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Unit-5 VNA

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17 views

Unit-5 VNA

Uploaded by

pranavjavio
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNIT-5 VNA

• A network analyzer is an instrument that measures the network


parameters of electrical networks.
• Today, network analyzers measure s– Parameters
because reflection and transmission of electrical networks are easy to
measure at high frequencies, but there are other network parameter
sets such as y-parameters, z-parameters, and h-parameters. Network
analyzers are often used to characterize two-port networks such as
amplifiers and filters, but they can be used on networks with an
arbitrary number of ports.
Types of VNA
• Scalar network analyzer (SNA) The scalar network analyzer is a simple form of RF network analyzers and is useful for
measuring only the amplitude response of a variety of components or DUT. SNA effectively works like a spectrum analyzer
operating in conjunction with a tracking generator. The tracking generators sweep signals at exactly the same frequency
that the spectrum analyzer is receiving. If a constant output from the tracking generator is directly fed as input to the
spectrum analyzer, a constant line appears on display indicating the amplitude of the tracking generator output. If a DUT
(whereof the amplitude is frequency dependent) is inserted between a spectrum analyser and the tracking generator, the
spectrum analyzer will display amplitude variations.

• 2. Vector network analyzer (VNA) The vector network analyzer is a more useful form of an RF network analyzer than the
SNA as it is able to measure more parameters including the amplitude response, phase response, scattering parameters
and the transmission and reflection coefficients. Thus a vector network analyzer provides more comprehensive
information than SNA.AVNA is also referred as gain-phase meter or an Automatic Network Analyzer.

• 3. Large Signal Network Analyzer (LSNA) The large signal network analyzer is a specialized form of SNA and measures
characteristics of devices under large signal conditions. It may also account for the harmonics and non-linearity of a
network. An earlier version of LSNA was called the Microwave Transition Analyzer, MTA
Block Diagram
• The diagram shows the essential parts of a typical 2-port vector
network analyzer (VNA). The two ports of the device under test (DUT)
are denoted port 1 (P1) and port 2 (P2). The test port connectors
provided on the VNA itself are precision types which will normally
have to be extended and connected to P1 and P2 using precision
cables 1 and 2, PC1 and PC2 respectively and suitable connector
adaptors A1 and A2 respectively.
• The test frequency is generated by a variable frequency CW source
and its power level is set using a variable attenuator. The position of
switch SW1 sets the direction that the test signal passes through the
DUT. Initially consider that SW1 is at position 1 so that the test signal
is incident on the DUT at P1 which is appropriate for measuring and.
• The test signal is fed by SW1 to the common port of splitter 1, one arm (the reference channel) feeding a reference receiver for

P1 (RX REF1) and the other (the test channel) connecting to P1 via the directional coupler DC1, PC1 and A1. The third port of

DC1 couples off the power reflected from P1 via A1 and PC1, then feeding it to test receiver 1 (RX TEST1). Similarly, signals

leaving P2 pass via A2, PC2 and DC2 to RX TEST2. RX REF1, RX TEST1, RX REF2 and RXTEST2 are known as coherent receivers as

they share the same reference oscillator, and they are capable of measuring the test signal's amplitude and phase at the test

frequency. All of the complex receiver output signals are fed to a processor which does the mathematical processing and

displays the chosen parameters and format on the phase and amplitude display. The instantaneous value of phase includes

both the temporal and spatial parts, but the former is removed by virtue of using 2 test channels, one as a reference and the

other for measurement. When SW1 is set to position 2, the test signals are applied to P2, the reference is measured by RX

REF2, reflections from P2 are coupled off by DC2 and measured by RX TEST2 and signals leaving P1 are coupled off by DC1 and

measured by RX TEST1. This position is appropriate for measuring S22 and S12.
Spectrum Analyzer
• The signal under test is fed to the mixer via an input circuit. The mixer is
automatically tuned by the swept frequency oscillator driven by a time-base
generator. The output of a mixer is fed to the detector after passing through an IF
amplifier. The detector output is fed to the dc amplifier for further amplification
which at last is displayed in analog form.
• Since the signal is scanned in time by a linear ramp voltage from the time base,
the horizontal position of the beam is proportional to variations in frequency and
the horizontal axis is the time axis. The output of the mixer contains a variety of
frequencies. The components lying within the pass band of the IF amplifierare
boosted, detected and again boosted by a wide band amplifier and fed to the Y
plate of CRT. Thus, the vertical deflection of the beam is proportional to the power
carried by some narrow portion of the signal spectrum. There is also a built-in
generator which inserts frequency marks on the CRT screen to identify various
spectrum components
Spectrum analyzers are most commonly used in their logarithmic (log) display mode, in which the vertical
axis is calibrated in decibels. When a spectrum analyzer is in a log (dB) display mode, results are normally
averaged before being displayed. This averaging can be accomplished in various ways including averaging
of (i) multiple traces, (ii) envelope by the action of the video filter, and (iii) results across the x-axis by the
noise marker. The average noise power in decibels is the logarithm of that average power.
The basic (scalar) spectrum analyzer measures only the magnitude of a signal. It responds to the magnitude
of the signal within pass band of its resolution bandwidth (RBW, i.e., the bandwidth of the final IF). Noise
in this bandwidth still has a Gaussian PDF, but few RF instruments can display PDF-related matrics. Like an
oscilloscope, the spectrum analyzer also has markers to aid proper measurements.

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