1 EuMW Seminars 2013 What Have You Been Missing In Your Pulsed VNA Measurements? 8 Oct :00h - 13:40h Presented by: Bob Buxton

2 EuMW Seminars 2013 on the cutting edge Confidence Pulsed Measurements

3 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

4 EuMW Seminars 2013 Measure the reaction of a DUT to a pulsed RF stimulus – E.g., Radar: transmitter, receiver, or both Measure the reaction of a DUT to pulsed IV (and pulsed RF?) – High power density semiconductors (SiC, GaN) – Traveling-wave-tube amplifiers (TWTAs) – Must synchronize with (ext sync) or control DC bias (pulse gen) Part of active device test suite – S-parameters – 1 dB compression point – NF, higher order distortion products, harmonics – IMD, IP3 (third-order intercept point) Common Pulse Applications

5 EuMW Seminars 2013 Radar Courtesy of Raytheon Courtesy of Telematics News Courtesy of LCRS

6 EuMW Seminars 2013 Radar Key measurement parameters: – Min pulse width/resolution, record length, range of PRFs, frequency range FactorRadar Characteristic Affected Pulse shapeRange accuracy, range resolution Pulse widthRange resolution, maximum range, minimum detection range Pulse repetition frequencyMaximum unambiguous range, detection probability Fundamental frequencyDirectivity, target resolution, propagation loss, size of equipment Chirp frequency bandwidthRange resolution Chirp pulse ripple/time sidelobesTarget masking, range resolution Scan rate and beamwidthProbability of detection, angular resolution Receiver sensitivityMaximum detection range Transmitter powerMaximum detection range, physical size Average gainMaximum detection range Radar cross sectionMaximum detection range Radar trends Narrower pulses 1 us, 150 m 50 ns, 7.5 m Wide range of PRF Lower, longer range Higher, shorter Higher frequencies Antenna size, bandwidth, smaller target sizes

7 EuMW Seminars 2013 Used with TWTAs to reduce power consumption Used at wafer-level to avoid thermal effects – Memory \trapping effects Thermal Pulsed IV (and RF) Key measurement parameters: –Pulse profile and min measurement width, point-in-pulse resolution, pulse-to- pulse and PRF range Electrical

8 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

9 EuMW Seminars 2013 Pulse Characteristics and Definitions

10 EuMW Seminars 2013 Three types of measurements: Pulse Profile (PP)Point-in-Pulse (PIP) Pulse-to-Pulse (P2P) Sweep time Sweep freq or power Three types of stimulus: Measurement Overview **

11 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

12 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

13 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

14 EuMW Seminars 2013 Time – Frequency Domains

15 EuMW Seminars 2013 Traditional Trade-offs Wideband Method Trade-off: minimum pulse width limitations Historically, wideband pulse measurement is used when most pulse energy is contained in the receiver BW. As pulse widths narrow (e.g., 1 µs), users are forced to move to narrowband techniques.

16 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

17 EuMW Seminars 2013 Traditional Trade-offs Narrowband Method Trade-offs: − Dynamic range penalty − No pulse-to-pulse capability Dynamic range degradation = 20*log[duty cycle]  1% duty cycle = 40 dB D/R reduction!

18 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

19 EuMW Seminars 2013 MS4640B now with: Option 035 IF Digitizer Option 042 PulseView TM Pulse Modulator Test Sets (required for RF pulsing)

20 EuMW Seminars 2013 Eliminate Trade-offs! Option 035 IF Digitizer enables – 200 MHz Receiver bandwidth – Measurement resolution as fine as 2.5 ns – Independent measurement IF receiver windows – 500 ms record lengths

21 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

22 EuMW Seminars 2013 The True View 2.5 ns resolution 15 ns resolution What have you been missing?

23 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

24 EuMW Seminars 2013 The True View At full resolution! Example: 100 ms PRI (100 µs, 900 µs period), 10 ns resolution, 30 MHz IFBW Record lengths up to 500 ms --

25 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

26 EuMW Seminars 2013 Measurement Confidence Visual representation of signals and measurements Simple generator configuration – Varying types of pulses generated Singlet Doublet Triplet Quadruplet Burst – Change labels for better test descriptors

27 EuMW Seminars 2013 Simple measurement configuration – Adjustments for each receiver Measurement Confidence

28 EuMW Seminars 2013 Measurement Confidence Use Zoom Marker to double check test setup Drag vertical lines for start and stop zoom area Drag vertical lines as time markers

29 EuMW Seminars 2013 Industry-first Instant Results Make measurement adjustments and see the results instantly No need to toggle back and forth between configuration windows

30 EuMW Seminars 2013 Common Test Challenges Too many test method trade-offs Need for better analysis tools Monitor pulse behavior over longer times Eliminating measurement setup errors Timing and synchronization issues (in measurement or calibration)

31 EuMW Seminars 2013 Coupled IF Receiver Windows Measurement results may identify unexpected behavior – For example, there may be measurement delays (from group delay, long test cables, …) which can affect ratio measurements Delay start of b 2 measurement to properly align S 21 result Independent IF Rcvr Windows

32 EuMW Seminars 2013 Agenda Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties Summary

33 EuMW Seminars 2013 Calibration Power Calibrations Receiver Calibrations User RF Calibrations – No stimulus pulsing – Stimulus pulsing – Receive-side modulation/gating

34 EuMW Seminars 2013 Minimizing Uncertainties Time Shaping Calibration Minimizing uncertainties – Increase averaging or reduce IFBW – Maximize power (while avoiding compression) – Filtering

35 EuMW Seminars 2013 Summary Background Applications Measurement Overview Common Test Challenges Pulse Measurement Methodologies Wideband method Narrowband method High-Speed digitizer method (VectorStar  ’s innovative architecture) Measurement Tips and Considerations Calibration Minimizing Uncertainties

36 EuMW Seminars 2013 Equipment Selection Criteria IF bandwidth – sampling rate Min measurement and timing resolution Measurement method trade-offs (e.g., dynamic range reduction) # of pulse generators available – Pulse generation signal formats available (e.g., doublets, bursts, …) – Min pulse width Pulse modulator performance (e.g., on-off ratio, rise-time, …)

37 EuMW Seminars 2013 Innovative high-speed digitizer architecture Industry’s highest resolution measurements Longest record lengths Independent measurement receiver windows Intuitive graphical configuration tool Instant results on measurement parameter changes What Have You Been Missing In Your Pulsed VNA Measurements?

38 EuMW Seminars 2013 CALL ANRITSU FIRST FOR ANSWERS!

39 EuMW Seminars 2013 Pulse Capability to >110 GHz Use with the VectorStar broadband system to enable pulse measurement capability to 110 GHz and beyond