TRANSMISSION RESPONSE MEASUREMENTS OF FREQUENCY-TRANSLATING DEVICES USING A VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER

A new method for accurately determining the transmission response of f requency-translating devices (FTD's) is presented, The absolute amplit ude and phase of the FTD under test is obtained using a vector network analyzer (VNA) and two test FTD's, where one FTD must have reciprocal frequency response characteristics. The characterization of single-si deband (SSB) FTD's is obtained in a straightforward manner by combinin g data from three VNA two-port swept measurements, The characterizatio n of double-sideband (DSB) FTD's can be performed in the same manner a s for SSB FTD's, or, more accurately, by combining data from six two-p ort swept baseband measurements, A complete analysis of the characteri zation method using low-pass equivalent (LPE) signals and systems is p resented, along with the development of the appropriate data reduction procedures needed to arrive at the de-embedded LPE FTD transmission r esponses, The validation and accuracy of the method is demonstrated wi th results for both SSB and DSB FTD's operating at 20 GHz.