Rohde Schwarz ZNB User Manual

R&S®ZNB
VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER

Leading in speed, dynamic range
and ease of operation

year

Product Brochure
Version 01.00

AT A GLANCE BENEFITS KEY FACTS

More than 60 years of experience in the field of vector network analysis pay off: Rohde & Schwarz sets
new benchmarks with its R&S®ZNB family of vector network analyzers. These analyzers feature high
measurement speed, outstanding precision and exceptional ease of operation.

With frequency ranges of 9kHz to 4.5GHz/8.5GHz and
100kHz to 20GHz, the network analyzers are targeted
at applications in the mobile radio, electronic goods and
aerospace and defense sectors, plus they can be used in
high speed printed board design. The R&S®ZNB is the right
choice when it comes to developing, producing and ser­vicing RF components such as amplifiers, mixers, filters,
connectors and cables.

The R&S®ZNB vector network analyzers feature a wide
dynamic range of up to 140dB (at 10Hz IF bandwidth),
low trace noise of less than 0.004dB RMS (at 10kHz IF
bandwidth) and high output power of up to +13dBm,
which can be adjusted electronically in a range of more
than 98dB.

The R&S®ZNB analyzers combine high measurement accu­racy with exceptional speed – better than 5µs per point.
They feature excellent temperature and long-term stability,
which ensures reliable measurements over several days
without having to recalibrate the units.

The short-depth, compact 2-port and 4-port analyzers
leave plenty of space on the workbench for the measure­ment application. They feature low operating noise thanks
to low power consumption and a sophisticated cooling
concept. Low power consumption also reduces operating
costs and protects the environment.

► Frequency range from 9kHz up to 20GHz

► Wide dynamic range of up to 140dB

► Short sweep times, e.g. 4ms for 401points

► High temperature stability of typ. 0.014dB/K

► Wide power sweep range of 98dB

► Wide range of IF bandwidths from 1Hz to 10MHz

► Manual and automatic calibration

► Large, high-resolution 12.1" screen

► Touchscreen user interface

► 2 or 4 ports

► 4-port model with two independent internal

sources

► Expansion to up to 48 ports using switch matrices

Designed to meet the highest standards

►

page 4

Convenient characterization of active and passive

RFcomponents

►

page 6

Simple calibration– manualorautomatic

►

page 9

Network analysis made easy

►

page 10

High throughput inproduction

►

page 12

Measurements on up to 48ports

►

page 14

A worthwhile investment

►

page 16

R&S®ZNB models

9 kHz

Rohde & Schwarz R&S®ZNB Vector Network Analyzer 32

100 kHz

R&S®ZNB20 vector network analyzer
2-port and 4-port, without bias tee

R&S®ZNB8 vector network analyzer
2-port and 4-port, with bias tee

R&S®ZNB8 vector network analyzer
2-port and 4-port, without bias tee

R&S®ZNB4 vector network analyzer
2-port and 4-port, with bias tee

R&S®ZNB4 vector network analyzer

2-port and 4-port, without bias tee

4.5 GHz

8.5 GHz

20 GHz

DESIGNED TO MEET THE HIGHEST

STANDARDS

The analyzers of the R&S®ZNB family combine wide dynamic range, excellent raw data, high temperature
stability and fast synthesizers to yield performance previously found only in high-end network analyzers.
This makes the instruments ideally suited for applications in the development and large-scale production of
sophisticated RF components.

Wide dynamic range starting from 9kHz for fast

measurements on high-blocking DUTs

The R&S®ZNB receivers combine high power-handling
capacity with high sensitivity and low trace noise. The
R&S®ZNB base unit provides typically 140dB dynamic
range (at10Hz IF bandwidth), which is better than that of
other, comparable products on the market.

The R&S®ZNB4-B52/-B54 and R&S®ZNB8-B52/-B54
options further extend the dynamic range, delivering a
value as high as 150dB for measure ments between ports
(real dynamic range, i.e.without receivers going into com­pression at low transmission coefficients). This mainly
speeds up manual adjustments on high-blocking filters.
Users will benefit from the wide dynamic range of the
R&S®ZNB not only in the mobile radio frequency bands,
but right from the 9kHz start frequency.

R&S®ZNB dynamic range (at 10Hz IF bandwidth).

Excellent raw data for high basic accuracy

The R&S®ZNB offers directivity of more than 30dB and
uncorrected test port match (i.e. without calibration) of
up to 30dB. Long-term and temperature stability are
improved, and accuracy after calibration is increased even
further. Even with partial calibration, for example transmis­sion normalization with a through standard, the R&S®ZNB
provides accuracy previously achieved only with a rela­tively complex 2-port calibration – at a speed twice as high
as with full 2-port calibration.

High temperature stability for long calibration intervals

The test set and receivers of the R&S®ZNB feature
excellent temperature and long-term stability. The ana­lyzer measures S-parameters with very low magnitude
andphase drift of typically less than 0.014dB/K and

0.035°/GHz/K. A calibrated R&S®ZNB allows precise
measurements over several days without recalibration.

Block diagram of an R&S®ZNB 4-port model with
two internal sources

Reflectometer 4

Meas. receiver

Ref. receiver

Port 4

Reflectometer 3

Meas. receiver

Fast synthesizers for high measurement speed

The R&S®ZNB has fast synthesizers with switching
times of below 10µs. This yields high sweep rates and

allows the analyzer to perform measurements faster than

competitor products.

Ref. receiver

Port 3

Reflectometer 2

Meas. receiver

Ref. receiver

Port 2

Reflectometer 1

Meas. receiver

Ref. receiver

Port 1

Rohde & Schwarz R&S®ZNB Vector Network Analyzer 54

Block diagram of an R&S®ZNB 2-port model

Reflectometer 2

Meas. receiver

Ref. receiver

Port 2

Reflectometer 1

Meas. receiver

Ref. receiver

Port 1

External
source 1

1 2

Reconfigured

physical port 1

a wave: b

1

b wave: b

2

Source: external
source 1

Vector network
analyzer

Amplifier Dual directional coupler

DUT

CONVENIENT CHARACTERIZATION OF
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE RFCOMPONENTS

Fast embedding/deembedding for impedance matching using

virtual networks

Coaxial and balanced components, such as SAW filters
used in mobile phone frontends, are specified together
with the networks that match them to the impedance of
the surrounding circuit. The R&S®ZNB can embed the DUT
into virtual matching networks to provide realistic con­ditions by simulating the DUT installed in its operational
environment. The R&S®ZNB offers a choice of predefined
matching network topologies. If values of individual net­work elements are edited, the R&S®ZNB immediately
recalculates the network and embeds the DUT in the new
network in real time. In addition to predefined topolo­gies, .s2p, .s4p, .s6p and .s8p files can be read into the
R&S®ZNB and used for embedding/deembedding.

Redefined S-parameters

Mixed-mode S-parameters for balanced DUT characterization

To characterize a DUT with two balanced ports, the
R&S®ZNB treats the DUT like an unbalanced 4-port device.
It calculates the 16single-ended S-parameters and con­verts them to mixed-mode S-parameters. This additional
computational effort does not compromise measurement
speed. A wizard guides the user through the individual
steps of the measurement – fast and straightforward.

Redefined S-parameters for flexible test setup configuration

The R&S®ZNB can be flexibly configured to meet
application- specific requirements. The analyzer firmware

allows reconfiguring the physical ports by assigning them

waves as required for a specific task. This feature can be
used to integrate external components into the test set.

Extensive analysis functions for efficient traceanalysis

A wide variety of analysis functions help the user evaluate
important parameters at a glance:

►

Up to ten markers per trace

►

Automatic bandwidth measurements

►

Limit line and ripple check with pass/fail indication

►

Statistical trace analysis including maximum,
minimum, RMS and peak-to-peak detection as well as

compression point measurement

►

Equation editor for complex, real-time trace

mathematics

Amplifier measurements with wide power sweep range and
receiver step attenuators

The wide, electronically adjustable power sweep range
of the R&S®ZNB from –85dBm to +13dBm enables fast
analysis of the linear and nonlinear characteristics of small
and large-signal amplifiers. Electronic step attenuators in
the receive paths increase the 0.1dB compression point
to +27dBm. The wear-free attenuators feature delay­free switching, which enhances measurement speed and
extends the useful life of the R&S®ZNB in production.

Additional features:

►

Four DC inputs for measuring amplier DC power
consumption and efciency

►

Measurement of stability factors of balanced and
unbalanced ampliers

►

Support of R&S®NRP-Zxx power sensors, providing
high-precision power versus power and power versus

frequency measurements

Time domain analysis for distance-to-fault (DTF)
measurements and filter adjustment

The R&S®ZNB offers powerful time domain analysis to
measure components such as filters or high-speed dig­ital data cables in the frequency and time domain. The
extended time domain analysis option makes it possible
to display eye diagrams for different bit patterns simul­taneously with measurements in the frequency and time
domain.

With 100 000 points per trace, the R&S®ZNB measures
even electrically long DUTs such as long cables without
any problems. The gating function of the R&S®ZNB makes
it easy to locate cable faults and analyze them in detail.

Using prediction, the analyzer's frequency range can
be virtually extended by a factor of up to 10. This yields
resolution substantially higher than would be expected
from the upper frequency limits of 4.5GHz, 8.5GHz and
20GHz. For many applications, this eliminates the need
for a higher-frequency – and more expensive – network
analyzer.

External
source 1

Amplifier Dual directional coupler

Vector network analyzer

1 2 3 4

Amplifier Coupler

Vector network
analyzer

1 2

DUT

Reconfigured

physical port 1

a wave: b
b wave: b
Source: external
source 1

DUT

Reconfigured

physical port 1

a wave: b
b wave: b
Source: port 1

Reconfigured

physical port 2

a wave: a
b wave: b
Source: port 4

1

2

Menu for defining physical ports.

Impedance matching using virtual networks

C1

2

3

4

4

L1

R1

R2

R3

C2

Embedded network

DUT

C1

L1

R1

R2

R3

C2

Embedded network

Equation editor for trace mathematics.

Rohde & Schwarz R&S®ZNB Vector Network Analyzer 76

Simultaneous display of eye diagrams and measurements in the frequency and time

domain.