is acceptable to use t he faster sett ing

for that m easurement.

Unn ecessary functions: Turn off unn ecessary functions to reduce sweep tim e.

Sometimes you t urn on a featur e when designing a test, but later on

you might forget to tur n it off when t he featu re is no longer n eeded.

This might cause the a nalyzer to take extra t ime to update informa tion

th ats not being used. For example, tur n off unused m ar kers,

averaging, smoothing, limit t ests, or m easuremen ts of other para meters

if they are n ot needed. For some a nalyzers, tur ning off the display inan au tomated environment m ight result in faster measurement s.


12/24

12

An instru ment st ate is a pa rticular set of stimulus and r esponse

param eters th at contr ols how an ana lyzer makes a specific measur ement.

It includes th e frequency range, num ber of points , IF ban dwidth, power

level, and other front pa nel sett ings. It ma y also include calibrat ion da taand m emory tra ces. Recalling an instr umen t sta te is a quick way to set

up an instr ument for a particular measurement . The fastest r ecalls are

done from t he a nalyzers inter nal m emory, but r ecalls can a lso be done

from a floppy or ha rd disk file, or from an externa l contr oller.

Recall speed depends grea tly on the content of the memory r egister or

instr um ent st at e tha ts being recalled. More complicated sta tes will ta ke

longer. For example, a simple instru ment state with a m easurement on

one chan nel only an d no calibrat ion can be r ecalled much faster tha n one

with mea sur ement s set up on both chann els with full two-port calibra tion,

and limit lines and limit testing turned on. For the H P 8753E network

ana lyzer, the r ecall times for t hese two stat es ar e about 0.5 seconds and

0.9 seconds, respectively (with mostly preset conditions a nd no

optimizat ion). Ther efore, it is very difficult to specify a single num berfor inst ru ment sta te recall speed. It is best to exam ine the recall time

for t he instru ment state t hat is needed for t he application.

In m any cases, you m ight see times given for just recall, ra th er t han

recall with single sweep. These tim es ma y be quite different , becaus e

at some point, th e ana lyzer needs to take tim e to actua lly set up th e sour ce

and receiver t o take a dat a sweep. If the a nalyzer is in hold mode while

the r ecall is being done, it usu ally wont t ake t he tim e to set up for a new

sweep. However, as soon a s you tr igger t he an alyzer to take a sweep, the

ana lyzer ha s to do the setup, so the t ime for a recall with single sweep

is often significan tly longer tha n t he t ime for just a recall. Realistically,

you will need to know the t ime for r ecall with single sweep to appr oximat e

your real measurement conditions.

One way to reduce recall time in some network an alyzers is to tur n off

spur a voidance before storing the inst ru ment sta te. This is a featur e in

ma ny n etwork a nalyzers t o reduce low-level spurious signa ls. You can

check if this is n eeded for your m easur ement by seeing if your data

changes with spur avoidance on or off. Turning spur avoidance off allows

the a nalyzer to bypass the calculations an d setup t hat are n eeded during

an ins tr um ent st at e recall, ma king the r ecall faster. Similarly, you can

tur n off other har dware corr ections such as sa mpler corr ection. If you do,

you sh ould calibrate an d ma ke measu rements under the sa me conditions

so that the calibrat ion can compensat e for t he lack of har dware correction.

On some newer network a nalyzers, a very effective way to reduce recall

time is to tu rn th e display off, since the a nalyzer does not spend processing

time to display the new instr um ent st at e. For example, a typical simpleinstrum ent sta te th at takes a n HP 8753E about 0.4 seconds to recall with

the display on t akes only 0.2 seconds to recall with the display tur ned off.

The am ount of speed improvement will vary depending on th e instr umen t

sta te conditions.

Instrume nt StateRecal l Spee d


13/24

13

If an extern al contr oller is being used to control the test , it might be faster

or more convenient t o use the a na lyzer s learn str ing to quickly save the

curr ent instru ment st ate or restore a previous sta te. The learn string is

a compact data string th at includes the front panel settings, but n otcalibrat ion or memory tra ce dat a. Learn st rings might not be compatible

between different models of network a nalyzers, so you n eed to be careful

if your environment includes a mix of network ana lyzers. For m ore details,

consu lt the pr ogra mm ing manu al for your n etwork ana lyzer.

Recalling an instr ument state m ight n ot be the fastest way to set up and

make a new measurement. For example, with a two-channel network

ana lyzer, you can uncouple the chann els and set up t wo different

instr um ent st at es on th e two chann els, such as two frequen cy ra nges or

differen t nu mber s of points. You will need t o check wheth er it is fast er

to switch from one chann el to the other, or to do an instr umen t st ate

recall to obta in the second inst ru ment sta te. Another exam ple is when

two instru ment sta tes only differ slightly from each other (for example,

when you only need to chan ge a few sett ings from t he factory preset sta te).It m ight be fast er to just change th ose sett ings instead of recalling a new

instrum ent state. Automating these changes, with remote comma nds via

HP-IB or built-in aut omation featu res such as t est sequencing, can help

make changes easy and r epeatable.

If an application r equires mea sur ement s over a ser ies of different

frequency ranges, consider u sing list-frequen cy mode instea d of inst ru ment

sta te recalls. Ea ch desired frequency ra nge can be set up as a segment

in th e frequency list. All of the segments can be calibrated a t once, and

afterwa rds you can choose to sweep any one of the segment s individually,

without losing the calibration, instead of ha ving to recall a s eries of

different instrument states.

Sooner or lat er, most pr oduction man agers consider a utoma ting par t or

all of their test processes to improve thr oughput. An import ant par t of

test pr ocess development is deciding what a nd how much to aut omate, an d

deciding on the m ethod of aut omation. The first decision is whether to use

some form of aut omation intern al to the net work a na lyzer or to use some

type of exter nal contr oller. The ma in choices a re:

1. External contr oller (for example, a PC or workstation)

2. Interna l program ming language (for example, built-in IBASIC in

the HP 8711 family of network an alyzers)

3. Other interna l automation (for example, test sequencing in the

HP 8752, 8753, or 8720 network a nalyzer fam ilies)

Automation an dData-Transfer Spe ed


14/24

14

Exter nal au tomat ion with a contr oller is probably best if dat a

manipulation or st orage is required. In t his case there a re a dditional

considera tions, such as t he opera ting system to use, progra mm ing

langua ge or software pa ckage, and type of HP-IB or GP-IB car d to installto commun icat e with th e network a nalyzer. You can use pr ogra ms su ch

as H P VEE tha t h elp you wr ite test softwar e quickly, or design your own

softwar e in your pr eferr ed progra mm ing language. This can require

tr aining or experience in programm ing or in software.

Interna l automation might be easier tha n external aut omat ion in some

situa tions. Often inter na l au tomat ion is easier to learn if ther e is a

keystroke-recording mode tha t lets a user quickly duplicate a test . Both

the H P 8711s IBASIC an d the t est sequencing featu re in other H P net work

ana lyzers pr ovide this capability. An int erna l programm ing language like

IBASIC can be quite powerful, but it does require some program ming

expertise to use it effectively and go beyond simple keystroke recording.

Test sequen cing is simpler, but a lso less extensive, and it is not suit able

for da ta ma nipulat ion. However, both form s of inter na l aut omation can bequite powerful. For example, you can u se either meth od to program the

ana lyzer s par allel port t o control an extern al test s et, read a limit test

result, and send an external trigger signal t o contr ol a part handler.

Here are some general ideas for improving automation and data transfer

speed.

1. Use the ana lyzers single sweep mode to ensure tha t a

measurement is complete before starting data transfer. Otherwise,

the a nalyzer might send da ta t o th e PC in the middle of a sweep,

so the dat a r eceived by the P C is a mixtur e of dat a from th e old

sweep and th e new one.

2. Pick a data forma t and the associated comma nds that pr ovide the

fastest t ra nsfer speeds for th e application. The num ber of bytesper data point tha t need to be transferred depends on th e forma t.

The ana lyzer s intern al form at is usu ally th e fast est, but it requires

reforma tting in a P C to be interpreted. ASCII data t ran sfers ar e

the s lowest.

3. Use the fastest data t ran sfer method available. Many HP network

analyzers have fast data transfer commands that may be helpful

in certain cases, because t hey tra nsfer an arr ay as a block

compa red t o the usu al byte-by-byte tra nsfer.

4. Tran sfer the minimum am ount of data needed. Users should try

different met hods to see what yields th e fast est resu lts in their

applicat ion. For example, it might be fast er to tra nsfer a tr ace

with a only a few points in it (possibly using a frequen cy list)

instea d of using mar kers to read out data . Some ana lyzers also have

a command for obtaining the maximum and minimum values

within ea ch limit line segment, which can yield sufficient da ta .

5. Consider whether error correction should be done internally in th e

ana lyzer, or in a n extern al contr oller. In n ewer an alyzers with

faster CPUs, internal calculation time can be faster t han the t ime

needed to transfer data out and do the calculation in a n external

contr oller. However, in some cases, it m ight be bett er t o do the

err or corr ection extern ally. One exam ple is for mult iport

applicat ions wher e ma ny different calibrat ions a re r equired for

each test device, and th ere might n ot be enough room in th e

ana lyzer s mem ory to store a ll the requir ed corr ection arr ays.


15/24

15

This application n ote a ssumes t hat the r eader ha s some familiarity with

the concepts of meas ur ement err ors and er ror corr ection or calibrat ion in

network a na lyzers. F or more det ails, refer to Application N ote 1287-3,

Applying Er ror Correction t o Network Analyzer Measu remen ts. Theappendix also lists other references on calibrat ion.

To review briefly, meas ur ement accur acy (or un certaint y) can be thought

of as how close a mea sur ement is to the tr ue or correct value you ar e trying

to measu re. No network a nalyzer is perfect. The factors t hat cont ribute t o

meas ur ement uncerta inty can be grouped into the following types of errors:

Systematic: Caused by imperfections in th e test equipment and t est

setup. These are generally repeatable and can be chara cterized an d

rem oved t hr ough calibra tion (also called err or corr ection).

Random: Err ors tha t vary randomly as a function of time,

including connector r epeata bility an d changes from m ovement s of

cables. These cannot be rem oved by calibration.

Drift: Errors due to temperature changes or drift over time. Theseerr ors can be r emoved by repeating th e calibrat ion.

Network an alyzers offer a var iety of calibrat ion m ethods th at remove

some or a ll of the systema tic errors. Calibra tion meth ods that corr ect more

err ors also tak e more time to perform , since more calibra tion stan dar ds

need to be measu red. More accur at e calibrat ions can a lso slow down th e

meas ur ement t ime, so the us er needs to compromise between th e desired

meas ur ement accur acy and th e test pr ocess speed (including calibrat ion

time).

How often t o calibrat e is a nother issue. Recalibrat ion will corr ect for drift

err ors, which ma y be cau sed by chan ges in the ha rdwar e over time,

temperatu re changes in th e environment, or changes in the test setu p

such a s m ovement of cables. How often a new calibration is r equired willdepend mostly on the environment an d th e desired level of accur acy. Many

user s perform validat ion checks by measu ring a verification device. If the

meas ur ement falls within acceptable limits, the pr evious calibrat ion is

still considered good. HP provides verificat ion kits th at cont ain devices

with factory-measured data that can be used for this purpose.

The level of accur acy that is required depends on the a pplicat ion (tun ing

vs. final t est) and the specifications of the device un der t est. Better

accur acy mean s lower measu remen t un certaint y, so you can reduce guard

bands an d st ill have less likelihood of incorr ect pass/fail results. Tighter

guar d bands improve thr oughput by allowing more devices to pass with out

sacrificing qua lity. These sa me devices m ight h ave failed test limits based

on wider guar d ban ds when th ey were actua lly good devices.

MeasurementAccuracy


16/24

16

For applications t hat do not requ ire the h ighest accur acy, analyzers with

tr ans mission/reflection test sets , such as th e HP 8711C family or t he

HP 8752C, can be a n economical solution. These an alyzers offer th e

types of calibra tion meth ods listed in the ta ble below. The time requiredfor per form ing the calibrat ion will vary depending on the num ber of

calibrat ion sta ndards t hat need to be measured.

These calibra tion meth ods are good for impr oving thr oughput because t hey

have almost n o impact on sweep speed, an d the calibrations th emselves

ar e quick and ea sy to perform . Since these met hods only corr ect for some

of the errors that might be present in a measu rement, they ar e best suited

to certain types of devices. For exam ple, devices th at have very good input

and output ma tch will be less affected by source and load mat ch errors,

so response or one-port calibrations can yield good results. One-port

calibrat ions can a lso yield good results for devices with high loss in t hetr ans mission path or high isolation between ports. However, a device that

has low insert ion loss will have its mea sur ement s affected by source and

load ma tch err ors. For example, a filter tha t ha s low insertion loss in its

passba nd will show ripples in the mea sur ement du e to these err ors. Some

of these ripples might have peaks with m agnitudes greater th an 0 dB,

indicatin g gain in a pa ssive device, which is clear ly an err or.

For better accuracy, a network analyzer with an S-parameter test set is

needed, such as t he HP 8753 or 8720 families. These systems can provide

full two-port err or corr ection su ch a s s hort-open-load-thr u (SOLT)

calibrat ion. SOLT calibration corrects for t welve er rors: r eflection t ra cking,

directivity, sour ce match, tr ans mission tra cking, load m at ch, and crosstalk,

in both t he forwar d and r everse directions. Twelve measu remen ts n eed

to be made (using four known sta ndar ds) to correct for a ll of these err ors,so it tak es longer to perform a calibra tion (alth ough the two measu rem ents

required for the crosstalk corr ection can be omitted if the m easur ement

does not require a low noise floor). This type of calibration provides the

best accuracy, but it does require the a nalyzer to take both a forward

and r everse sweep to update all four S-par am eters for each updated

measurement display. Two-port calibration will slow down the perceived

sweep speed, since it effectively takes t wo sweeps for every tr ace updat e

instea d of one.

Calibration Type Errors Corrected Number ofStandardsRequired

Response Reflection OR transmission:1

Frequency response/tracking

Response and Isolation Reflection: Tracking and directivityOR 2

Transmission: Tracking and crosstalk

One-port Reflection only: directivity, source match,3

reflection tracking

Enhanced Response Transmission: tracking and source match(Available only in newer AND

4HP network analyzers such Reflection: directivity, source match, andas the HP 8711C family) reflection tracking


17/24

17

Another form of two-port calibration uses through-reflect-line (TRL)

sta nda rds. This meth od is primar ily used in noncoaxial environm ents

such as measurements in test fixtures or on-wafer. It requires a network

ana lyzer with four receivers, such a s th e HP 8720D with Option 400 or

HP 8510C. There a re a num ber of var iations of TRL calibrat ion, including

TRL* for n etwork an alyzers with only thr ee receivers, LRM using line-

reflect-match standards, or TRM using through-reflect-match standards.

From a throughput standpoint, TRL calibration (and its variations) have

the sam e effect on sweep speed as a full two-port calibrat ion, because italso requires mea sur ement of all four S-para meter s to calculate corr ected

dat a for each displayed sweep update.

When performing two-port calibrat ions, you may n eed to perform th e

isolation portion of th e calibra tion for t he best dynam ic range. For isolation,

at leas t 16 averages ar e recomm ended. Tur n avera ging on only during

the isolation portion if you do not n eed it for other calibra tion sta ndar ds.

Tur n avera ging off prior to finishing t he calibrat ion. This will allow you to

make measurements at the faster conditions (with no averaging) without

the a nalyzer indicat ing that conditions have been chan ged after t he

calibrat ion was complete.

A quick check on whether accuracy is being compromised for sweep speed

can be done by making a meas urem ent with t he settin gs for the bestaccur acy, saving the r esults as a memory tr ace, then cha nging the settin gs

or calibrat ion type, and compa ring the new resu lts with th e memory tra ce.

Note tha t for the best a ccur acy, it is necessary t o perform a calibrat ion

as close to the actua l measu rem ent plan e as possible. For exam ple, for a n

on-wafer measur ement, the setup might include an S-param eter test set,

test port cables, an d a wafer pr obe sta tion. The calibrat ion sh ould be

perform ed on-wafer using a calibra tion substr at e in order t o remove

systema tic err ors cau sed by all th e component s between the n etwork

analyzer and t he wafer probe tips.

Figure 7.Correctable

Errors forDifferent Test

Set s andCalibrat ionTypes

Calibration Summary

Transmission Tracking

Crosstalk

Source match

Load match

S-parameter(two-port)

T/R(response,isolation)

Reflection tracking

Directivity

Source match

Load match

S-parameter(two-port)

T/R(one-port)

Reflection

Transmission

Test Set (cal type)

Test Set (cal type)

*( )

error cannot be corrected

* HP 8711C enhanced response calcan correct for source match duringtransmission measurements

error can be corrected

SHORT

OPEN

LOAD


18/24

18

Some devices have connectors t hat ma ke th em noninsert able, mean ing

tha t t he connectors a re t he wrong type t o fit in place of a zero-length

thr ough connection between the test-port cables. The connectors can h ave

the sa me t ype and sex on each port, or t hey can be different t ypes, such astype-N on one side and 3.5 mm on the other. One way to calibrat e in th is

situation is the swap-equal-adapters method, which uses one adapter to

perform the transmission calibration, but a different adapter for the

reflection calibration and actual measurement. The two adapters need to

be as equal a s possible, especially in loss, electr ical length , and mat ch.

A more accur at e way t o perform calibrat ions for noninsert able devices is

to use adapt er-removal calibrat ion. Figure 8 outlines the m ain st eps for

perform ing this procedur e. The electr ical length of the a dapter mu st be

specified within one-quar ter wa velength (ent ered as a time value, similar

to electrical delay). Type-N, 3.5-mm, and 2.4-mm calibration kits for the

HP 8510 and 8720 family network a nalyzers contain adapters that are

specified for t his pur pose. Refer t o the operat ing ma nua l or on-screen helptext (for t he HP 8753 and 8720 network an alyzers) for more inform at ion.

The tim e needed to disconnect a device an d connect a new one can be a

significant portion of the t otal test process t ime, especially for mult iport

test devices. Most tes t pr ocesses will include one or m ore of th e following:

Manual connections

P a r t ha n dler s

Multiport devices

For two-port devices tha t ar e measu red with a tr ans mission/reflection test

set, the user m ust m anua lly turn the device around in order to make

measurem ents in the r everse direction. Users can save time by usingswitching test sets, which can s witch the output power to either port so

both forward and r everse measu rements can be made with a single

connection. (Note th at switching test sets generally do not offer additional

err or correction capability, so these m easu remen ts a re still less accur at e

than those made with an S-parameter t est set.)

Figure 8.

Adapter-RemovalCalibrat ionProcedure

[CAL] [MORE] [ADAPTER REMOVAL]

[REMOVE ADAPTER]

Cal Set 1

Cal Set 2

Port 1 DUT Port 2

Port 2

Port 2Port 1

Port 1Cal

Adapter

CalAdapter

Port 1 Port 2DUT

Measurement

1. Perform 2-port cal with adapter on port 2.Save in cal set 1.

2. Perform 2-port cal with adapter on port 1.

Save in cal set 2.

4. Measure DUT without cal adapter.

3. Perform ADAPTER REMOVALto generate new cal set.

Use cal adapter with the same connectors asthe device under test (DUT).

Device Connect ionTime


19/24

19

If manual connections are being used for a two-port device, it is possible

to speed up t he connection t ime using a par t ha ndler to automate t he

process. Gravity-feed par t ha ndlers t end to be fast er an d less expensive

than pick-and-place part handlers, but they are more limited in th e typesof device packages they can han dle. Using a par t ha ndler genera lly

requires a cust om test fixtu re, which adds development time an d can a lso

add calibration time, so this m ight not be helpful in all situat ions. For

devices th at require coaxial conn ections, push-on connectors can ma ke t he

connection faster, but th ey will be less repea table an d can resu lt in more

measurem ent un certainty.

Special test fixtur es th at allow a u ser t o connect devices more qu ickly can

be useful, with or without a pa rt h andler. Many companies mak e their

own fixtures s ince they have m an y cust om packages for t heir devices.

When designing a test fixtur e, it is importa nt to have good RF per form ance

(low loss and low par asitics), and ease of calibrat ion with in t he fixture

should be considered. Because of the difficulty in making good RF fixtures,

full two-port calibra tion is genera lly required, requir ing a set of in-fixturecalibrat ion sta nda rds. There a re some vendors who specialize in ma king

test fixtures and calibration standards. The appendix contains some

references for vendors a nd m ore informat ion on designing and calibratin g

fixtures.

If you a lready use a par t h andler, the eas iest way to speed up connection

time is to use a faster par t ha ndler, alth ough that will probably be more

expensive. Another improvement is to consider using t he a nalyzers

internal automation capability to control the part handler, instead of relying

on an externa l cont roller, as described in the section on Automa tion and

Data Tran sfer Speed. Using inter nal aut omation can be fast er since no

dat a ha s to be tra nsferr ed outside of the an alyzer before a decision can

be made and a comman d sent to the part h andler.

For mu ltiport devices, some operators u se the a na lyzer to test t wo ports

at a time, with terminat ions at the unu sed ports, and th en switch the

cable connections around to make the other necessary measurements.

For devices with m any ports , this process can be very tedious a nd tim e-

consu ming, and it can also contribut e to opera tor fatigue.

One alternat ive is to use a m ultiport test set that allows the operator to

ma ke connections to all of the ports once, an d then have th e ana lyzer ma ke

all necessary t ests with out chan ging connections. HP provides a variety of

test sets for its network a nalyzers, including th e HP 8753D Option K36

thr ee-port du plexer t est set (also available for t he HP 8711, 8752C, and

8720 fam ilies), th e HP 87075C 75 ohm mu ltiport test s ets with t he

innovative SelfCal featu re for the HP 8711C family, an d t he H P

87050A/B series of 50-ohm tes t set s for t he H P 8711, 8753, or 8720families. Other test set designs pr ovide two sets of test ports for one

network a na lyzer, so tha t t he operat or can connect a new device while

anoth er device is being tested.

Some vendors offer mult iport solutions for H P n etwork an alyzers.

For example, the SP TS-4 four-port S-para meter test s ystem from ATN

Microwave (see appendix) provides full four-port error-corrected

measurem ents with a n H P 8753 network analyzer. Users can also build

their own test sets to switch signals t o an d from th e network an alyzer

to the pr oper port s of the test device.


20/24

20

Many people overlook a n instr um ents a vailability when considering

thr oughput, but it is a ctually a very importa nt pa rt. A fast network

ana lyzer ha s little value if the a nalyzer breaks or has to be sent out for

service or ma intena nce frequently, causing a pr oduction line to shut down,or r equiring arr angements for spar e instrum ents. When making a

pur chase, consider instr umen t qua lity, expected failure r at e, calibrat ion

inter val, and tur n-around t ime for r epair or calibra tion, all of which add to

the m aint enan ce cost. The location of the n earest service center and t he

availability of on-site repa ir ar e some of the factors in the t urn -around

time.

Making measurements faster and increasing throughput is not th e only

concern for man ufactur ing companies. Many compa nies ar e also using

techniques like st at istical qu ality cont rol (SQC) or contin uous pr ocess

improvement (CPI) to improve the quality of th eir products an d to reduce

waste (an d lower costs) by finding problems ea rlier in t he ma nufactur ing

process. Network an alyzers can help with t his ta sk by providing anefficient interface for data collection. Examples include providing hardcopy

print outs, saving data t o disk files in easy-to-use format s, or fast t ra nsfers

of dat a t o an exter nal controller.

Traceability of a test inst ru ment s perform ance is import ant to ensur e

qua lity, especially if your compan y is ISO-9000 complian t. If you ar e

relying on a cert ain level of perform ance from the a nalyzer in order t o

make your measurem ents, it is important to note whether t hese are

guar an teed instr umen t specifications or only typical instr umen t

perform an ce values tha t might var y from one analyzer to anoth er.

Var iation in instr umen t per form an ce will affect the consisten cy and

repeat ability of measur ement s ma de on different production lines.

Anoth er issue is whet her the n etwork an alyzers specifications aresufficiently complete t o determine t he a ccur acy of your meas ur ement s.

Some network ana lyzers only specify th e dynam ic accuracy, the

uncorrected systematic errors, or the residual errors after a calibration.

However, having only one of these specifications is not enough to determine

total measurement uncertainty. To get the total measurement uncertainty

for a calibrat ed tra nsm ission or reflection measu rem ent, you need to

combine t he effects of dynam ic accuracy with other system err ors such a s

the residual systematic errors. Most HP network analyzers provide graphs

of the total measu rement uncertainties for a test system based on

particular test port connectors.

The tas k of impr oving throughpu t while mainta ining product qua lity

requires t he considera tion of many different aspects of the n etworkana lyzer an d the t est device, besides the m ost obvious data sheet item s

such as t he microseconds per point sweep speed. Optimizing the import ant

ar eas for each application can provide a m ore thorough a nd effective way

to improve overall th roughput . The following checklist is a brief summ ar y

of th e key points pr esented in t his application n ote.

Instrume nt Uptime

Product Qual i ty

Conclusion


21/24

21

Swe e p Spe e d

t Use the widest IF ban dwidth with acceptable dynam ic ra nge and tr ace noise

t For bett er dyna mic ran ge, change setu p to bypass coupler loss

t Use th e highest source power t hat does not overloading th e device or n etwork an alyzer

t Choose sma ller frequency span s to minimize band switches

t Use minimum number of points

t Use swept list m ode, including setting IF bandwidth an d power for ea ch segment

t Minimize use of averaging, and compa re speed of avera ging vs. using sma ller IF ban dwidth

t Choose the fastest type of calibration for required level of accuracy

t For t unin g while using full two-port calibra tion, try fast two-port m ode to minimize reverse sweeps

t Try using alter nat e sweep instead of chopped mode for impr oving dynamic ra nge

t Use swept m ode inst ead of stepped m ode an d minimize sweep time when possible

t Turn off unn ecessar y functions like mar kers, avera ging, smoothing, limit tests, unu sed para meter s

Instrument State Recal lt Turn off spur avoidan ce and ha rdwar e corr ections

t Turn off display (for newer n etwork a nalyzers)

t For aut omated test, try using learn strings instead of recalling instrum ent sta tes

t Consider us ing uncoupled cha nnels to set up two instr umen t sta tes instea d of using a recall

t Consider u sing list frequency mode instead of recalling instru ment sta tes with different

frequency ra nges

Automation and Data Transfer

t Consider us ing inter nal au tomat ion where possible

t Use fastest dat a forma t for dat a tr ansfers

t Use any available fast data tra nsfer comma nds

t Tran sfer m inimum am ount of data n eeded

t Consider whet her t o use inter nal err or correction or to use an exter nal compu ter for calculations

Measurement Accuracy

t Use calibra tion type that gives you th e best compr omise between mea sur ement speed and a ccur acy

t Calibrat e as close to the device under test as possible

t Use adapter-removal calibration where appropriate

Device Connection

t Pa rt h an dlers might ma y speed connection time, but will probably require test fixtures

t Be awar e of fixtur e design and calibrat ion considerations

t Consider u sing mult iport test sets t o simplify connections

Instrument Uptime

t Choose ana lyzer with low failure ra te, fast tu rn -around tim e and r easonable cost for r epairs

and calibrations

Maintaining Product Qual ity

t Use easiest ways to collect necessar y data from th e ana lyzer (printouts , data t ra nsfers to PCs, etc.)t Make su re a nalyzer ha s necessar y specifications t o gua ra ntee t he desired level of accur acy.

A Chec kl is t for Increasing Measu remen t Throughput


22/24

22

Related Application and Produ ct Notes

Und erstand ing the Fu ndam ental Principles of Vector Network An alysis,

Hewlett-Packar d Application Note 1287-1

Exploring the Architectures of Network Analyzers, Hewlett-Packard

Applicat ion Note 1287-2

Applying Error Correction to Network Analyzer Measurements,


Network A nalyzer Measurem ents: Filter and Am plifier Exam ples,


In-fixture Microstrip Device Measurements Using TRL* Calibration,

Hewlett-Packar d Pr oduct Note 8720-2

S pecifying Calibration S tand ards for the HP 8510 N etwork A nalyzer,

Hewlett-Packar d Pr oduct Note 8510-5A

Applying the HP 8510 T RL Calibration for N on-Coaxial Measurements,

Hewlett-Packar d Pr oduct Note 8510-8A

Measurin g Nonin sertable Devices, Hewlett-Packar d Pr oduct Note 8510-13

Sugges ted Reading

Design of an E nh anced Vector N etwork A nalyz er,Fra nk David et a l.,

Hewlett-Packar d Jour na l, April 1997.

Calibration for PC B oard Fixtu res and Probes,J oel Dunsm ore, 45th

ARFTG Conference Digest, Spring 1995.

Techn iques Optim ize Calibration of PCB Fixt ures an d Probes,Joel

Dun smor e, Microwaves & RF, October 1995, pp. 96-108, November 1995,

pp. 93-98.

Im proving T RL * Calibrations of Vector Network A nalyz ers,Don Metzger,

Microwave Journal, May 1995, pp. 56-68.

Th e Effect of Ad apters on Vector N etwork A nalyz er Calibrations,Doug

Olney, Microwave Journal, November 1994.

Appendix


23/24

23

Test Fixtures

Int er-Continen ta l Microwave

1515 Wyatt Drive

San ta Clara , California 95054-1524US A

E-m ail: icmfixt ur [email protected]

Ph one: (408) 727-1596

Fa x: (408) 727-0105

Multiport Test S ets

ATN Microwave, In c.

85 Rangeway Road

No. Billerica, Massachuset ts 01862-2105

US A

E-m ail: info@at n-m icrowave .com

Ph one: (978) 667-4200

Fa x: (978) 667-8548World Wide Web Home Pa ge: ht tp://www.at n-microwave.com

Wafer Probes and Stations

Cascade Microtech

14255 SW Brigadoon Court

Beaverton, Oregon 97005

US A

E-m ail: sa [email protected]

Ph one: (503) 626-8245

Fa x: (503) 626-6023

Third-PartyCompanies


24/24

F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t

Hewlett -Packard test and measure-m e n t p r o d u c t s , a p p l i c a t i o n s ,s e r v i c e s , a n d f o r a c u r r e n t s a l e s

o f fi c e l i s t i n g , v i s i t o u r w e b s i t e ,ht tp :/ /w ww.hp .com /go/tmdi r. Youcan also contac t one of the following

c e n t e r s a n d a s k f o r a t e s t a n dmeasurement sa les represent ative .

United States:Hewlett-Packard CompanyTest and Measu rement Call CenterP.O. Box 4026En glewood, CO 80155-40261 800 452 4844

Canada:Hewlett-Packard Canada Ltd.5150 Spectru m WayMississauga, OntarioL4W 5G1(905) 206 4725

Europe:

Hewlett-PackardEuropean Marketing CentreP.O. Box 9991180 AZ AmstelveenThe Netherlands(31 20) 547 9900

Japan:

Hewlett-Packard J apan Ltd.Measurement Assistance Center9-1, Takakura-Cho, Hachioji-Shi,Tokyo 192, J apa nTel: (81-426) 56-7832Fax: (81-426) 56-7840

Latin America:

Hewlett-PackardLatin American Region Headquar ters5200 Blue La goon Dr ive, 9th F loorMiam i, Florida 33126, U.S.A.(305) 267 4245/4220

Australia/New Zealand:

Hewlett-Packard Australia Ltd.31-41 Joseph Str eetBlackburn, Victoria 3130, Australia1 800 629 485

Asia Pacif ic:

Hewlett-Packard Asia Pa cific Ltd.17-21/F Sh ell Tower, Times Squ ar e,1 Matheson Str eet, Causeway Bay,

Hong KongTel: (852) 2599 7777Fa x: (852) 2506 9285

Data Subject to Change

Copyright 1998Hewlett -Packard CompanyPrin ted in U .S.A. 1/98

5966 3317E

Date post:	30-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	sirjole7584
View:	216 times
Download:	0 times

HP-AN1287-5_Improved Throughput in Network Analyzer Applications

Documents