Time Domain Measurements Using Vector Network Analyzers
Time Domain Measurements Using Vector Network Analyzers
Time Domain Measurements Using Vector Network Analyzers
Introduction
Vector Network Analyzers (VNAs) are very powerful and flexible measuring instruments. Their basic capability is
to measure the S-parameters of an RF or microwave device and display the result in the frequency domain. This
provides valuable data for the design engineer to develop a design and for the production engineer to substantiate
the performance of the device or system. In addition to displaying performance in the frequency domain, Anritsu
VNAs offer a Time Domain option to enhance the analysis capability by presenting data in the time (or distance)
domain–valuable information for both the design and production engineer. Figure 1 provides the time and
frequency response of a microstrip circuit as measured by the MS4640A VNA.
Note that port 2 of the DUT is left open and consequently the frequency plot of the device provides little
information about the performance of the device. The benefit of the Time Domain response is in providing
information of the device performance at specific locations. As a result, the VNA provides the overall S-parameter
critical performance information for the device both as it appears when installed in a system and also at a specific
location within the device.
Microstrip
Coax Coax
2
Figure 2a
Figure 2b
3
The principal property of interest in time domain processing for most microwave applications is resolution; or the
ability to resolve one location from another. In practice, the basic limitation is inversely related to data collection
bandwidth in the frequency domain. A rule of thumb defines resolution on the order of 150 mm divided by
Frequency Span (GHz) in air. For example, a 20 GHz frequency span will provide a resolution of about 8 mm
while a span of 70 GHz will provide a resolution of about 2 mm. So the broader the frequency span, the more
information presented during the time domain analysis. Figure 3 illustrates the importance of a wide frequency
sweep if the application calls for identifying closely spaced reflections. Note that even though the DUT may not
be required to perform up to 70 GHz, as long as the DUT doesn’t completely fall apart out of band, the design
engineer can still benefit from the 70 GHz span due to the increased resolution provided by the wide frequency
range. A limitation to the frequency span rule is when measuring devices with limited bandwidth. Ideally, the device
will pass the DC component, and as a result, the performance at higher frequencies will result in a gradual roll-off.
If the DUT does not pass the DC component such as band pass or high pass filter, then resolution will degrade.
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Resolution is also influenced by the processing method and window selection options that are described below.
Another important factor is the relative amplitude of the signals being processed. A large signal can swamp a
smaller signal–where the greater the time (distance) separation between the two discontinuities the better the
points of interest can be resolved.
Figure 4 represents a time domain plot of a device with two discontinuities separated by 4.8 mm. The
discontinuities are located at marker 3 and the display is taken from a VNA whose maximum bandwidth is 26.5
GHz. Low pass processing, the highest resolution mode possible, is used. Note that the 26.5 GHz frequency span
is unable to resolve the two discontinuities.
Figure 5 provides a low pass plot of the same device but with a VNA capable of covering a 65 GHz frequency
span. Markers 2 and 4 on the 65 GHz display are at the same location as in the 26.5 GHz plot. Note the
additional amount of information available from the wider bandwidth. Also note the difference in return loss value
when compared to a narrow band sweep. This points out that for maximum resolution and accuracy, the widest
frequency span available is best for optimum time domain analysis, especially when resolving two discontinuities
in close proximity.
Figure 4. Low pass time domain plot of two discontinuities 4.8mm apart located at marker 3.
VNA has an upper bandwidth limitation of 26.5 GHz
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Another property of the transform process is the Alias Free Range. The transform is a circular function and repeats
itself outside of its inherent range of 1 divided by the Step Size (1/2x Step Size). The more data points available,
the smaller the step size and the longer the time frame before the data starts to repeat. For example, with a
20 GHz frequency sweep and 401 data point collection, the Alias Free Range is:
1/2x 50 MHz = 10 nanoseconds
With the capability of providing 100,000 data points in a single channel sweep, the MS4640A can provide an
Alias Free Range of:
1/2x 200 kHz = 2.5 µsec
Long range capability is especially valuable when analyzing long transmission cables such as optical cables or
transmission lines with a high dielectric coefficient.
Processing Alternatives:
The Time Domain option offers a number of processing alternatives to the user. It is important that the user be
aware of the feature set available as selection can have a significant effect on the end result.
These tools include:
• Processing Method – Lowpass or Bandpass.
• Response – Step or Impulse for Lowpass mode and Impulse or Phasor Impulse for Bandpass mode
• Window Shape – Rectangular, Nominal, Low Sidelobe, Min Sidelobe
• Gating – Frequency with Time Gate
Lowpass
This is the most powerful processing technique. It does require a special frequency plan consisting of:
a harmonically–related set of frequencies that starts at the lowest frequency possible. Impulse or step response is
available when using the lowpass mode. The step response provides a Time Domain Reflectometry-like display
by integrating the impulse response. However, in order to provide a phase reference, a DC component must
be included. Since VNAs cannot get all the way to DC, some additional information is needed to perform this
integration. To see this, consider:
≈ A⋅X(DC)+ ℑ−1{X(sweepRange)}
t
StepResponse = ∫ [A⋅X(DC)+ℑ−1{X(sweepRange)}]dt
0
A DC term is extrapolated thereby providing a reference so that the true nature of a discontinuity can be seen.
The lower the start frequency, the more accurate the DC extrapolation calculation. With a start frequency of
70 kHz, the MS4640A offers the lowest available DC extrapolation point thereby minimizing the DC error. If
additional information is available regarding the test environment, such as characterization of transmission cables,
the DC term can be entered manually.
As mentioned above, lowpass offers two presentations: Step or Impulse response. The Step response permits
the direct display of impedance versus time or distance similar to that obtained with a TDR. The Step response
display is the integral of the Impulse response. The user can also obtain insight into the nature of a discontinuity:
inductive, capacitive or resistive. Figure 6 shows ideal responses associated with various types of discontinuities.
The default display graph type is real and shows impedance information (A scale of 20 mU per division is
about 2 ohms per division). The user can choose Log Mag or a linear display format. Lowpass processing also
offers the highest resolution for a given bandwidth and provides twice the resolution of Bandpass mode. If the
instrumentation, transmission line, and DUT permit Lowpass processing, it should be used.
6
Figure 6 Ideal responses associated with various types of discontinuities
Figure 7 shows a practical application of Lowpass Time Domain processing. An SMA line standard was
constructed using solid Teflon® and precision connector interfaces, the response clearly shows the quality of
the SMA “standard” that was used to evaluate SMA calibration performance. When considering time domain
display, the most common method of display is in linear mode. So the display of Figure 7 is in terms of Reflection
Coefficient, or Rho. One of the primary reasons for displaying the response in linear units is the ability to display
the reactance component and better resolution of highly reflective devices. The standard line has a reflection
coefficient of -2.679 mU or 51 dB (-20 log p) or an impedance of 49.73 ohms (R=Zo/VSWR).
7
Bandpass
Many situations such as waveguide or band limited DUTs preclude using a broadband harmonically related
frequency plan. For these cases Bandpass processing should be used. In this situation, where there is a lack of a
DC component, there is no phase reference so vector information is lost. However, useful magnitude information
is still available and can be displayed in either log magnitude or linear form. Figure 8 shows the Bandpass
response of the SMA “standard” that was used in Figure 7. This type of processing is common in fault location that
can be used to test transmission lines. Figure 9 shows an example of this application: measuring a 2 m cable with
imperfections.
8
Phasor Impulse
This technique, exclusive to Anritsu VNAs, enables the user to extract impedance information for a specific
discontinuity from a bandpass display. The discontinuity of interest is positioned in the center of the screen and
should fill about 50% of the time range being displayed. When the Phasor Impulse processing is applied, the
resulting display, usually Real, Imaginary, or Linear Polar, provides the desired impedance information.
Figure 10 shows the shunt capacitance associated with a waveguide iris.
Figure 10. Normal Bandpass display and the Phasor Impulse display of waveguide
9
Figure 11 is a summary of the processing types. As noted, Lowpass processing should be used whenever
possible as it offers the highest performance and most versatile set of displays.
10
Windows
Windows are used to “condition” data prior to transformation. They are used to get around the Fourier transforms
basic, but impractical, – to + form and they are used to mitigate edge effects associated with a finite data set. The
application of what is called a “window” function to the frequency domain data will accomplish this. The window
is a curve derived from a mathematical function (many are available–see reference 4) that tapers off from unity
gain at the center of the frequency domain data to a low value at the ends. Figures 12a and 12b show the effect
of applying the widely used two-term Hamming window to the data array obtained by measuring the short circuit
shown earlier. The resulting time domain displays are shown in 13a and 13b. This is not without a price, since the
window has the effect of widening the main lobe, thus decreasing the effective resolution. For this reason, it is
good to have a range of different window types available so that multiple views between resolution and sidelobe
effects, appropriate for the application, can be used. The Anritsu VNAs offer the window choices described in
Table 1. Figure 14 provides a display of window effects on main and side lobes. Resolution has been normalized
to the Default Nominal window that is adequate for most applications.
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Figure 13a. Time domain data before application of Hamming Window
Window Type Main Lobe Width Lowpass Main Lobe Width Bandpass Sidelobe Level (dB)
Rectangular 0.5/BW 1/BW -13
Nominal 1/BW 2/BW -42
Low sidelobe 1.5/BW 3/BW -70
Min sidelobe 2/BW 4/BW -90
Table 1
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Lowpass time domain window effects
-10
-20
-30 rectangular
nominal
dB
-40
low sidelobe
-50 min sidelobe
-60
-70
-80
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Time (ps)
Figure 14. Window effects on main and side lobes.
In addition to the standard selection of window shapes, advance parameters unique to the MS4640A VNA are
now available. The advanced control is available using the new selections, Kaiser-Bessel and Dolph-Chebyshev.
Figure 15 provides an example of control possibilities using these choices. These two new window types allow for
a finer selection of the trade-off between side lobe level and resolution. For the Kaiser-Bessel window, a larger
Beta value leads to lower side lobes, and a wider main lobe width. For the Dolph-Chebysev window, the side
lobe level is parameterized explicitly (in absolute dB) and a larger value leads to lower side lobes. The window
for two parameter values for each of these windows is shown in Figure 15 along with the rectangular window for
comparison.
-10
-20
-30 rectangular
kaiser beta=6
dB
-60
-70
-80
50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
Time (ps)
Figure 15. Advanced Time Domain controls on main and side lobe display.
13
The approximate relationship between these parameters and the main lobe width (null-to-null) is suggested in
Figure 16. Here, everything is scaled relative to a rectangular window (a nominal window is at 2, a low side-lobe
window is at 3, and a minimum side-lobe window is at 4 on this scale) and the y-axis is normalized relative to the
lobe width of a rectangular window.
6 Kaiser-Bessel
Relative main lobe width
Dolph-Chebyshev
5
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120
Beta (unitless) or sidelobe level (dB)
14
Figure 17. The application of a Gate and the Frequency Gated by Time display of the initial discontinuity of the Beatty Standard
15
Utilizing Airlines
Time Domain work is greatly enhanced when the reflection to be studied is well separated from other reflections.
This is readily accomplished if a high quality transmission line can be included in the system to be measured.
In a coaxial system this would be an airline with connectors that interface to other components with minimum
reflections. This performance can be realized by airlines with a beaded interface at one end, and a floating center
interface at the other end. The bead insures an accurate pin depth at the precision interface, and also supports
the center conductor so the airline can be easily installed.
The following examples show a number of practical applications for Time Domain processing:
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Figure 19. Port match, directivity and short reflection clearly separated in time.
17
Figure 20. Corrected Step response of the 110 GHz VNA
The 40 Gb/s driver amplifier is then measured (Figure 21). The S21 Time Domain response in this case is the
composite measurement of the VNA rise time and the Amplifier rise time. The 180° phase shift in the amplifier S21
response is displayed as an inverted step in Time Domain mode. The composite rise time measured is 12 ps.
Rise time of the amplifier can then be calculated by using the root sum squares theorem:
TR2 (DUT) = TR2 (total) - TR2 (input step)
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References
1. M. Hines and H. Stineheifer, “Time Domain Oscillograph Microwave Network Analysis Using Frequency
Domain Data”, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, V MTT-22, No. 3, Mar. 1974
2. L.R. Rabiner, “Chirp z-Transform Algorithm Program”, Programs for Digital Signal Processing, Ed. by the
Digital Sign Processing Committee, IEEE Acoustics, Search and Sign Processing Society, New York, IEEE
Press, 1979
3. L.R. Rabiner and B. Gold, “Theory and Application of Digital Signal Processing”, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ, 1975
4. Fredric J. Harris, “On the Use of Windows for Harmonic Analysis with the Discrete Fourier Transform”, in
Proceedings of the IEEE Vol. 66, No. 1, pp 51-83, Jan. 1978
5. N. Marcuvitz, Waveguide Handbook, New York, McGraw-Hill, 1951
6. VectorStar MS4640A Microwave Vector Network Analyzer Measurement Guide
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