Keysight (Agilent) 8510A User's Guide

User's Guide

HP 8510 Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer

ABCDE

08510{90505

No.

Part

HP

Printed

in

USA

March

1995

Notice

The information contained in this do cument is sub ject to change without notice.

Hewlett-Packard makes no warrantyofany kind with regard to this material, including,

but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and tness for a particular

purpose. Hewlett-Packard shall not b e liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or

consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.

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Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is sub ject to restrictions as set forth

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Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights clause at FAR 52.227-19 for other agencies.

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CERTIFICATION

Hewlett-Packard Company certies that this product met its publishedspecications at the

time of shipment from the factory. Hewlett-Packard further certies that its calibration

measurements aretraceable to the United States National Institue of Standards and Technology

(NIST, formerly NBS), to the extent al lowed by the institute's calibration facility, and to the

calibration facilities of other International Standards Organization members.

WARRANTY

This Hewlett-Packard instrument product is warranted against defects in material and

workmanship for a perio d of one year from date of delivery. During the warranty period,

Hewlett-Packard Company will, at its option, either repair or replace pro ducts whichproveto

be defective.

For warranty service or repair, this product must be returned to a service facility designated

byHP.Buyer shall prepay shipping charges to HP and HP shall payshippingcharges to

return the pro duct to Buyer. However, Buyer shall pay all shipping charges, duties, and taxes

for products returned to HP from another country.

HP warrants that its software and rmware designated by HP for use with an instrument

will

es

do

unin

execute

arrant

not w

terrupted

programming

its

that the

error

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instructions

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outside

main

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tenance.

OTHER

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w

er-supplied

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ARRANTY

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IMPLIED W

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misuse,

preparation

FITNESS

AND

THE REMEDIES PROVIDED HEREIN ARE BUYER'S SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE

REMEDIES. HP SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL,

INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT,

TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.

ANCE

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ASSIST

other

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arest Hewlett-Packar

iii

Introduction

This documentisintended for use with the HP 8510B/C Option 008 Network Analyzer

and is a supplement to the HP 8510B/C Operating and Programming manual. It contains

descriptions of the pulsed-RF network analyzer system features for measurements in the

frequency domain and in the pulse prole domain. With respect to the standard, swept CW

system, op eration of the pulsed-RF system is identical except that the measurement is made

at a specic, known time during each pulse. For information ab out network analysis, please

refer to HP Pro duct Note 8510-10, HP 8510B Introductory User's Guide, for an introduction

to using the front panel for measurement setup, measurement calibration, and basic network

measurements.

Organization

section

This

ts

ten

con

System

duces

tro

In

Principles

of

list

A

con

h

eac

of

Description

HP 8510B/C

the

Pulsed-RF

of

terms

the

of

tains

hapter.

c

and

This

a

Document

hapters

c

the

of

list

Option

Netw

008

ork

denitions used

cumen

do

this

in

Pulsed-RF

measuremen

Measurements

in pulsed-RF

netw

description

brief

a

and

t

capabilit

t

ork measuremen

y

ts.

the

of

.

Pulse Measurements Overview

A description of how the network analyzer measures pulsed-RF S-parameters versus frequency

and versus time.

Operating

Describes the setup, measuremen

the

t calibration, and measuremen

Pulsed-RF

for

8510

HP

system and making pulsed-RF measuremen

Measurements

t pro cess for setting up the

ts.

Introduction

1-1

Frequency Domain Point-in-Pulse Measurements

This chapter contains measurement calibration and measurement procedures to display the

pulsed-RF S-parameters versus frequency.

Pulse Profile Domain Measurements

This chapter contains measurement calibration and measurement procedures to display the

pulsed-RF S-parameters versus time.

General Timing Information

Descriptions of the internal timing to show the system's internal pulse repetition period and

duty cycle capabilities.

Using External Triggering and Pulse Modulation

This section contains information to help you determine if your application requires external

tain

t.

accuracy

mo

pulse

P

High

Discusses

making

when

dulating

er

w

o

the

equipmen

t,

Measurements

considerations

ecial

sp

at

measuremen

ts

instructions

and

high

required

o

p

RF

wer

for

protect

to

lev

connecting

the

els.

the

test

external

system

equipmen

main

and

Reference

option

all

ws

Sho

Data

008

men

structures

u

and

denitions,

ey

k

including

programming

co

des.

1-2

Introduction

Figure

1-1.

HP

8510

Pulsed-RF

Netw

ork

Analyzer

System

Introduction

1-3

System Description

This chapter contains the following information.

A description of the HP 8510 Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer System.

A simplied blo ck diagram of the HP 8510 Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer System.

A signal ow diagram of the HP 85110-series S-parameter Test Set.

Who Should Make Pulsed-RF Measurements?

Pulsed-RF stim

the

y

destro

could

tested

e

b

ust

m

8510 pulsed-RF

HP

The

optimized

pulsed-RF

circuits

a

at

to

in

devices

rm

resp

vides

pro

precisely

ma

o

tw

whic

kno

jor

h

ulus ma

device,

using

are

w

onses.

precise

wn,

areas:

accept

y

PRF

a

netw

feature

or

F

sync

eatable

rep

tests

CW

a

required

e

b

as

h

suc

and

ork

to

set

rst

the

hronization

whic

in

input

in

when

duty

analyzer

e

mak

time,

during

time

the

h

and

where

cases

testing

cycle that

conguration

error-corrected

fully

com

the

with

the pulse.

ulus

stim

duce

pro

con

ccurs

o

accurately

bination

pulse, allo

signal

pulsed

a

tin

prior

adds

This

to

output.

application

uous

pack

to

represen

ecialized

sp

S-parameter

wideband

of

wing

extends

device

the

aging, or

ts

S-parameters

of

where the

nal

its

hardw

measuremen

and

IF

HP

the

pulsed,

is

8510

2

signal

test

the

device

application.

an

and

are

of

ts

accurate timing

measured

e

b

to

applications

of

tests

and

same

the

high p

mo

in

ow

Calibration

de.

pulsed-RF

er,

data

is

8510

HP

The

vironmen

en

measuremen

pulsed-RF

our

y

as

t

ou

y

t,

net

measuremen

calibrate

can

w

ork

analyzer

or

F

t.

in the

system

example,

same high

allo

if

po

ws

ou are

y

wer,

calibrate

to

ou

y

making a

pulsed-RF

taken only while the pulse is on. This type of calibration mayprevent damage to calibration

standards that would be damaged in high p ower, CW calibrations.

The recommended conguration of the HP 85108 Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer consists of the

following items.

HP

rm

8510B/C

revision

are

w

net

work

B.05.11

analyzer

greater

or

equipp

ed

(for

Option

with

HP 8510B),

the

008,

or

Wideband

revision

IF,

C.06.54

or

greater

(for

8510

HP

and

HP 8510C).

HP 83622 syn

HP 83624

synthesized sweeper with options 003, 004, and 008.

thesized sw

eeper with options 001, 003, 004, and

HP 85110-series pulsed-RF fundamen

tally mixed S-parameter test set

008.

Also, other external equipmentsuchaspower ampliers, bias supplies and pulse generators

system.

ma

e

b

y

included in

the

System

Description

2-1

The pulsed-RF network analyzer system allows you to select either the normal precision 10

kHz IF bandwidth or the new wideband 3 MHz IF bandwidth. The wide IF and detection

bandwidth allows testing using pulses as short as 1 microsecond but with accuracy comparable

to traditional non-pulsed measurements.

These system components may b e rack-mounted or arranged on a desktop.

Theory of Operation

A simplied blo ck diagram of the system is shown in Figure 2-1. One synthesizer provides

the test signal stimulus to the RF input of the test set and the other provides the LO signal

to the four frequency converters (only two are shown). The LO source is always tuned 20

MHz ab ove the test signal source. The standard internal phaselo cktechnique is not used;

instead, a common 10 MHz frequency reference is used for both of these sources and the

internal sample selection and timing logic in the HP 8510. These sources are considered to b e

coherent, thus generating the correct 20 MHz rst IF and the correct clock frequency for the

reference and test synchronous detectors. This eliminates the need to use the reference signal

for receiver phaselock and allows all reference and test signals to be pulsed, therebymaking

fully error-corrected 2-port, pulsed-RF S-parameter measurements p ossible.

Figure 2-1. Simplified Pulsed-RF Network Analyzer Block Diagram

detectors

exible

y the HP 8510

and

in

accurate

Using

erate

op

wider

a

at

bandwidth

MHz,

20

of device resp onse during the

oth the

b

reference

measuremen

and

sample

t

timing

circuits

sync

IF,

test

the

pulse. With the sources and test set con

hronous

allow

trolled b

over the 8510 system bus, and with all necessary pulse generation and measuremen

signals generated in

ternally from a common

pulsed-RF stimulus/resp onse test system. One pulse of a

each data poin

t and the measuremen

t is sync

10 MHz reference, the HP 85108 is a complete

user-specied width is measured at

hronized so that it is made at a certain kno

that

analysis

t timing

wn

time in the pulse. The stimulus duty cycle can be predicted for a given instrument state,

but the actual pulse repetition perio d depends upon the current domain, cal type, averaging,

y

dut

to

eep

sw

cycle,

2-2

time,

refer

System

pulse

and

to General

Description

width

Timing

selections.

Information.

this reason,

or

F

sensitiv

device

our

y

if

is

e

Either the internal logic, the TTL Trigger Input, or the HP-IB Group Execute Trigger from

an external controller can initiate a measurement cycle. When control of the pulse repetition

period and duty cycle is required, the HP 8510 can use the trigger input to synchronize with

the internal or an external pulse mo dulator. The HP 8510 Stop Sweep output can b e used as

a gating signal to tell when the analyzer is ready for the next measurement. The measurement

is made with 100 nanosecond resolution and ab out 200 picosecond uncertainty with respect to

the internally- or externally-generated measurement trigger.

Test Set Signal Flow

Figure 2-2 shows a detailed diagram of the HP 85110-series test set signal separation, signal

routing, and frequency conversion. This is a fundamentally mixed test set, providing four 20

MHz outputs to the network analyzer. Placement of a 0 to 90 db (10 dB/step) attenuator

before each mixer provides control of the signal levels into the mixers while allowing operation

at high PORT 1 and PORT 2 signal levels necessary in many pulsed-RF applications.

The test set has rear panel access links to allow integration of additional test and signal

conditioning equipment in the low-loss main signal paths to the test ports. If your device

exhibits more than about 20 dB of gain, or higher port signal levels are required, refer to the

chapter.

include

test

IF

and

ts

mixing

set.

detectors.

and

detectors.

the HP

IF

This

and

sets

test

8514, 8515,

85110

HP

There

HP

The

erform

p

designed to

are

and

fundamen

applications

are

85104

pulse

the

work

coaxial

8516

mixing

tal

millimeter

measuremen

with the

whic

in

test sets

sets;

test

the

h

can

functions

t

normal 10

and

is

set

HP

e

b

describ

HP

the

designed

can

85110

congured

ed

kHz

to

IF

85104

w

e

b

to

here.

ork

w

o

P

High

Hewlett-P

detectors.

and

millimeter

the

with

used

with

erate

op

Measuremen

er

ard

k

ac

These

eguide

v

a

w

wideband

normal

the wideband

harmonic

IF

All

Test

four

coaxial

HP

Sets,

coaxial

so

a

test

sets

test

system

sets

can

and

can b

a

equipp

e

b

equipp

ed

millimeter-w

ed

for

a

v

to

a

e

include

wide

set.

test

Option

range

001,

applications

of

IF

Switc

hing

including

y

b

for

Multiple

to

up

System

Description

2-3

Figure

2-2.

HP

85110A

arameter

S-P

T

est

Signal Flo

Set

w

2-4

System

Description

3

Principles of Pulsed-RF Network Measurements

This chapter contains a list of terms used to describ e the pulsed-RF stimulus and resp onse.

Figure 3-1 shows a typical envelope of the pulsed-RF waveform output by the RF signal

source. For internal measurement triggering, the RF frequency and the ON time of the pulse

is controlled by the HP 8510 so that there is one pulse per measurement.

Pulse Repetition Period, PRP

The time from the 50 percentpoint on the rising edge of one pulse to the 50 percentpointon

pulse.

of

edge

rising

the

eration

ternal

in

or

F

ypically

T

and

time

for

width

the

is

The

the

frequency

ab

pulse.

up

pulse

In

PRP

making the

millisecond

calibration

PRP

the

If

triggering

is

there

measuremen

the

time

measuremen

30

out

maxim

during

e,

yp

t

con

is

op

pulse

one

tis

til

un

cycle

y

dut

domain,

when

milliseconds. In

PRP

um

of

part

width,

pulse

trolled

externally

the analyzer with the pulse.

Pulse

Repetition

Frequency,

the

measuremen

er

p

made at

pulse

and

t

limit.

the

out

ab

measuremen

the

dut

system

some

consists

second,

analyzer

Pulse

the

milliseconds.

3

y cycle,

HP

the

,

PRF

PRP

The

t.

user-sp

rst

necessary

if

tuned

is

Prole

Other

t.

and pulse

external trigger

8510

=

PRP

up

ends

dep

time

aiting

w

the

a

time

eraging,

v

turned ON

whic

pulse is

ecied

the

of

,

to

domain,

With

factors

prole domain

1

the

on

relativ

required

satisfy

to

frequency,

frequency

the

aect

h

stop time.

input is

instrumen

user-sp

a

for

the

to

e

the

for

user-sp

the

es

do

can

PRP

system

the

used to

t state.

ecied

of

start

analyzer

ecied

maxim

hange,

c

not

ab

e

b

PRP

sync

the

set

to

um

1

out

are

hronize

Principles

Pulsed-RF

of

Netw

Measurements

ork

3-1

Duty Cycle

The ratio of the time that the pulse is ON to the total Pulse Repetition Period. If the pulse

ON and OFF times are equal, the Duty Cycle is 50 p ercent.

For internal op eration, the maximum duty cycle percent limit can b e specied, but the actual

duty cycle may b e less, depending upon the user-specifed pulse width and the time it takes for

the analyzer to set up for the next measurement.

Pulse Width

The ON time from the 50 percent p oint on the rising edge to the 50 percentpointonthe

falling edge.

The internally-generated Pulse Width can b e set from less than 100 nanoseconds to 40.88

milliseconds.

Time

Rise/F

all

time

es

for

time:

the

pulse

to

rise

from

the

10

The

tr

The

=

pulse

time

transition

rise

tak

it

condition.

time

fall

pulse

=

tf

90

the

from

fall

to

pulse

the

for

es

tak

it

time

The

condition.

The

normal

IF

resp

onds

rise/fall

to

times

out 75

ab

of

to rise/fall times of about 300 nanoseconds.

y

Trigger

time

The

In the F

Dela

the

that

ON

pulse

after

requency domain, the T

measuremen

rigger Dela

t

y can be set from do

(internal) or +3 resolution p eriods (external) and

Prole domain the trigger dela

width,

and number of p oin

y is automatic depending upon the displa

ts.

ON

t

ercen

p

ON

t

ercen

p

microseconds; the

actually made.

is

condition

condition to

to

the 10

wideband IF

90 p

the

wn to -6 resolution perio

up to 40.88 milliseconds. In the Pulse

y time span, pulse

ercen

p

ON

t

ON

t

responds

ds

3-2

Principles

Pulsed-RF

of

Netw

Measurements

ork

Pulse Profile Measurement Resolution Period

The time b etween adjacent Pulse Prole domain data p oints. The minimum is 100

nanoseconds. This is set by an algorithm depending upon the Pulse Prole stop time, pulse

width, and number of time points.

Figure

3-1.

Pulse

erms

T

Definitions

and

Principles

Pulsed-RF

of

Netw

Measurements

ork

3-3

4

Pulse Measurements Overview

This chapter contains information about how the HP 8510 pulsed-RF network analyzer system

measures pulsed-RF S-parameters versus frequency and versus time.

The pulsed-RF conguration allows use of vector network analysis techniques for twotypes of

measurements:

Pulsed-RF S-Parameters versus Frequency

. The measurementissynchronized with the

pulse so that the measurement result is the S-parameter at a sp ecic user-specied pointin

the pulse at each frequency of the sweep

Pulse Prole

. The system is tuned to a single frequency and the measurementis

synchronized with the pulse so that the measurement result is the S-parameter as a function

of time

during the

Pulsed-RF

with

the

p

of

oin

tests

pulse.

t

t-in-pulse"

t

the

Pulsed-RF

cess

pro

during

measuremen

domain

measuremen

onse

resp

external

or

F

the

is

trigger. F

trigger

pulse.

S-parameters

frequency domain

the

in

the

that

so

pulse

frequency

h

eac

t

A

certain

a

after

made

measuremen

ternal

or in

pulsed

the

mo

to

de,

eac

h

device

ersus

v

measuremen

the

,

dela

using

t

trigger

stim

oin

p

data

Frequency

accomplished

are

is

t

Figure

in

the

de,

at

the trace

are

ternal pulse

eac

the

sources

.

y

mo

ulus

tof

made

tuned,

4-1

data

h

same

sync

y

b

single,

a

at

the

an

ws

sho

output and

oin

p

terv

in

represents

hronizing

user-sp

is turned

RF

example

the

of

t

after

al

the resp

of this

the

trace

the

onse

measuremen

the

ecied

then

on,

\frequency

ternal

in

represen

pulse is

of

time

the

ts

turned on.

device

the

the pulsed stimulus after the falling edge of the externally-generated measurementtrigger.

t

to

Measurements

Pulse

Ov

erview

4-1

Figure 4-1. Pulsed-RF S-Parameters versus Frequency (Frequency Domain Point-in-Pulse)

erview

4-2

Pulse

Measurements

Ov

Keysight (Agilent) 8510A User's Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Introduction

System Description

Principles of Pulsed-RF Network Measurements

Pulse Measurements Overview