Techniques for Time Domain Measurements - Application Note 5991-0420EN c20140723 [15]
Techniques for Time Domain Measurements - Application Note 5991-0420EN c20140723 [15]
Application Note
Abstract
This application note will introduce time domain and distance-to-fault (DTF)
measurement techniques for identifying the location and relative amplitudes of
discontinuities while operating in the field. This application note will describe
the relationship between frequency domain measurements and time domain
transforms and their relationships to time resolution and range. Also shown
will be VNA configurations for characterizing band-limited devices such as
couplers, filters, antennas and waveguide components, and broadband devices
such as cables and connectors. This note will also discuss time domain
“gating,” a powerful feature that effectively isolates discontinuities in the time
domain just as a filter would isolate signal energy in the frequency domain.
Measurement examples will be provided using the Keysight Technologies, Inc.
FieldFox vector network analyzer.
Introduction
Testing and qualifying components and systems that function as part of a communications or radar
system often requires that the electrical performance of these devices achieve a certain level of
specified performance across the operating frequency range. Specifications include Voltage Standing
Wave Ratio (VSWR), return loss and insertion loss to name a few. These specifications provide a
clear distinction when the device under test (DUT) has passed or failed its performance requirements
as a function of frequency. Figure 1a shows the measured VSWR of a system where the VSWR has
exceeded the specification at several places across the measured frequency range of 8.5 to 12 GHz.
The Keysight FieldFox vector network analyzer (VNA) used in this example was configured with limit
lines to help the operator quickly identify whether the DUT has passed or failed the test.
While a frequency measurement provides useful information into the proper functioning of a system,
having only swept frequency may not provide enough information to determine the root cause of the
problem. When a system fails to meet specification, troubleshooting is often difficult as components
would then need to be swapped in and out of the system until performance once again meets the
specified requirements. Fortunately, there is another measurement technique that provides details into
the location and magnitude of any such problems. This technique relies on measurements in the time
domain and a vector network analyzer, such as the Keysight FieldFox, has the capability of displaying
the time domain characteristics of one and two port components and systems. Figure 1b shows the
time domain transformation of the VSWR measurement with the location of individual discontinuities
being displayed as a function of time. In this example, it can be assumed that the largest peak in the
time domain is associated with the component causing the out-of-spec condition for this system.
Knowing the propagation velocity of the signal in the transmission system, the physical location of the
fault can be determined and the system can be quickly repaired.
This application note will introduce time domain and DTF measurement techniques for identifying the
location and relative amplitudes of discontinuities while operating in the field.
Figure 1a. Measured VSWR as a function of frequency (1a), and the time domain response showing several discontinuities as a function of time (1b).
Time domain measurement basics
Figure 2 shows a simple example The measurement from any one-port be simultaneously displayed in time
of a time domain response for two or two-port device can be represented and frequency creates a powerful
short sections of coaxial line con- in the time domain and/or the fre- analysis and problem solving tool.
nected together with an adapter quency domain. If a measurement is Fortunately, modern test instrumenta-
and terminated in a 50-ohm coaxial made in one domain, then the other tion, such as a VNA, includes this
load. If the input to the line is excited domain can be calculated using a mathematical transformation as part
with a short impulse waveform, well-known mathematical technique of the firmware allowing the user to
then it is possible to observe the called the Fourier Transform (FT). This display either time domain data or
reflected impulse response from transform provides a universal problem frequency domain data, or both. For
each discontinuity as a function of solving method that allows one to example, Figures 1a and 1b show the
time. In this case, there are reflected examine a particular measurement frequency measurement and time
signals from the input connector (1), from an entirely different viewpoint domain transform recorded using the
the adapter (2) and the termination [2]. If a measurement is recorded Keysight FieldFox VNA.
(3). Excessively large peaks would be using a time domain method, then
representative of problems in one or a FT calculation will result in a
more of these components. It is also frequency domain representation of
possible to excite the line with a the data. Alternatively, if frequency
step waveform and details of this domain data is initially captured, then
technique are shown in the Keysight an Inverse FT (IFT) will result in a
Time Domain Application Note time domain representation of the
1287-12 [1]. data. The fact that the same data can
3
Instruments with time domain capability
4
Measurement example using a horn antenna
5
Measurement example using a horn antenna (continued)
6
Gating and frequency response
The basic concept of gating is to To continue with the antenna shown with gated response, there
introduce a time filter to remove example discussed in the previous is a reduction in the ripple across
unwanted reflections from the time section, Figure 7a shows the time the measured frequency span as the
domain response. This time filter domain response with and without reflections from the environment
works in the same way as a fre- a gating function. In this example, have been filtered out from the
quency filter would in the frequency a bandpass gate is configured to measurement. Gating is a very power-
domain. Once the undesired respons- remove the effects of the metal plate ful tool to examine the reflection
es are removed from the time domain, and the environment. The yellow and transmission properties of a
the frequency domain response of the trace is the original measurement component or system by selectively
remaining devices can be observed. including the peak from the metal removing specific responses from the
Figure 6 is a simplified example of an plate reflection. The blue trace shows measurements in any domain.
ideal time domain response having the time domain response with the
three peaks. For this example, the bandpass gate configured to filter any It should be noted that when a
time filter or “gate” is configured to response to the right of the antenna. discontinuity along a transmission
remove the two outside peaks. By With the bandpass gate applied, line reflects energy, that portion of
adjusting the gate’s time center and the time response only includes the the energy will not reach subsequent
span, an equivalent bandpass filter effects of the coaxial adapter and the discontinuities further down the line.
can be created in the time domain. antenna. It is also possible to remove This effect can hide, or “mask,” the
Once the gate is activated, the upper a single peak, or group of adjacent true response of the later discontinu-
and lower peaks are removed from peaks, using a notch gate. ity. This condition also occurs when
the measurements in the time and the transmission path has insertion
frequency domains. Along with the Figure 7b shows a comparison loss along the length of the line. The
bandpass gate, the FieldFox VNA has between the original frequency gating function does not compensate
another type of gate that can notch response including the plate and for the masking effect and masking
out a single peak, or grouping of environmental reflections, shown in will be discussed in the next section
peaks, leaving behind the remaining yellow, and the response when the of this application note.
peaks above and below this filter gate is applied, shown in blue. As
response. In either case, once the
gate is properly configured in the time
domain, the user can return the VNA
to the frequency domain to examine
the frequency response of the system
with the effects of the filtered peaks.
Figure 6. Simplified example of an ideal Figure 7. (7a) time and (7b) frequency domain responses of the X-band antenna system
time domain response having three peaks with and without a gate function applied to the measured data
and the results when a time “gate” is
applied to the original response
7
Masking in coaxial lines
Figure 8 shows the time domain the reflected signals could be below It should be noted that the measured
response of a short length of RG58 the dynamic range of the VNA and amplitude on any time domain display
coaxial cable with the end of the would not be observed on a time is actually an average value taken
cable terminated in an open circuit. domain display. This would also occur across the entire measured frequency
The time response shows a single if the transmission path contained a range. Therefore, if the transmission
large peak representing the reflec- very large discontinuity that reflected system includes couplers, filters and
tion from the end of the cable. It is most of the energy and prevented any other items with varying insertion
expected that an ideal open circuit later reflections from being observed loss, then applying a single factor
would have an S11 of 0 dB resulting on the time domain display. to compensate for the insertion loss
from all of the energy being reflected as a function of frequency may not
back to the source. As shown in If the insertion loss of the cable is provide accurate amplitude results.
Figure 8, the measured peak for this known, the Keysight FieldFox VNA This effect will be shown in the next
test configuration has a lower value and CAT analyzers allow the cable section of this note.
at –4.2 dB. The measured peak is loss to be entered into the instru-
lower by twice the average cable loss ment. Compensating for the cable
resulting from the combination of the loss will improve the amplitude
signal loss in the forward direction measurements in the time domain.
and then the loss passing through It should be noted that coaxial
the cable a second time after being cable insertion loss is a function of
reflected from the open. The insertion frequency with the loss increasing
loss of the cable is “masking” the at higher frequencies. The cable
true response from the open circuit. insertion loss factor can be entered
Gating around the peak response as a single value representing the
from the open would not correct the average loss or, when using the CAT
amplitude measurement as gating is mode DTF, can be entered into a table
a post-process that occurs after the of frequency/loss pairs. The FieldFox
measurement has been acquired. CAT mode also includes a set of
It is important to note that if the built-in cable specifications for quick
transmission system has very high selection based on the cable types
insertion loss, then the amplitude of installed in the system.
Figure 8. Test configuration and time domain response of a short length of RG58 coaxial cable terminated
in an open
8
Measurement example with bandpass ilter
Figure 9 is the test configuration for function is completely reflected from through the filter in the forward
a system that includes two coaxial a single point on the transmission direction and then passes through
cables interconnected with an inline line. As shown on this measurement, the filter a second time in the reverse
bandpass filter. The longer cable is the time response from the open direction after being reflected from
terminated in either a 50-ohm load or has a rather complex shape. The the open. For this example, the band-
an open ended cable. Being able to reflection from the open is modified pass filter is masking the reflected
swap terminations at the end of the by the transmission response of the response from the open.
transmission system is very useful bandpass filter as the signal passes
when troubleshooting a system and
attempting to identify the end of a
transmission system. An open or
short is typically used to provide a
large reflection for identifying the
end of the cable in the time domain
response.
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Relating time measurements to physical distance
Once it has been determined that round trip travel time, tRT. The round as the dielectric will have a VF of 0.7
a system’s insertion loss is higher trip time is divided by two for an as the dielectric constant of PTFE is
than expected or the return loss and estimate of the one-way travel time 2.1. When using a VNA to measure
associated VSWR are out of spec, it to the associated discontinuity. The the location of faults, it is important
becomes necessary to find the physi- measured DTF is the one-way time to accurately enter the velocity factor
cal location of the fault(s) along the multiplied by the velocity of the sig- into the VNA. When using a FieldFox
transmission system. If the velocity at nal, vcable, in the medium. The velocity VNA to measure DTF, once the VF
which the signal travels in the cable is given in meter/second but may is correctly entered, the FieldFox
is known, then the physical location also be calculated in feet/second. It marker displays both the time and
of the damage can be calculated from is known that the signal velocity in a the corrected one-way distance to
a reflection measurement and using vacuum is equal to the speed of light, the discontinuity. Also, when using a
the following equation. c. The signal velocity in a medium FieldFox configured in CAT mode, all
( is the speed of light, c, multiplied time domain display parameters are
DTF (meters) = (t 2
RT
(vcable ) by the Velocity Factor (VF) which is
a value less than or equal to 1. The
automatically converted to distance.
The Keysight Application Note [6]
Where vcable = (VF)(c) in meters/second and VF = 1/
√ er VF is inversely related to the square provides additional information on
With a VNA such as the FieldFox, a root of the dielectric constant, er , of estimating the velocity factor for an
marker placed on a peak in the time the transmission line. For example, unknown cable.
domain response represents the a coaxial cable that uses solid PTFE
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Relationship between frequency span and time span
When a VNA measures the T T
S-parameters of a component or and a velocity factor (VF) equal to 0.66
system in the frequency domain, the
Span (GHz) Max time (microseconds) Range (meters)
data is measured across a selected
frequency range (span) and stored 2.5 2 396
at discrete points across this span. 5.0 1 198
The frequency spacing between data
points, Δf, is directly proportional
to the frequency span and inversely
proportional to the total number of Under some conditions, it may be It is important to note that it is not
measurement points, as shown in possible to configure a VNA to dis- possible to simultaneously optimize
the following equation. play a time domain response beyond for narrow pulse width, discussed in
the calculated maximum time span. the previous section, and maximum
equency span
∆f = Under this condition, it is possible time range discussed here. A narrow
(Points —1)
to observe a spurious response, also pulse width requires a wide frequency
called an alias, which appears to span but a wide frequency span
Along with the frequency span, the be real response but is actually an reduces the maximum time span.
number of points is also selectable artifact of the mathematical transfor- Therefore a tradeoff between the
by the user. The frequency spacing, mation from the frequency domain time resolution and the time span
Δf, is then automatically calculated into the time domain. The FieldFox will need to be made. Fortunately
by the VNA. The FieldFox VNA can be provides a table showing whether the for some types of devices, there is
configured with the number of points current measurement is alias-free. another time domain mode available
set from 101 to 10,001. For example, When the FieldFox flags the pos- on the FieldFox VNA that will further
using a span of 1 GHz and 101 points, sibility for an alias, there is a simple improve the time resolution without
the data is then measured every test to verify if a response is real. sacrificing time span and this mode
10 MHz = Δf. First, place a marker on the peak in will be introduced in the next section
question and note the time (distance) of this application note.
When measuring electrically long to the fault. Next, change the start or
components and systems, it is impor- stop distance on the analyzer. A true
tant that the VNA is properly config- time domain peak will not move in
ured to measure all the way to the time (distance) but an alias response
end of the transmission path. This is will appear to move. More informa-
especially important when long cable tion concerning aliases can be found
runs are installed in a system such in the FieldFox User's Guide and the
as in tower mounted antennas. We Keysight Time Domain Application
find that the maximum time span is Note 1287-12 [1].
directly proportional to the number of
measurement points in the frequency
domain and inversely proportional
to the measured frequency span as
shown in the following equation.
Here, the divide by 2 is the result that
reflection measurements are a round
trip through the transmission system.
For transmission measurements, such
as S21 and S12, the divide by 2 is not
required.
1 (Points —1)
Maximum time ≈ =
2∆f 2 (Frequency span)
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Coniguring bandpass and lowpass time domain modes
The FieldFox VNA and CAT analyzers waveguide components are included
have two time domain mode selections as part of the transmission path.
for optimizing time measurements.
The modes are lowpass and band- When using bandpass mode, the
pass. The mode selection depends on instrument’s start and stop frequency
the operating frequency range of the settings should be set to approxi-
DUT. For example, when measuring mately the operating range of the
broadband devices, such as coaxial DUT. When the DUT is broadband, the
cables and adapters, their operating lowpass mode would be configured
frequency range extends from DC and over a much larger frequency range.
into the RF and microwave frequency The lowpass mode extrapolates the
ranges. For these devices, the VNA measured frequency range down to
is ideally operated in the lowpass DC and then mirrors the measured
mode for all time domain measure- frequency range data about DC to
ments. When the device is specified greatly improve the time resolution
to operate over a narrow frequency capability. Additional information
range then the bandpass mode on regarding these modes can be found
the VNA will provide the best results. in the FieldFox User’s Guide and the
Bandpass mode is primarily used Keysight Application Note 1287-12 [1].
when filters, couplers, antennas and
Conclusion
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References
[1] Keysight Application Note 1287-12, Time Domain Analysis Using a Network
Analyzer, Literature Number 5989-5723EN, May 2012.
[2] Brigham, E. Oran, The Fast Fourier Transform, Prentice-Hall, 1974.
[3] Keysight Application Note 1304-2, Time Domain Reflectometry Theory,
Literature Number 5966-4855E, May 2006.
[4] Keysight Application Note 1287-8, Simplified Filter Tuning Using Time
Domain, Literature Number 5968-5328E, July 2000.
[5] Keysight Application Note 1287-10, Network Analysis Solutions Advanced
Filter Tuning Using Time Domain Transforms, Literature Number
5980-2785EN, March 2001.
[6] Keysight Application Note, Techniques for Precise Cable and Antenna
Measurements in the Field, Literature Number 5991-0419EN, August 2012.
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