An Ten A

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS, MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES
Antenna Elements Matching

Time domain Analysis

Cristina Condori-Arapa

June 2010

Examiner: Dr. Magnus Isaksson.
Master Program in Electronics /Telecommunications
Supervisor: Dr. Torbjrn Olsson.

Abstract

Time domain analysis in vector network analyzers (VNAs) is a method to represent the frequency
response, stated by the S-parameters, in time domain with apparent high resolution. Among other
utilities time domain option from Agilent allows to measure microwave devices into a specific
frequency range and down till DC as well with the two time domain mode: band-pass and low-pass
mode. A special feature named gating is of important as it allows representing a portion of the time
domain representation in frequency domain.

This thesis studies the time domain option 010 from Agilent; its uncertainties and sensitivity. The
task is to find the best method to measure the antenna element matching taking care to reduce the
influence of measurement errors on the results.

The Agilent 8753ES is the instrument used in the thesis. A specific matching problem in the antenna
electric down-tilt (AEDT) previously designed by Powerwave Technologies is the task to be solved.
This is because it can not be measured directly with 2-port VNAs. It requires adapters, extra coaxial
cables and N-connectors, all of which influences the accuracy. The AEDT connects to the array
antenna through cable-board-connectors (CBCs). The AEDT and the CBCs were designed before
being put into the antenna-system. Their S-parameters do not coincide with the ones measured after
these devices were put in the antenna block.

Time domain gating and de-embedding algorithms are two methods proposed in this thesis to
measure the S-parameters of the desired antenna element while reducing the influence of
measurement errors due to cables CBCs and other connectors. The aim is to find a method which
causes less error and gives high confidence measurements.

For the time domain analysis, reverse engineering of the time domain option used in the Agilent
VNA 8753ES is implemented in a PC for full control of the process. The results using time-domain
are not sufficiently reliable to be used due to the multiple approximations done in the design. The
methodology that Agilent uses to compensate the gating effects is not reliable when the gate is not
centered on the analyzed response. Big errors are considered due to truncation and masking effects
in the frequency response.

The de-embedding method using LRL is implemented in the AEDT measurements, taking away the
influences of the CBCs, coaxial cables and N-connector. It is found to have sufficient performance,
comparable to the mathematical model. Error analysis of both methods has been done to explaine
the different in measurements and design.

Acknowledgments

Firstly, I would like to thank to my sponsor Powerwave Technologies Sweden AB, to the Antenna
group partners and my dear supervisor Dr. Torbjrn Olsson, who was my inspiration and my guide
during the hardest time; more than a supervisor a good friend, without his good ideas nothing of this
work would have been possible.
I am totally grateful to the University of Gvle and the Linuss-Palme agreement, which gave me the
opportunity to come to Sweden and take a master in Telecommunications/ Electronics, one of the
major passions in my life.
I would like to mention also all the people who trust in me, in special my family in Peru and my
beloved people here in Gvle.
The thanks also go to all my classmates in HiG, who made of these two years of leaving in a foreign
country a fruitful and unforgettable experience, thanks for these nice memories, which I will keep as
a treasure in my life.

Abbreviations

VNA : Vector Network Analyzer
CBC : Cable-board-cable.
AEDT : Antenna electric down-tilt.
LRL : Line-reflect-line.
PC : Personal computer.
RF : Radio frequency.
CZT : Chirp z-transform.
ICZT : Inverse CZT.
DUT : Device under test.
F/FT : Fourier transform.
DFT : Discrete Fourier transform.
FD : Frequency domain.
TD : Time domain.
GPC : General precision connector.
LPC : Laboratory precision connector.
TRL : Thru-reflect-line.
TDR : Time domain reflectometry.
GPIB : General purpose interface bus.
DC : Direct current.
WCM : Wave cascading matrix.
KW : Windowed gate.
NF : Noise figure.
BIF : IF bandwidth.
SF : Shape factor.

Table of contents

Abstract ...i
Acknowledgments ii
Abbreviations ..iii
Abbreviations

Chapter 1 Introduction .1

1.1 Problem statement 2
1.2 Objectives of the thesis 2
General objectives 2
Specific objectives 3
1.3 Outline of the thesis 3

Chapter 2 Theoretical framework ..4

2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Background 4
2.3 Time domain analysis 4
Time domain vs. frequency domain 5
2.4 Chirp z-transform 6
2.5 Windowing 7
Kaiser-Bessel window 7
2.6 Gating, filtering in time domain 9
Design if Finite Response filter by windowing 10
Rectangular window 11
2.7 Effects of time domain analysis 12
Masking effect 13
2.8 Impedance Matching 14
2.9 Connector 14
2.10 Transmission-lines 15
2.11 Power dividers 15

Chapter 3 Time domain and reverse engineering .17

3.1 The TD option: Description 17
3.2 Time domain: Transform modes 18
3.3 Test setup 18
3.4 Design and methodology 19
Windowing 19
a).Windowing in band-pass mode 20
b) Windowing in low-pass mode 21
3.5 Gating 22
Gating effects 23
Edge effects 23
3.6 Experimental results 24
FD transform to TD: Band-pass mode 24
FD transform to TD: Low-pass mode 26
Time domain gating 28

Chapter 4 De-embedding Process.33

4.1 Introduction 33
4.2 S-parameters and T-parameters 33
4.3 TRL Method and De-embedding 35
4.4 CBC de-embedding algorithm 36

Chapter 5 Uncertainties and sensitivity of the synthesis response40

5.1 Uncertainties due to mismatching 40
5.2 42

Chapter 6 Conclusions ..43

6.1 Conclusions and discussion

References 45
Appendix A Matlab functions: Flow diagrams...46
Appendix B Design of FIR filter by windowing..53
Appendix C Overcompensation in truncated response..55

Chapter 1: Introduction
1
Chapter 1
Introduction

Nowadays, the reliability of a wireless telephone system is a very important issue to the user,
who transmits and receives information through remote and crowded areas. The antenna
designers have to design antennas that work under hard conditions to avoid interfering with other
cells and to have maximum radiation to a desired area. Using antenna arrays (multiple antennas)
gives better performance in terms of directivity and gain for long distances and the total field of
this antenna can be modified changing the phase between the elements [1].

Many modern base station antennas consist of vertical arrays of radiating elements and a feed
network arrangement, also named manifold, which controls the phase difference between the
elements. Powerwave Technologies has developed a moving dielectric phase controller, called
Antenna Electric Down-Tilt (AEDT), and slot fed radiating patch elements that need to be
matched to the phase controller. The corresponding theory will be explained with more details in
the Chapter 2.

The phase controller and the patch elements are intended to be perfectly matched according to
design. The first problem emerges when the measurement and the simulation do not coincide.
This means that there is a mismatch somewhere in the antenna network arrangement, AEDT and
slot radiating patch elements.

To measure the AEDT or any other element of the antenna with a commercial 2-port vector
network analyzer (VNA), it is necessary to use additional elements such as cable-to-board
connectors (CBC), cables, adapters, etc. These elements and mutual coupling effects [1] for
micro-strip patches produce the mismatches.

For this special case, frequency domain measurements do not give enough information because it
is not possible to see the location of each element in the frequency domain. Time domain is a
useful tool for this kind of analysis when there is a need to locate the effects of each element as a
function of time instead of frequency.

Time domain analysis is a software implemented in commercial vector network analyzers
(VNAs), with a number of functions such as windowing and gating [2], to ease analysis of
various time-dependent (actually distance-dependent) effects.

The VNAs have been considered a useful commercial tool in RF applications since it was
developed and patent by Sharrit [3]; it bases its measurements in the travelling voltage waves
that are often transformed into scattering parameters (S-parameters). Since the beginning of the
VNA many options have been developed, among them the time domain option.

Of major importance is to know how accurate this principle and the implemented software are
and to what extent the test-development engineer can rely on it. In order to know each of the
steps involved in the time domain option, the functionality must be reproduced.

The gating function allows cutting unwanted responses and plots the response of a particular part
of the system being measured, in frequency domain, normally as the S-parameters. This process
causes effects like truncation and masking error, which may be solved by renormalization and
windowing [4].


2
De-embedding is another method with the same characteristics as gating but it can be
implemented directly from the known S-parameters in the frequency domain. It is the second
alternative explored in this thesis.

In this thesis the existing time domain option in an Agilent VNA, the 8753D [2], is reverse
engineered to give understanding of the process and to allow modification of the parameters
fixed by the manufacturer. It is also a good starting point to generate a complete PC-based
software that emulates this time-domain option with fully reconfigurable parameters.

1.1 Problem statement

In multi element antennas the individual elements are connected to a manifold / power
splitter and it is impossible to detect the matching condition through that network without a
suitable de-embedding mechanism. The de-embedding can be achieved in frequency domain
using knowledge of the s-parameters of the splitter network. Alternative to this de-
embedding technique the time resolution offered by modern wide band network analyzers
can be used to the advantage. Such measurements are being done and they usually involve
studying the step response in low pass filtered mode in conjunction with choosing a gate
window and back transformation to the frequency domain, however this is only one option
of several. The problem is that there is no knowledge how accurate the impedance can be
obtained after the splitter network and if improved methods of measurement and display can
be found such that the prototyping is made more expedient. In the end a rigorous method in
prototyping leads to improved array performance and to improved yield in production.

1.2 Objectives of the thesis

The main objective of this thesis is to find the correct method to measure the AEDT with the
best performance, i.e. with small stochastic and systematic errors. Minimizing the systematic
errors helps to improve the design of the model and provides a better method to measure
antenna elements before sending them for manufacturing. The uncertainties of a design must
be known in advance in order to produce a product. If uncertainty is not taken into account,
the products will not necessarily fulfil the given specifications, possibly violating the
customer specifications and in the worst case also the regulations.
A further objective is to study improved ways of achieving matching of antenna elements to
50 ohm in development and prototyping of antennas.

1.2.1 General objectives

Study the time domain option used by Agilent VNA 8753.
Write the complete set of functions which emulates the time- domain option in the
commercial Vector Network Analyzer 8753 from Agilent, in software, which allows
modifying and improving the same method as a future work.
Describe in detail the uncertainties after test-development process of the AEDT.
Show the uncertainties produced by the different steps involved in the time domain
transformation.
Describe a method to improve the time domain option.
Compare time domain option with de-embedding function, name advantages and
disadvantages too.
Describe and approximate the uncertainties of the AEDT after it has passed through
the test process.

3
1.2.2 Specific objectives

Gather data from the VNA and process it into the computer to show the time domain
representation from data measured in frequency domain.
Implement low pass and pass band mode with the respective settings as the
commercial VNA 8753ES from Agilent.
Find which mode is more accurate to measure the antenna element inside the system.
Apply windows to the data in order to reduce unwanted effects.
Gate (Filter) the data with three options (different windows) given by the VNA.
Renormalize and explain the gating effects.
Measure the S-parameters of the antenna elements (micro-strip patches), CBCs,
cables and AEDT with the help of gating and/or de-embedding methods in order to
make the comparison between the one port measurements of the complete system with
the result of the cascaded S-matrices using the antenna element as the load.
Find the associated uncertainties in the chosen methods.

1.3 Outline of the thesis

The thesis report is organized as follows:
Chapter 1: Introduction.
Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework

It gives a brief explanation of the used theory, starting from time domain representation,
chirp-z transform, windowing, filters and the effects that these cause on the processed data.

Chapter 3: Time-domain and reverse engineering

It describes the reverse engineering applied to time-domain option from Agilent, from the
description of the different VNA options in time domain and the applied mathematics. The
functions which emulate the time domain option are implemented using MATLAB 2007B.

Chapter 4: De-embedding process

This chapter explains how the de-embedding method models the system and how can this be
applied to a general application, not necessarily only the one given in this thesis.

Chapter 5: Uncertainties and sensitivity of the synthesis response

This chapter studies the uncertainties of the measurement and the modelling of the system
(i.e. AEDT and antenna element), produced after time domain transform is applied and looks
for solutions to reduce the systematic errors.

Chapter 6: Conclusions
This chapter gives the final conclusions and suggests future work.


4
Chapter 2
Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction

This chapter explains the basic theory needed to understand the tools used in the
analysis and the development of this thesis. The first section gives the fundamental
concepts of frequency-time domain analysis and the second section describes the
uncertainties in the measurements and the sensitivity of the equipment based on the
matching between load and source impedance.

2.2 Background

Vector network analyzers (VNAs) are tools for radio and microwave frequency (RF)
device measurements. The VNAs measure incident and reflected travelling waves with
both magnitude and phase, and normally displays the results as S-parameters, although
the wave magnitude and/or phase can also be displayed as a function of frequency. Their
advantages have had many applications due to the wide bandwidth available and the
added tools, such as the time domain option. This option mathematically transforms the
frequency response in the form of S-parameters to time domain using the inverse chirp
Z-transform (ICZT). The analysis in time domain has applications in fault location and
detection/finding of mismatches in a system.

The time domain tool, in low-pass impulse and band-pass mode, shows the response of a
device under test (DUT) in time (position) and its amplitude. The low-pass step mode
shows the impedance of the response as a function of the time/position. An added tool in
both low-pass and band-pass mode is the gating function, which gives the possibility to
remove unwanted segments in time/position of the system. All these processes are
explained in detail by [4]. Variations of the methods are used and presented by
representatives of other brands, as Anritsu [5] and Rohde & Schwarz [6], but they have
the same background. This background is explained in the first part of this chapter
taking as a reference the Agilent Vector network analyzer HP8753ES as it is the
instrument used in this thesis.

2.3 Time-domain analysis

Time-domain (TD).

The time domain represents the response of a system as a function of time, e.g.
amplitude and/or impedance. For discrete time, the representation of the continuous
response is sampled in separate instants, whereas frequency domain represents the
response of a system in each given frequency. Fig.1 shows the representation of a
system in time and frequency domain. Both graphs are the S11, or reflection, of the
cable and two connectors but represented in different domains.
5

Fig.2.1 Reflection (S11) of a cable with two connectors in frequency and time domain
respectively. Reprinted with permission from Agilent. [2].

Fig. 2.1 shows a simple example of a system formed of one cable and two connectors. For
real systems, dependent upon more components, the figure may be more complicated. The
cable is terminated in a resistive load with the same impedance as the equipment used to
measure the DUT, in this case 50 Ohms.

The time domain response highlights the reflection in both connectors in contrast to the
frequency response. This shows the interference of the two reflections with a free spectral
range between undulations determined by the distance between the connectors and the speed
of the electro-magnetic waves in the cable, i.e. the speed of light scaled with the velocity
factor.

Time domain vs. frequency domain
Equations 2.1 and 2.2 define the continuous Fourier transform (FT) and the inverse
continuous Fourier transform (IFT) respectively for an impulse response, ( )
h
t .

( ) ( )
2 j ft
H h
f t e dt
(2.1)

2
( ) ( )
j ft
h H
t f e df
(2.2)

By the Fourier principle, every periodic continuous signal can be represented as a sum of
sine and cosine signals.

A periodic signal with finite period leads to a discrete spectrum (DFT). If also the spectrum
is periodic with finite frequency period, a discrete periodic time signal may be represented.
The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) is a mapping from N samples in time domain to
N/2+1 unique complex samples representing the frequency domain as shown in Fig. 2.2.
Thus, network analyzer data is a representation of a measured and sampled finite piece of

6
frequency space which can be transformed to a finite and emulated sampled piece of the time
domain.

Fig.2.2 The direct relationship between time and frequency domain for an N arbitrary
sample signal. Either the real or imaginary part of the frequency domain response have
N/2+1 unique complex values. [7].

DFT is used as relationship between both domains, because the total analysis should be finite
and discrete for working with discrete equipments. Some approximations are used here as a
continuous periodic signal does not have finite energy or power.

2.4 Chirp z transform

In [8] an algorithm which improves the flexibility of the discrete Fourier transform was
developed. It is called the Chirp Z-transform (CZT) and took its name due to the
characteristics of the transform. This algorithm is a fusion between Discrete Fourier and
Z transforms and it is stated in (2.5). In contradistinction to FT, (2.4); the z-plane
contour point begins in A, the radio of the spiral contour depends of W and the angular
spacing is dependent of the M time domain samples.

1
0
N
n
k n k
n
X x z
=
=
(2.3)

1
0
exp( 2 / ) 0,1,..., 1
N
k n
n
X x j k N k N
=
= =
(2.4)

1
0
0,1,..., 1
N
n nk
k n
n
X x A W k M
=
= =
(2.5)

Notice that (2.5) is equivalent to (2.4) when 1 A = and
2 /
1*
j k N
W e

= .
The characteristics of the Chirp z-transform are [8]:
1) The number of time samples (N) in time domain does not have to equal the
number of samples (M) of the transform in frequency domain and vice versa.
2) Neither M nor N, need to be an integer.
3) The angular spacing (distance between each sample) of the
k
z is arbitrary.
4) Whereas Z-transform, the contour doest not need to be a circle but can spiral in or
out with respect to the origin. In addition, the point
0
z is arbitrary, but this is also
the case with the FFT if the samples
n
x are multiplied by
0
n
z

before
transforming.
7
Chirp z-transform allows zooming into an almost arbitrary piece of time using a large
number of points for the representation, increasing in some way the resolution on the
display of the Network analyzer. Note that the true resolution does not increase but is
dependent on the number of sample points and the frequency span.

2.5 Windowing

By necessity every signal has to be finite to be processed in a computer. According to
(2.1), the Fourier Transform is processed over an infinite interval and it is done in a
continuous way. In reality the signal must be sampled and truncated to a finite length.
The result of a finite recording of a signal causes spectral leakage [9]. Fig. 2.3 shows the
comparison between the continuous signal and the same signal after it is truncated with
a rectangular window and periodically repeated to fulfil the requirements of the DFT.

Fig. 2.3 Arbitrary periodic signal, truncated from 0 to NT [9].

A window is a function that weights (multiply) a response with a special shape (kind of
window). It is a multiplicative, usually real number, weighting, that reduces the ringing
effects produced by the sharp rectangular truncation. This truncation is caused by the
inherent limits of the equipment and is present in both TD and FD. The discontinuities
showed in Fig. 2.3 causes the Gibbs effects [10].
Once the response has been sampled and windowed, it needs rescaling in amplitude, see
Fig.2.10.
In frequency domain the method is implemented using a window function, represented here
as ( ) W f . The simplest case is the rectangular window defined by:

1/ ( ) 1
( )
0
length W for n N
W n
otherwise

=

(2.6)
Considering scaling effects and that the area under the window function must be one, the
factor 1/M must be used, where M is the bandwidth of the window ( ) W n .

The rectangular window sharply truncates a response between the start and end points. This
behaviour causes ringing once it is transformed to the other domain. These ringing are the
Gibbs phenomena and cause aliasing in the analysis. These oscillatory effects are to be
reduced by the use of another window named the Kaiser-Bessel window that will reduce the
kind of steps highlighted in figure 2.3.

Kaiser- Bessel Window


8
Kaiser-Bessel window is a special kind of window developed by Kaiser using the studies
done by Slepian and Pollak [24].
Kaiser has discovered a simple approximation of the prolate-spheroidal, using the zero order
modified Bessel function of the first kind, defined by
( )
2
0
0
2
!
k
k
x
I X
k
=
(
| |
( |
\ .
(
=
(
(

The Kaiser-Bessel window is defined as

| |
2
0
0
1.0
/ 2
( )
0
2
0
n
I
N
N
w n
n
I
otherwise
(
| |
(
|
\ . (

=

(2.7)

The Kaiser window is a dynamic function, which means that its length and shape could be
modified by varying its length, N, and the shape parameter, . = [9]. The Kaiser-Bessel
window is illustrated in Fig. 2.4 for some different beta values.
0 20 40 60 80 100
0.7
0.75
0.8
0.85
0.9
0.95
1
n
V

KB=1
KB=0
KB=3
KB=6

Fig. 2.4 Kaiser-Bessel window for N=100 samples and . 1, 0, 3, 6 = = .

The performance of the Kaiser-Bessel window has the ability to keep the maximum energy
in the main lobe (i.e. narrow main lobe width) and can reduce side-lobe level, in contrast to
the rectangular window with narrow main lobe but high side-lobes at -13 dB for the first
side-lobe. Fig. 2.5 shows the frequency response of two Kaiser windows with 6,13 = .

9
350 400 450 500 550 600 650
-160
-140
-120
-100
-80
-60
-40
-20
n
A
m
p
l
i
t
u
d
e
(
d
B
)

beta=6
beta=13

Fig.2.5. Spectral representation of two Kaiser Bessel windows with beta 6 and 13. Notice the
trade-off between side-lobe level and main lobe bandwidth.

From Fig. 2.5 it is important to notice the trade-off between the main-lobe width and side-
lobe level. In [9], Harris showed a table with the windows and figures-of merits for design
purposes.
An extension of the Kaiser-window application is the filter design using window that is
given in the next section, the filter design is developed in Appendix B.

2.6 Gating, filtering in time domain

Gating or filtering in time domain is a complementary tool in the current VNA. Time
domain gating is a function that removes or selects a portion of signal in time-domain
and then displays the remaining signal in frequency domain (FD). The ideal gate can be
represented as a brick wall where the multiplicative factor is 1 in the desired region
and 0 elsewhere.

1 1 2
( )
0
( ) ( ( ). ( ))
t t t
G t
elsewhere
f DFT t G t
< <
=

=
(2.8)

The spectral response of the ideal gate is the sinc function.


10

Fig.2.6. Representation of the gating function in time domain (red) with and arbitrary signal
(blue).

The gating process is carried out by windowing the response in time domain as describe by
(2.8) and shown in Fig. 2.6. This process is called filtering and is represented in frequency
domain by a convolution of the two spectra. By Fourier transform duality, (2.9) and (2.10)
state the gating in time and frequency domain respectively.

For time domain
( ) ( ) ( ) .
gated
t t G t = (2.9)
and for FD
( ) ( ) ( ) *
gated
f f G f = (2.10)

The ideal gate also produces Gibbs phenomena from sharp truncation (see windowing) [10].
These effects are minimized by smoothly reducing the edges of the gate. The Kaiser window
is preferred for this purpose as it gives more flexibility in the filter design.

The parameter is commonly represented as in MATLAB. When is 0 the
rectangular window is obtained and when is 0.5 the Hanning window is obtained. As
mentioned before, there is the trade off between side-lobe level and main-lobe width as well.
The Kaiser-Bessel window is attractive for engineering application and claimed to be the top
performer of the windows [9] due to the easy generation of the coefficients.

Design of Finite Impulse Response filter by windowing [10]

FIR filter design using windows is a method to design discrete filters and is restricted to
discrete-time implementation. The gate function resembles a band-pass filter. The band-pass
filter is defined by the side-lobe level and ripples given by
p
A and (delta) respectively.
t1 t2
50 100 150 200
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
V
t
11

Fig.2.7. Band-pass filter designed using windows.

The gate function, described in time domain by the start and stop points, is transformed using
CZT to frequency domain and then windowed with a Kaiser-Bessel window. This smooths
the sharp edges of the inherent rectangular window when the product is transformed back to
time domain by the ICZT. Fig. 2.7 shows the gate in time domain and its different
parameters that define the filter. The Kaiser-Bessel window sets the minimum gate transition
slope in time domain.

By the duality inherent in time and frequency domain and by convenience [7] the gating
process is done only in frequency domain. The rectangular window defined by t1 and t2, is
shown in Fig. 2.6. The Fourier transform of a rectangular window is the sinc function. This
function can be determined entirely by the width of the gate and no Fourier transform is
needed.

Appendix B gives the formulas used to design filters using Kaiser Bessel window.

Rectangular window

The Fourier transform of a rectangular window ( ) w n , can be calculated analytically using
the equations

( ) ( )
( )
( )
sin ( ) 0
sin ( ). 0
c
jwt
c w n t
F w n
c w n e t
=
(2.11)

12
When the gate function is not centred in t=0, the sinc function is multiplied by a complex
exponential factor as shown in (2.12), where
c
t is the offset [11]. In Fig.2.8 the rectangular
window in TD and its spectra in FD using analytic approximation are shown. Notice that the
number of nulls in the spectra is the same number that the width of the rectangular window.
The amplitude must be normalized by 1/ D to have 1 in amplitude as maximum, where
( ) ( )
2 1
D n t n t = .

Fig. 2.8 Rectangular window and its transform using direct analytic transform.

2.7 Effects of time domain analysis

The time domain option 010 from Agilent HP8753ES is a mathematical approximation
from the FD to TD using CZT. This option resembles time-domain reflectometry,
commonly done using an oscilloscope and a pulse generator, but here it is totally done in
FD.
The mathematical approximation, the digital sampling, the windowing and gating with
the few amount of points available to work with, are the sources of error. Fortunately it
is possible to compensate for some of the errors using renormalization. Fig. 2.9 shows
the comparison between the analytic transform and the measured data of a 3-dB filter
and the possible sources of error.

Fig. 2.10 Comparison of the analytic transform and the VNA time domain transform of the
same device under test (i.e. 3-dB filter) Reprinted with permission of Agilent. [2].
n(t1) n(t2)
D
n

n
13
Unfortunately not all the errors can be corrected or predicted. There are extra effects cause
by the gating process and the same renormalization, and then there are masking and
truncation effects [11].

Masking Effect

Masking occurs when the response of a discontinuity (reflection) affects the remaining
reflections. Fig. 2.11 shows the TD response of 2 capacitors (e.g. similar capacitors) in shunt
configuration. It is expected to get the same amplitude for both capacitors but Fig. 2.11
shows the time domain representation of the circuit when the second discontinuity is masked
by the first one.

Fig.2.11 Time domain response of two shunt capacitors, in low pass impulse mode.
Reprinted with permission of Agilent [2]

Figure 2.12 shows the frequency response of each capacitor gated separately. The masking
affects the second reflection. The grey line shows the ideal response of the capacitor without
masking.

( )
2
2 1 2
1 .
a
= (2.12)
Where
2a
is the apparent reflection of the second discontinuity and
1
is the reflection of
the first reflection.

Fig.2.12 Frequency domain response after gating the second capacitor. Reprinted with
permission from Agilent [2].

14
Masking can be partly compensated for using renormalization. This renormalization must
give the real amplitude to the masked discontinuity and follows (2.12).

From (2.12) the real amplitude of the second reflection is found.

( )
2
2
2
1
1
a
(2.13)

2.8 Impedance Matching

In order to deliver the maximum power to the load in the circuit shown in Fig. 2.13, the
input and output impedance must be the same. The capacitor, Cs, is represented as a
negative reactance in the Smith chart, therefore a positive reactance, Ls (matching
network), must be included in the circuit, in this way compensating the difference on
phase added for the capacitor (i.e. -90 degrees).

Fig. 2.13 The input and output impedance of this simple circuit do not match. The matching
network added must be an inductor to compensate the capacitance.

The matching network must be lossless in order not to dissipate the input signal as heat.

2.9 Connector
The developing of coaxial connector during the 1940s, led to the introduction of Type-N
connector. Years later, the high demands of accurate measurement in transmission lines
gave the needed of using precision coaxial connectors. Thus, in 1960s, standards were
established for high frequency applications.
For high frequency signal, a section of transmission line could represent more than a
simple resistance, and this is one of the most often problem in the matching of
components.
In many RF applications and measurements the role of the connector is very important.
In fact the good performance of a device or measurement instrument depends upon the
good performance of the connector [12].
The connector are classified in two groups GPC(General Precision Connector) and LPC
(Laboratory Precision connector). These differ for the type of dielectric used to support
the centre conductor. For GPC, a solid dielectric is used, commonly named bead
whereas LPC uses air.
The Type-N connector is included in both groups, precision and non-precision
connectors.
15
Connectors have two very important electrical characteristics, the characteristic
impedance and the maximum operating frequency (i.e. cut-off frequency).
For example, the type-N connector has 19.4 GHz as a theoretical upper frequency limit
[12].

2.10 Transmission-lines

Coaxial cables at high frequency become transmission lines. Transmission-lines can be
represented as two-port network, where voltages and current can vary in magnitude
and phase along its length. For a small section of transmission line, x , the lumped-
element circuit is shown in Fig. 2.14, where Ax x = only for this figure.

LAx
CAx
GAx
RAx
U1
U2
U3
U4

Fig. 2.14 Lumped-element circuit of a transmission line, x

, , , R L G C represent the resistance, inductance, conductance and capacitance per unit
length, x . The scattering-matrix of a transmission line can be model directly from its
electrical length, which is .l = , where is the intrinsic propagation constant. In the
lossless case reduces to j since, . j = + . Thus, (2.14) states the S-matrix of a
transmission-line [13].

.
.
0
0
i
i
l
li
l
e
S
e
(
=
(

(2.14)

2.11 Power dividers

Power dividers or splitters are passive components. They are used to divide an input power
into 2 or more output power. Each output is designed in such a way that they are isolated
each other.

The simplest case for a power divider is the T-junction, which has two outputs and one input.
The scattering matrix of a T-junction is given by

11 12 13
21 22 23
31 32 33
S S S
S S S S
S S S
(
(
=
(
(

(2.15)

If all the ports are matched, there are not reflection in any port, then 0
ii
S = .
For passive components, the S-matrix is reciprocal (i.e.
ij ji
S S = ) . Then, the S- matrix can be
reduced to

16

12 13
12 23
13 23
0
0
0
S S
S S S
S S
(
(
=
(
(

(2.16)

However, it is impossible to construct such a reciprocal, lossless device and match at all
ports power divider, as it was indicated in Pozar [14] and in chapter 4.

Chapter 3: Time domain and Reverse engineering
17
Chapter 3

Time domain and reverse engineering

As a first step of this thesis in order to understand the processes and performance of the time
domain option given by Agilent, reverse engineering is attempted. This chapter explains what
is commercially sold in the market and what functionalities the 010 option (Time domain) from
Agilent has. A set of programs, which simulates each of the functionalities of the option 010,
are described by the flow diagrams in appendix A.

The goal in this first task is to find which of the modes low-pass and band-pass is more
accurate to measure the antenna element inside the DUT. The second task is to test a second
method to compare with, for this purpose a specific technique of de-embedding that was
already utilised in a previous master thesis [15] was applied. This is a specific application of a
Thru-Reflect-Line (TRL) calibration [16] which will be described in chapter 4.

3.1 The TD option: Description

Fig. 3.1 represents the total functions included in the time domain option 010 from the
HP8753ES from Agilent. The 010 option adds extra utilities to the VNA to do time domain
analysis.

Fig. 3.1 Time domain transform with its different functionalities.

First of all, designing a time domain option with similar characteristics in the MATLAB
environment as the one used in the named VNA requires reverse engineering. Given the
complete VNA time domain option already designed according Fig. 3.1, the task is to find out
how accurately it represents the impedance of a given object (the antenna element) of interest
placed inside a specific system, e.g. the cascade of AEDT, cables, CBCs and antenna patch
elements.
The time domain option has two modes, low pass and band pass mode. Each of these has
window and gate options, likewise compensation and renormalization. These options are
designed according to Tables I and II.
Transform
Window:
Gating:
Low-pass
Band pass
Minimun
Normal
Maximum
Minimum
Wide
Normal
Maximum

Time domain option

18
For instance, in windowing there are three types of windows: minimum, normal and maximum
and these are defined through the parameter of a Kaiser window according to [2]. Beta
modifies the side-lobe level and main-lobe width [9]. When one chooses the window in the
VNA it is this parameter that is changed.

The gating process, or filtering in time domain, is designed according to the Kaiser window
filter design method described in [10]. It has four options: minimum, normal, wide and
maximum shape. As explained in chapter 2, gating is a process done in FD [11]. Gating, unlike
windowing, depends of two parameters, and the window length L . These are chosen
following formulas given in Appendix B.

3.2 Time domain: Transform modes

There are two modes in TD analysis, low-pass and band-pass mode. Low-pass mode resembles
time domain reflectometry (TDR) because the measurements can go down till DC and cover
the total span allowed by the VNA, which commonly is wider than an oscilloscope. This
increases the accuracy in the measurements but complicate in some way for the devices, as not
all devices can work at low frequencies without risk of breaking. The band-pass mode shows
the time domain measurements done in a specific frequency region of interest defined by the
user.

Time domain option in the VNA is made differently than the traditional TDR. Normal TDR
works as a traditional radar, sending a short signal (impulse) and measuring the reflections. The
transform is made taking data directly from the FD (S-parameters) and then using ICZT.

3.3 Test setup

Fig. 3.2 shows the first test setup used to acquire the S-parameters from the VNA using IEEE-
488 General Purpose Interface Bus (GPIB), to connect to the computer. The data is gathered
and processed in a PC running MATLAB 2007B.

Fig. 3.2 Test setup used to gather the S-parameters towards the PC.

A device under test (DUT) is measured and the error-corrected S-parameters are downloaded to
the computer for further processing. The maximum number of points of data which can be
downloaded from the VNA is 1601 and the directly plot of them in a computer will not show
good resolution in (time domain), contrary to the one shown by the VNA.

GPIB
DUT
19
The CZT-algorithm is used to transform the FD to TD response; a rescaling is added to
compute the inverse ICZT using the direct transform CZT. ICZT has the advantage over DFT
that it can represent the transformation with more points than the original data. This helps the
VNA to show the 1601 points in about 10000 points according to the span selected by the user.
Although this resolution is really not available it is a useful interpolation.

3.4 Design and methodology

Windowing

The reflection in the port 1 of the VNA (S11) of a cable ended with a short circuit is measured
with the total span (i.e. 30 kHz to 6 GHz) at 801 frequency points. This is gathered in a file and
transformed to time domain using ICZT. The data to time domain, the S11 must be windowed
to reduce leakage [2]. For windowing, a Kaiser-window is used. Table I shows the values of
side-lobe levels and chosen to obtain the same level as stated in the manual. The values of
are obtained from a table in [9] and modified empirically to obtain the same result as the
VNA.

The given specification for windowing, according manual are stated in Table I.

Table I. Window design [17]
Window
type
Side-lobe
level

Minimum -13 dB 0
Normal -44 dB 6
Maximum -75 dB 1
3

The Kaiser window is defined by (2.6), where the values of are replaced in the equation
according to Table I. The length is the same as the gathered frequency response data, 801,
M=N (cf. windowing ch.2). The Kaiser-window truncates the edges of the total sampled
response in a smooth way. The transform to time domain of the windowed S-parameters is
shown in Fig. 3.3 for low-pass and band-pass transform respectively using minimum window.
The blue colour shows the one downloaded directly from the VNA and the red shows the one
made by synthesis using the approximation of the Table I.

As there are two different modes in the TD transform, the window is applied differently as
well.

20
-5 0 5
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Band-pass transform with minimum window
Synthesis
VNA

-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
X: 0.1206
Y: -13.23
t(ns)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Low-pass transform with minimum window
Synthesis
VNA

Fig.3.3 Time domain response of a cable terminated with a SHORT. Minimum window Beta=0,
N=801. Total span6 GHz

a) Windowing in band-pass mode

The windowing process is performed differently in low-pass and band-pass mode. For band-
pass mode, the Kaiser-window has the same length as that of the measured frequency response,
M N = . In FD, windowing means multiplication of the Kaiser-window with the frequency
21
response. The time resolution, i.e. distance between two points in TD, for band-pass mode is
[18]

1 1
.
t
T f N
= =
(3.1)

where N is the length of the gathered data (e.g. 801 points) and 2 1 f f f = with f1 and f2
being the lower and upper frequency limits in the measurement respectively.

However even for band-pass is necessary to arrange the spectrum centered around f=0, the
frequency shift is
( )
2 1
2
c
f f
f
+
= .
Supposing that the rectangular window is applied to a frequency response of 5 points as shown
in Fig.3.4,

Fig. 3.4 Windowing in band-pass mode, the rectangular window is directly multiplied with the
data, M=N.

The window function of an arbitrary Kaiser window in band-pass mode is

0
( ) ( ) / W n k n M n n N = <

where ( ) k n are the Kaiser-Bessel coefficients in each sample point,
0
n is the start point and
M is the window length (i.e. 801 points). Take into account that the signal has been sampled
and digitized, from that the indices n in the last equation.
After the numerical transformation based in ICZT, the time domain response must be multiply
by the factor
2
c
j f t
e

to compensate the frequency shift,
c
f f [18].

b) Windowing in low-pass mode

Windowing in low-pass mode is not that straight as for band-pass mode. In fact, low-pass mode
resembles TDR, this means that it could measure down till DC (at least theoretically with some
extrapolation). Most VNAs for RF cannot measure at really low frequencies. The Agilent
8753ES allows measurements at lowest 30 kHz. Following the last example, the response must
be extrapolated and mirrored around DC as shown in Fig. 3.5.
f
f1 f2
( ) f

22

Fig.3.5 Windowing in a low pass mode, the pink magnitude is extrapolated and the data was
mirrored around DC before window is applied. M=2N

The extra point is added using the method of extrapolation. For linear phase responses the
amplitude of the point is the real number of the closest point, ( ) ( ) ( )
0 1 real = . But if the
phase between points varies, the method might get problems [18]. In this thesis, to avoid the
extrapolation problem, the first discrete sampled point is located at n=0, like this ( ) ( ) 0 1 =
and the negative frequency response is the complex conjugated of ( ) 2: end since its second
sample, and then mirrored.

One more requirement to take into account for low-pass mode is that the number of points must
be equally spaced through all the frequencies, at so called harmonic grid points defined by

2
1
f
f
n
= (3.2)

For instance, in the first measurements the total range of frequencies was taken from 30 kHz to
6 GHz with 801 points, the
1
6
7.49
801
GHz
f MHz = once the renormalize button is pushed. Fig.
3.5 shows the windowing in low-pass mode of 5 points, where they are mirrored and the pink
data is extrapolated to fulfil the TDR approximation. The 8753ES has a minimum working
frequency of 30 kHz; it means that DC must be extrapolated from the measurement. This
process has to be considered in chapter 5 as a possible error source due to non-periodicity of
the frequency response of the DUT.

The time step for low-pass mode is half of band-pass mode, using the same principle as (3.1)
[18].

1 1
.2
t
T f N
= =
(3.3)

3.5 Gating

The gating, or filtering in TD, can be represented as a rectangular window in TD. This
multiplies the time response in order to gate the signal and then the response will be
transformed to FD. To avoid doing redundant transformations and truncation effects all of this
process is done solely in FD but the representation in TD is needed in order to choose the
region of interest [11] ( 1 t and 2 t , see Fig. 2.6).

n
1 2 3 4 -4 -3 -2 1
( ) f

23
This rectangular window, defined by
1 2
, t t , is transformed analytically to FD and is there
windowed with the Kaiser-Bessel window defined by the parameters given in Table II.

The advantage, having a soft-design filter, is that it is possible to change the parameters which
define the filter thus extending the applications further than only comparison (i.e. better
windows, lower side-lobes, etc). Appendix B gives the complete design of the filters using
Kaiser windows, Table II helps in the design according to the manual [17]. Appendix A shows
the flow diagram of the process.

Table II Gate design [17]
Gate
Shape
Pass band
Ripple
Side-lobe
levels
Cut-off time
Minimum 0.10 dB -48 dB 1.4 /Freq Span
Normal 0.10 dB -68 dB 2.8 /Freq Span
Wide 0.10 dB -57 dB 4.4 /Freq Span
Maximum 0.10 dB -70 dB 12.7/Freq Span

The gating process or filter in TD, is a very useful tool in time domain applications because it
allows the removal of sections of the response that are irrelevant for the measurements. The
DUT, in general, needs connectors and cables to be measured. These added cables and
connectors may be gated away from the AEDT response using gating.

Gating effects

The time domain gating effects has been widely studied, [2], [19] and are referred to in [11].
The gating effects can be produced from the way the filter is located till the method the supplier
used to design the function and can yield considerable errors if they are not taken into account.

Edge effects

The convolution between the spectra of the gate and the gathered frequency response, gives
edge effects of about 6 dB of roll-off in one side for low-pass mode and in both sides in band-
pass mode to the final gated frequency response. This is produced by the circular convolution
[dig Signal book]. Fortunately there is a simple method to renormalize the final response. A
unitary frequency response, ( ) F w , is carried through the same convolution process. The
original final frequency response, ( ) ( )
G w , is divided by the gated unitary frequency
response, ( ) ( )
G F w and in this way compensated for the problem of the convolution [11]. This
is described by the equations

( ) 1 F w =
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) * G F w G w F w =

( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
comp
G w
G w
G F w
= (3.4)
The G in front of each response means gate in FD and ( ) * convolution.


24
This renormalization only works if the gate is located at the centre of the response being gated.
If not the response is going to be overcompensated as shown in Fig. 3.6 measured using low
pass mode.

If masking is presented, an extra renormalization must be done [11]. As this project does not
experience significant issues with high masking effect before a response is gated, this
renormalization is not considered any further. Although masking effects were considered and
the renormalization is propose in [17], it did not give any good compensation. The re-scaling is
done only in magnitude.

Fig.3.6 Consequences of offset in the gate location of three time gates in low pass mode.
Reprinted with permission from Agilent [2].

3.6 Experimental results

In this section, the results and the comparison of the time domain analysis are shown. The
intention of this study is to compare between time domain analysis done directly with the
Agilent 8753ES and the analysis done with the developed functions, according to Appendix A.
In order investigate the accuracy of the method the comparison is done step by step with each
option as stated in Fig. 3.1.

FD transform to TD: Band-pass mode
The band-pass mode transform option is measured directly using the setup shown in Fig. 3.2,
i.e. a coaxial cable with an ended short connection. The reflection, S11, is measured using
minimum, normal and maximum window. The number of points is 801 and the dB- scale is
compared. The same measurements were download from the VNA with 801 points and the
frequency range from 30 kHz to 6 GHz. To give the same apparent resolution to the plots the
ICZT is used in this way displaying the 801 points in about 10000 points. The windows are
applied before the frequency response (e.g. S11) is transformed.
25
The function bptprocess.m given in Appendix A is a function in charge to transform the S-
parameters stored in the computer to time domain using the CZT algorithm.

The comparison between the synthesized response and the one download directly from the
VNA are similar for minimum and normal windows as shown in Fig 3.7 a) and b).
-5 0 5
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Band-pass transform with minimum window
Synthesis
VNA

a)
-5 0 5
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
Band-pass transform with normal window
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Synthesis
VNA

b)

26
-5 0 5
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
Band-pass transform with Maximum window
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Synthesis
VNA

c)
Fig. 3.8 Time-domain transform of a coaxial connector and a female short in band-pass mode.
The comparison is done with the response after synthesis and the response directly from the
VNA. a) Minimum window 0 = . b) Normal window 6 = . c) Maximum window 13 = .

That is not the case with the Fig. 3.8 c) were the transform in the VNA shows non-steady
response at lower values of -70 dB. These differences could be due to the quantization error
made by the processor inside the VNA. Remember that the time-domain response is just an
approximation of the Table I where the design was done using the side-lobe level. The
amplitude re-scaling is done directly over the transformed response and it is done empirically
(i.e. by comparison).The Kaiser-window is formed with the values of given in Table I. For
band-pass mode the length of the window depends upon the length of the S-parameter, this case
801 points.

FD transform to TD: Low-pass mode
The low-pass mode, unlike to band-pass mode, needs to adjust the signal before it is processed.
The gathered data is mirrored and conjugated to fulfil the requirements and get the DC-point,
cf. Fig. 2.2.

The frequency response that is to be processed must follow

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
1)
2: 1, 2, 3,...,
LP
n N n n N
(
= =

(3.5)

where
1)
means mirror and complex conjugate of the ( ) n data.

The total length of the S-parameter before process, is 2* 1
LP
N N = , this is due to there is no
extrapolation applied to the response before the transform to TD. Windowing is carried out
using the same parameters as for band-pass mode but the length of the window depends on the
27
( )
( ) 2* 1 LP N
n
data. Fig. 3.9 shows the low-pass mode transform with minimum, normal and
maximum window. The apparent resolution is 2:1 compared with band-pass mode if (3.3) is
taken into account.
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
X: 0.1206
Y: -13.23
t(ns)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Low-pass transform with minimum window
Synthesis
VNA

a)
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
Low -pass transform with normal window
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Synthesis
VNA

b)


28
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
-100
-90
-80
-70
-60
-50
-40
-30
-20
-10
0
t(ns)
Low-pass transform with maximum window
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Synthesis
VNA

c)
Fig. 3.9 Time-domain transform of a coaxial connector and a female short in low-pass mode.
The comparison is done with the response after synthesis and the response directly from the
VNA. a) Minimum window 0 = . b) Normal window 6 = . c) Maximum window 13 = .

For maximum window the synthesis response is not quite similar to the VNA download data
with the same amount of points and high apparent resolution. This difference is considered in
section Uncertainties and sensitivity of the synthesis response in chapter 5.

Time domain gating

The gating is solely done in FD due to reasons explained in section 2.1. See the gate function
developed in Appendix A under the name gatef.m. The Fig. 3.10 shows the comparison
between the frequency response of a coaxial cable and a short termination with no-gated and
gated with minimum shape. It is measured from 1-2 GHz in band-pass mode. The gate starts at
1
7.472 t ns = and ends at
2
13.47 t ns = . Both responses were downloaded directly from the
VNA and no synthesis is applied yet.
In order to download data directly from the VNA a routine is done and it is explained in
appendix A as well under the name of readdata.m.

29

Fig. 3.10 Linear scale representation of S11 of a cable with a short end before and after is
gated. Minimum-shape. X axis with 801 points represents 1 GHz of bandwidth.
1
1.25
801
GHz
f MHz = .

Fig. 3.10 shows the frequency response of the terminal without the influences of other block of
components, e.g. connections, cable.

The synthesis for gating process is done directly applying the theory from Appendix B. Notice
that the total gating synthesis is done based on table II and the possibility of errors in the design
has influences in the process.

To design the gate function, two methods were implemented. The principle of gating a signal is
not more than filter it. If only one portion of the time domain response is needed, then filter
away the remaining. This process can be done either in time or frequency domain. In time
domain, gating is just the multiplication between the time response and the gate. In frequency
domain gating is the convolution between the original response and the spectra of the gate.

Fig. 3.11 shows the frequency response of a cable and a terminal gated by the VNA, in time
domain and in frequency domain. The roll off in both edges is evident, especially if the gate is
done in time domain. The first step is to decide in which domain it is convenient to apply the
gate function to avoid adding errors.

Reasons why gating is done solely in frequency domain:

The time domain response after transformed from S-parameter in frequency domain to the
time domain has about 10000 samples.

30
From Chapter 2, the gate is held using Kaiser window and in order to apply gate to a
response in TD, these must have the same length, M=N.
With more than 10000 points the gate must be transformed using CZT to frequency domain
into only 801 points and then back using ICZT to TD and spread to 10000 points again
before it is multiplied with the time response.
The gated response in TD must be transformed into frequency domain using CZT into 801
points.
There are many processes involved in the time gated response which is the cause of the
errors roll off, in both sides for band-pass mode.
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
time gated
gated VNA
freq gated

Fig. 3.10 dB-scale representation of S11 of a cable with a short end before and after it is gated.
Minimum shape. X axis with 801 points represents 1GHz of bandwidth.
1
1.25
801
GHz
f MHz = . Each n sample is f .

The gating in frequency domain simplifies the gate function to a linear convolution between the
original response and the spectra of the filter. The roll off, in both sides for band-pass and in the
right side for low pass mode, is due to the linear convolution process. For further details, see
[7]. The renormalization is done using the theory explained in section Edge effects and
(3.4).For the representation of the response in time domain it is important to define the starting
and ending points of the filter.
As all the process is done in MATLAB, talking about time in seconds is talking about samples
as well. The gate in time domain is in fact the rectangular window, see (2.7). As one objective
of the thesis is to have high performance comparable with the VNA, the function gatef.m has
inputs in nanoseconds and the gate has four shapes: minimum, normal, wide and maximum.
The transform of the rectangular window is done only analytically using (2.11). The spectra of
the gate has the same length as the original response, i.e. use (3.5) for low-pass mode.

31
At this point the sinc-function is windowed with a Kaiser window defined by the gate shape
utilizing Table II and appendix B for the design. The product of both windows if it is
transformed using ICZT to time domain should look like Fig. 2.7 and fulfil the side-lobe level
and cut-off time values from the mentioned table.

Fig. 3.11 a)-d) shows the gated frequency response made by synthesis and compares it with the
same gated response but from the VNA in both modes. The DUT is a long coaxial cable ended
with a 1:2 adapter and both outputs are loaded with 50 ohms. From a) till c) the plots are
comparable and, but there is a kind of overcompensation notorious in band-pass mode made by
the VNA. Such a detail will be explained briefly in Appendix C.

0 200 400 600 800
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
n
S
1
1
(
V
)

bpt
lpt
bpt(VNA)
lpt(VNA)

a)
0 200 400 600 800
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
n
S
1
1
(
V
)

bpt
bpt(VNA)
lpt
lpt(VNA)

b)

32
0 200 400 600 800
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
n
S
1
1
(
V
)

bpt
lpt
bpt(VNA)
lpt(VNA)

c)
0 200 400 600 800
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
n
S
1
1
(
V
)

bpt
lpt
bpt(VNA)
lpt(VNA)

d)
Fig. 3.11 Linear S11 gated in frequency domain with 801 points in low-pass mode. BW6
GHz. a) minimum shape, b) normal shape, c) wide shape, d) maximum shape.

Rather in Fig. 3.11 d) the gated frequency responses in both modes are quite similar. Notice
that masking and truncation errors are not considered in this section but they are going to be
considered in Chapter 5 as a part of uncertainties. The gate was located in the centre of the time
domain response to avoid overcompensation, cf. Fig. 3.6.
The time domain option from the Agilent 8753ES is a good option for fault location of
components in time domain. It also shows the impedance level as a function of distance. But
after the complete time-analysis is done and recognized the errors added due to many
renormalizations, the option is not considered to have good accuracy. De- embedding is the
next option to work with and this is developed in Chapter 4.
Chapter 4: De-embedding Process
33
Chapter 4

De-embedding Process

4.1 Introduction

The S-parameters represent the reflection and transmission coefficient of an arbitrary system.
A system conformed by many DUTs can be thought as cascade network and it may represented
by the scattering transfer parameters or T-parameters. Fig. 4.1 shows the equivalence to
measure a system with the total S-parameters and T-parameters.

Fig. 4.1 The black box formed by three DUTs as a cascade network.

Fig. 4.1 can be seemed as a cascade network where the total S parameter of the black box is the
multiplication of each sub-DUT T-parameter. Generalizing, the S-parameters of a black box,
formed from n number of DUTs, can be found using (4.1).

| |
1 2 3
* * *...*
DUT DUT DUT DUT DUTn
S S T T T T = (4.1)

The S-parameters are complex because both the amplitude and phase of the input signal are
changed by the network.

4.2 S-parameters and T parameters

The S-parameters defined by the incident and reflected waves at the two port network is the
primary measured quantity of the VNA, for a 2-port VNA, these are defined by

| |
11 12
21 22
S S
S
S S
(
=
(

(4.2)

These are dependent of frequency and to guarantee maximum power transmission they must be
measured using a matched termination according to the equations in (4.3). For instance, to
measure
11
S the output port 2 must be terminated with the characteristic impedance of the
system,
0
50 Z = , that is to say the incident power wave at port 2 is zero,
2
0 a = . The S-
parameters for a linear system are represented as follows
DUT 1 DUT 2 DUT 3
Port 1 Port 2

34

2
2
1
1
1
11
1
0
2
21
1
0
2
22
2
0
1
12
2
0
a
a
a
a
b
S
a
b
S
a
b
S
a
b
S
a
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
(4.3)

Fig. 4.2 a) shows the relationship of the incident and reflected power in each port while the Fig.
4.2 b) shows the network representation of the S-parameters for a 2-port VNA.

a)

b)

Fig.4.2 S-parameters of 2 port network.

Transmission parameters, or commonly named T-parameters are closely related to the S-
parameters. The advantage of the T-parameters is that they are used to determine the effect of
cascading networks. The conversions from S to T-parameters and reverse are given in (4.4) and
(4.5) respectively; according to definition described in [13].
From S to T:
S11 S22
S21
b1
b2
a2
S12
a1
Two-port
network
Port1 Port2
a1(x)
b1(x)
a2(x)
b2(x)
35

( )
11
21
11
12
21
22
21
21
22
21
det
1
S
T
S
S
T
S
S
T
S
T
S
=
=
=
=
(4.4)
From T to S:

( )
12
11
22
12
22
21
22
21
22
22
det
1
T
S
T
T
S
T
S
T
T
S
T
=
=
=
=
(4.5)
4.3 TRL Method and De-embedding

The S-parameter of the AEDT can not be measured directly with a 2-port network analyzer. It
needs extra adapters and cables that being reciprocals and linear should be easy to remove with
the help of de-embedding.
The Fig. 4.3 shows how the S-parameters of one branch of the AEDT are measured with the 2-
port VNA 8753ES from Agilent.

Fig. 4.3 Measurement setup of the AEDT using HP8753ES from Agilent.
Port2
Port1
Zo
Zo
Zo
Zo
36
Added N connectors and (f)-(f) adapters are needed to measure the S-parameters. Cables are
indeed added as transmission lines.
The conclusion of the chapter 3 led to look for another method which implies more accuracy in
the measurements and does not add error itself.
The transmission lines, adapters and connectors are extra components, which by principle add
phase and modify the amplitude creating a wrong representation of the DUT response.
The task of this chapter is to improve the measurements of the AEDT S-parameter, so indeed
the remaining blocks (cf. 3.7) must be de-embedded.
To measure an AEDT (i.e. splitter 1:5 with able to modify electrically) with 2-port network
analyzer; the remaining ports must be matched with a load the closest to the characteristic
impedance of the AEDT, i.e. 50 ohms.
The (f)-(f) adapters, which connect the AEDT to the load, must be de-embedded as well
because if there exists mismatch in the auxiliary ports, the measurement will not be a good
representation of the AEDT. That is why special attention must be taken in every element into
the system [20].

Task
The task of this chapter is to implement an algorithm which is able to measure the AEDT S-
parameter, despite there are blocks which interfere in the measurements. This algorithm must
model the error network and then subtract it from the total measurement.
The model of each network error is found using an algorithm previously developed by [15].
The algorithm uses TRL (through-reflect-line) method and is used commonly in de-embedding
applications [16].
The Fig. 4.3 can be represented with wave cascading matrix (WCM), or a serial of T matrix
representation of each element.
The equation (4.1) becomes (4.6) for the measurement setup described in Fig. 4.3.

| |
1 1 1 * 2 2 c 2
* * * * *
DUT N connector TL CBC AEDT CBC TL N conne tor
S S T T T T T T T

= (4.6)

4.4 CBC de-embedding algorithm

The CBC or cable-board-cable adapter is a component of vital importance in the
measurement process and can not be measure directly.
The total S-parameters of the Fig. 4.3 are measured using as before 801 points in low-pass
and band-pass mode. It is expected that low-pass mode gives better resolution, cf. (3.3).
In order to measured the CBC S-parameters the cable and the N connector must be de-
embedded first.
a) Coaxial cable and N-connector: De-embedding

As it was stated before, to measure the S-parameters from a C-B-C with 2-port VNA, the use of
cable and N-connectors are needed. Then, the first issue is to model the coaxial cable and the
N-connector using the algorithm developed in [15]. Thus, they can be removed from the
measurement once they are characterized.
The Fig. 4.4 can be seen as a WCM of the two N-connectors and the cable and it is represented
by (4.7).

1 1 1 2
. .
c L c
T T R T = (4.7)
37

Fig.4.4 WCM representation of the error block: N-connector and transmission line.

The S-parameters of a coaxial cable are transformed from (2.15) using (4.4) to T-parameters.
The WCM representation of the transmission line is stated in (4.7), where is the propagation
constant and
i
L is the line length.

0
0
i
i
L
L
L
e
R
e
(
=
(

(4.8)
As stated in [15], to perform the measurements, two setups are needed. The first one, the
connector-cable-connector with line-length
1
L and the second with line-length equal to
2 1
L L L = + . A third setup is needed for the N-connector measurements, and this must be
totally reflected, see Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.5 Cables with two line length and one without transmission line, for LRL de-embedding
algorithm.
The L must be chosen carefully, this algorithm is applicable only if
4
L

= and not
2
L

= .
L1
Tc1 Tc2
L2
Tc1 Tc2
L
Tc1 Tc2
38
For UMTS, the band 4 is chosen, f=1.7 GHz to 2.2 GHz, then the line length must fulfil the
equations in (4.9).

1.7
2
2.2
2
4
4
GHz
GHz
L L
L L
= +
= +
(4.9)

From (4.9) the allowed values are 3.09 L cm = and 2.38 L cm = for 1.7 GHz and 2.2 GHz
respectively. To avoid wrong measurements the 4.77 L cm < and 6.17 L cm < , which
represent the
2
in those frequencies.
The measurements were done using L1=4.78 cm. and L2=8.50 cm. and the N-connector total in
reflection: open.
If the WCM of each component is represented by R, the equation (4.6) may be represented by
the equations (4.10) and (4.11) for each setup, mi.

1 1 1 2
. .
m C L C
R R R R = (4.10)

2 1 2 2
. .
m C L C
R R R R = (4.11)

After this algorithm was done, the model of the N-connector and the coaxial cable can be de-
embedded using cascading matrices.
The S-parameters for both, the N-connector and cable can be represented by (2.14) as a
transmission line.
From measurements, the
1 C
S and
2 C
S do not show reciprocity, e.g.
1 2
11 11
C C
S S .
The de-embedding is also applied to the Fig. 4.6, where the aim is to find the CBC S-
parameters. This is using the same algorithm, LRL.

Fig. 4.7 Board with two CBC soldered in the micro-strip.

The de-embedded reflection response of the CBC is shown in Fig. 4.8.
CBC1 CBC2
39
1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400
-25
-24
-23
-22
-21
-20
-19
X: 1703
Y: -21.73
X: 2198
Y: -19.87
X: 2198
Y: -19.91
X: 1703
Y: -22.15
f(MHz)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Real S11 of CBC

Fig. 4.8 S11(dB) of a 2 CBC connectors using de-embedding algorithm. Frequency range of
interest (1.7 GHz to 2.2 GHz).

The CBC model was developed previously by Powerwave Technologies with a series of
equations, which describes the CBC behaviour in a specific region. For the frequency of
interest, 1.7 GHz to 2.2 GHz, the S11 is shown in Fig. 4.9.
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 2.3
x 10
9
-25.5
-25
-24.5
-24
-23.5
-23
-22.5
-22
-21.5
-21
X: 1.7e+009
Y: -24.29
f(Hz)
S
1
1
(
d
B
)
Ideal S11 of CBC
X: 2.2e+009
Y: -21.98

Fig. 4.9 Ideal representation of CBC connector modelled in ADS, using previous model [23].
Chapter 5: Uncertainties and Sensitivity
40
Chapter 5

Uncertainties and sensitivity of the synthesis response

The uncertainty is related to the level of confidence in a measurement system. In order to
quantify the uncertainties of any process, all the factors that could have influence in the result
must be taken into account. There are many factors that can influence in the real measurements
of a system. For instance, when the frequency response of a filter is measured using an RF
equipment; the uncertainties in the equipment, the systematic errors, the resolution of the
electronics inside the equipment, the sensitivity and environmental effects will influence the final
measurement accuracy.
Being awarded of the source of uncertainties in the VNA, it will give more reliable results. In
fact, for the time domain analysis and de-embedding methods developed in Chapter 3 and 4
respectively, the uncertainties are not defined until all the processes are known in detail.
An important issue that it is aimed in this chapter is to find out if the measurements show the true
value or only an approximation of a measurement system.
For the evaluation of the uncertainty, the systematic errors, is used in this chapter. A further
statistical analysis goes beyond the matter of this thesis but it can be referenced to [21] for
further information.

5.1 Uncertainties due to mismatching

Harris and Warner in [22] describe the mismatch effects using the U-shape the probability
distribution.
The expression to find the standard uncertainty for U-shape distribution is defined in (5.1).

( )
2
i
i
a
u x = (5.1)
To translate the uncertainty in length units, the sensitivity coefficient is needed.
The sensitivity describes how sensitive the result changes to a particular influence and it is
described by the partial derivative of the desired variable to be analyzed, f, in function of the
input
i
X , this is set according (5.2).

i
f
Sensitivity
X
(5.2)
At RF and microwave frequencies the mismatch of components is one of the most important
source of errors, because the phases of the reflection are unknown and can not be corrected
easily [21].
For a circuit shown in Fig. 5.1, the input reflection depends directly from the load reflection.

12 21
11
22
1
L
in
L
S S
S
S
= +

(5.3)

If there is not mismatch at port 2, 0
L
= and
11 in
S = (ideal case).
The motive of this thesis is to show the sensitivity of the antenna network implemented with
both methods: time domain analysis and de-embedding.
The multi-patch antenna acts as the load in (5.3) and a little reflection will modify significantly
the input reflections.
The sensitivity of the mentioned system, i.e. AEDT and antenna, can be found using (5.4) based
on (5.2).
41

( )
21 12
2
22
1
in
L
L
S S
Sensitivity
S
= =

(5.4)

Fig. 5.1 Block diagram of a 2-port network: source and load. The
in
represents the input
reflection and
L
the load reflection.

The time domain analysis requires gating to filter the influences of undesired components in the
final measurement. The equation (5.5) evaluates the sensitivity of the gated response when the
reflections is being measured, (5.3) becomes (5.5) when it is gated.
To gate a frequency response, this must be convolved with the spectrum of the windowed gate,
KW, see (2.9).
*
gated in
KW = (5.5)

Replacing (5.3) in (5.5)

( )
21 12
11
22
*
1
L
gated
L
S S
KW S
S
| |
= +
|
|

\ .
(5.6)

The sensitivity of the gated input reflection is stated in (5.7)

( ) *
*
gated in in
L L L
KW
KW

= =

(5.7)

( )
21 12
2
22
*
1
gated
L
L
S S
KW
S
| |
= |
|

\ .
(5.8)

The sensitivity input reflection shown in (5.4) must be normalized due the random measurement
errors. The new sensitivity depends of the parameters of the instrument, L
N.

( ) ( ) ( ) 20log 20log 20log( / )
N
L KTB NF dB SF BIF Hz = + + + (5.9)
where,
NF : Noise figure of the instrument.
BIF: IF bandwidth.
SF: Shape factor.
in

L

[S]
42
Thus, the equation (5.4) might be modified to (5.10), which depends of the random measurement
errors.

2 2 1
in in
L L
N
in in
in
sensitivity
L
SNR P

= =
+ +
(5.10)

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6

Load
Gated Load

Fig. 5.2 Sensitivity of the gated load.

The sensitivity of the measurement system used in this thesis depends of multiple variables,
which have influences in the graphs shown in the chapter 3 in time domain analysis.

The gating that generally reduces the measured reflection allows the operator to increase the
screen sensitivity to the point where either the trace goes outside the range or the fluctuating
noise makes any further expansion of the scale pointless. Measurement at an expanded scale is
perceived as an increased sensitivity, but that is a matter having to do with screen and eye
resolution. In the non-gated measurement a mathematical treatment of the trace data amplifying
the changes experienced upon material changes could work as nice.
Also it is noticed that this expression did not show that sensitivity was necessarily larger in the
gated case, however the screen effect is real.

43
Chapter 6
Conclusions

The time domain option 010 from Agilent VNA 8753ES was emulated using reverse
engineering.
Reverse engineering is used to understand, emulate and, as future work, improve the different
functions given in the mentioned option.
The emulated time domain option shows good comparison with the time domain option from
Agilent.
A series of compensation is done in order to approximate the most to the studied VNA. These
compensations are source of errors and will have influences in the final screen shoot.
The windowing process is carried out using Kaiser window to mitigate the truncation
influence. The Kaiser Bessel properties are modified empirically to reach the established by
theory.
The limited number of samples gathered from the VNA (i.e. 1601) is a source of uncertainty
and must be normalized before is processed.
The gating function is designed using Kaiser-Bessel window to taper the Fourier transform of
the gate and in order to mitigate the Gibbs phenomenon and control the level of side-lobes.
This method named filter using windows is chosen for the easy design and the good
performance in this application. Unfortunately gating process has two important
disadvantages, which are the compensation method used to relieve the convolution. These are
the masking effects and the edge effects.
The edge effects have big influences on the response and might be solved with the wise
decision of the measurement-test engineer. There are edge effects when the gate is located
asymmetrically on the wished time domain response.

There exists different compensation for both modes transform in time domain analysis. For
band-pass mode the overcompensation is in both band edges and for low-pass mode it is in
the upper limit. If the operator chooses to use a wider band than the region of interest he may
discard the errors in the band edges. But the interested region might have influenced by this
overcompensation, so especial care must be taken.

Masking effects are not into consideration on this thesis. The results show no compensation
errors, but it exist still doubt if those solutions are included in the 010 option since there were
some remaining deviation between the synthetic result and the output of the VNA. This
compensation is not reached in the present thesis and may be taken into account as future
work.

A sensitivity metric was developed as a derivative augmented by an ad hoc addition of the
noise floor to the denominator.
The input reflection measurements depend strongly of the output impedance. The sensitivity
of the measurement process even in the gated case depends still on the load reflection.

The de-embedding algorithm is proposed as a second method for de-embedding purposes. It is
implemented using LRL method for finding by steps (2 by 2) the S-parameter of each
component.
N-connectors are not reciprocal and must be modelled separately for each system. There
exists high relationship with the quality of the connector.
44
CBC connector is an important element into a microwave system. It is made a comparison
between the model and the de-embedded response of the CBC and the difference is about 2
dB.
Coaxial cables were modelled using the L-R-L algorithm, its S-parameters depend of the line-
length and the propagations constant. As a transmission line, it is frequency dependent.
The de-embedding is a more cost-time process because each element of the system must be modelled
and with the help of T-parameter, subtracted from the system. In this case there are more probabilities
to commit systematic errors.

Gating a frequency response will give higher uncertainty values, making the time domain analysis a
method, even if easy to use, not very accurate. The MATLAB routines developed in this work may
help the operator to analyse at what load reflection (impedance) the visual result is showing perfect
match. The problem is not so much that the time domain method is associated with error, rather the
problem is our ability/inability to describe those errors. The findings of this thesis are at least a partial
success in this direction although some deviations remains and some inconsistencies in the result of
the network analyzer could be found.

45
References

[1] C. Balanis, Antenna Theory: Analysis and design, John Wiley & sons, 2005.
[2] Time-Domain Analysis using a network analyzer, Agilent Technologies Inc., Santa Rosa, CA.,
Applicat. Note 1287-12 , 2007.
[3] Sharrit, D, Vector network analyzer with integral processor, US Patent No.4, 703,433.
[4] J. Dunsmore, Time domain network analyzer measurements, presented at the ARFTG
Microwave measurement Symp., Portland, OR, 9-12 Dec. 2008.
[5] Time domain for vector network analyzers, Anritsu, Morgan Hill, Applicat. Note 11410, 2003.
[6] Time domain Measurements using Vector network analyzer ZVR, Rohde & Schwarz, Applicat.
Note 1EZ44_0E, May 1998.
[7] S. Smith, The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing, for more information
visit the book's website at: www.DSPguide.com"
[8] L. Rabiner et al., The Chirp z-Transform Algorithm, IEEE Trans. Audio and Electro acoustics,
vol. 17, pp. 86 92, 1969.
[9] F. J. Harris, On the use of windows for harmonics analysis with the discrete Fourier transform,
in Proc. of the IEEE, vol. 66, pp. 51-83, Jan. 1978.
[10] A. Oppenheim and R. Schafer, Discrete-Time Signal Processing, Prentice Hall, 1999, ch. 7.
[11] J. Dunsmore, Gating Effects in time domain transforms, in ARFTG Microwave measurement
Symp., Portland, OR, 9-12 Dec. 2008.
[12] N. Ridler, Connectors, air lines and impedances, in The 14
th
IEEE Microwave measurements
training course, 9-13 May 2005
[13] G. Gonzalez, Microwave transistor amplifiers: Analysis and design, Prentice Hall, 1997.
[14] D. Pozar, Microwave Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
[15] B. El-Banna, Passive inter-modulation from printed circuit boards, Master thesis, Royal
Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 2006.
[16] C. Hoer, G. Engen, Calibrating a dual six-port or four-port for measuring two-ports with any
connectors, Microwave Symp. Digest, MTT-S International, 1986.
[17] Users Guide: Agilent technologies 8753ES Network analyzers, Printed in USA, 2002.
[18] M. Heibel, Fundamental of vector network analysis, Rohde & Schwarz, 2005, ch.5.
[19] K. Lu, T. Brazil, A systematic error analysis of HP8510 time-domain gating techniques with
experimental verification, Microwave Symp. Digest, IEEE MTT-S International, 1993.
[20] J. Collier and A. Douglas, Microwave measurements, Athenaeum Press, 1985, ch. 11.
[21] J. Hurll, Uncertainty and confidence in measurements, in The 14
th
IEEE Microwave
measurements training course, 9-13 May 2005.
[22] I. Harris, F. Warner, Re-examination of mismatch uncertainty when measuring microwave
power and attenuation, Microwaves, Optics and antennas, IEE Proceedings, 1981, pp.35-41.
[23] Cable-board-cable connector: mathematical model, developed by Powerwave technologies,
2009.
[24] D. Slepian et al., Prolate spheroidal wave functions, Fourier analysis and uncertainty, Parts I
and II, Bell System Technical Journal, Vol. 40, No 1, pp.43-84, Jan.1961.

Appendix A
46

Appendix A

Matlab functions: Flow Diagrams.

In an effort to understand the functions explained in previous chapters, a flow chart for each
function is explained in this appendix for the next tasks.

1. Time domain transform: band-pass mode.
2. Time domain transform: low-pass mode.
3. Time domain analysis: Filter in time domain, Gating
4. Read data from VNA
5. Wave cascading matrix

1. Time domain transform: Band-pass mode

Fig. A.1 shows the flow chart of the band-pass mode transform function developed in Matlab
2007. This function downloads data directly from the VNA using dlls in charge to work as an
interface between the PC and the VNA8753ES.
The input is defined by task and it is defined by the user. It can measure the all S-parameters,
i.e. S11, S12, S21 and S22. The frequency and the number of points are gathered from the
calibrated VNA. The ud value is for default equal to zero but it is going to change according
the number of downloads are performed.
The user also defines the kind of window applied to the downloaded data, there are three
options: minimum, normal and maximum.

The mult value can vary according the apparent resolution the user wants to get when the S-
parameter is represented in time-domain. This is for default equal to 12 to get about 10000
points, good enough apparent resolution to be compared with the VNA downloaded data.

The function bptprocess.m plots the time domain response when band-pass mode is applied
giving enough resolution to be compared with the VNA. The window and the resolution are
defined by the user.
Appendix A
47
START
INPUT
ud=0
task
wkind
mult=12
freq= f2-f1
n= length(task)
dat11=get(task)
redata=even(dat11)
imdata=odd(dat11)
s_par=redata+j*imag
OUTPUT
freq
n
dat11
redata
imdata
wg
STOP
w=kaiser(beta,n)
wsfun=w*s_par
wg=iczt(wsfun)
If
wkind=min
beta=0
If
wkind=nor
False
beta=6
If
wkind=max beta=13
True
True
True
False
False
ERROR
Specify kind of
window
False

Fig. A.1 Flow chart for band-pass mode transform. Script in Matlab bptprocess.m.
Appendix A
48

2. Time domain transform: Low-pass mode

The lptprocess.m is a function which plots the time domain representation of the task data.
It downloads task from the VNA and window it with the option given by the user. The
frequency and number of points are downloaded as well. The frequency response data must be
processed before is transformed to time domain in order to fulfil the low-pass mode
requirements, i.e. mirror and complex conjugate of the response.

It was taken special care with the starting frequency given by (3.2) to plot the response with
renormalized frequencies. The window is also defined by beta and the length of the frequency
response and then transformed to time domain. Fig. A.2 shows the flow chart of the
lptprocess.m programmed in Matlab 2007.

3. Time domain analysis: Filter in TD, gating

The gatef.m function plots the frequency response of a determined component. It is different
for every mode and uses Kaiser window to design the filter. The shapes, the task, and the mode
are defined by the user. Note that the whole process is carried out only in FD. The Kaiser
window depends entirely from the A and
r
T values, and these are defined in Table II. Fig. A.3
shows the flow chart of the gatef.m function.

4: Read data from VNA

The readata.m function reads the frequency response, S-parameters, from the VNA. It can
download data from FD or TD, with the scales stated by the screen of the VNA with the
number of points is represented in the instrument. The user can elect between linear or
logarithm format.
Appendix A
49
START
INPUT
ud=0
task
mult=12
wkind
freq= f2-f1
dat11=get(task)
n= length(task)
redata=even(dat11)
imdata=odd(dat11)
s_par=redata+j*imag
fstart=f2/n
Harmonize Frequencies(s_par)
s_par1=[mirror(s_par*) s_par]
freq1=f2-fstart
OUTPUT
freq
freq1
n
s_par
s_par1
wg
wsfun
STOP
w=kaiser(beta,n)
wsfun=w*s_par1
wg=iczt(wsfun)
If
wkind=min
beta=0
If
wkind=nor beta=6
If
wkind=max beta=13
True
True
True
False
False
ERROR
Specified kind
of window
False

Fig. A.2 Flow chart for low-pass mode transform. Script in Matlab lptprocess.m.
Appendix A
50
START
INPUT
s_par
t1,t2
gshape
mode
OUTPUT
div
Band-pass
mode
fspan=f2-f1
IF
mode=LPT
Low-pass mode
fspan=2*(f2-f1)
True
False
g=2*wide*sinc(2*fspan)*exp(j*2*p*gc*fspan)
wide=(t2-t1)/2
gc=(t2+t1)/2
If
gshape=min
A=48
Tr=1.4/fspan
If
gshape=nor
A=68
Tr=2.8/fspan
If
gshape=wide
A=57
Tr=4.4/fspan
True
True
True
False
False
ERROR
Specified
gate shape
False
A=70
Tr=12.7/fspan
Empty
If
A<50 & A>21
beta=0.58*(A-21)^0.4+
0.079*(A-21)
beta=0.11*(A-8.7)
True
False
leng=(A-7.95)/(14.35*2*Tr)+1
k=kaiser(leng,beta)
kg=k*g
con=conv(s_par,kg)
div=compensate(con)
STOP

Fig. A.3 Flow chart for gating process in FD. Script in Matlab gatef.m.

Appendix A
51
4. Wave Cascading matrices

The wave cascading matrix (WCM) algorithm is defined in the function portmulti.m. This
function converts the two S-parameter matrices to T-parameter and treats them as WCM, thus
easing the analysis. This method is mentioned as an alternative to TD gating.
Fig. A.4 is the flow chart of this function.

START
STOP
INPUT
Sx,Sy
OUTPUT
S
Tx=s2t(Sx)
Ty=s2t(Sy)
T=Tx*Ty
S=t2s(T)

Fig. A.4 Flow chart for the wave cascading matrix algorithm for only two components.
Appendix A
52
START
STOP
Introduce
Task
Introduce
Format
Plot(Y)
Y=getdata(task)

Fig. A.5 Flow chart for reading data directly from the VNA, with defined format.

Appendix B
53
Appendix B

Design of FIR filter by windowing [10]

The simplest method of FIR filter design is the window method. This method uses windows to
truncate the time response. The desired time domain response is represented by

| |
| |
1 2
0
d
h n t n t
h n
otherwise
< <
=

(B.1)

where | |
d
h n is the desired response and t1 and t2 are the limits of the time response, start and
stop in gating.
In general, | |
h n can be represented using windows as follows

| | | | | | .
d
h n h n w n = (B.2)

where | |
w n is the rectangular window defined in (2.5) and it is modified slightly here (i.e. no-
normalization in amplitude).

| |
1 2
1
0
t n t
w n
otherwise
< <
=

(B.3)

Then by the modulation or window theorem

( ) ( )
( )
( )
1
2
j w jw j
d
H e H e W e d
=

(B.4)

The
( )
jw
H e response is a linear convolution of the frequency response with the Fourier
transform of the window.

Thus,
( )
jw
H e is a smoothed version of the original frequency response.
( ) ( )
jw j
d
H e H e

= if
| |
1 w n = for 0,..., n M = , where M is the length of the desired response in time domain. This
suggests that the window must be highly concentrated in frequency around 0 w = .
To reduce the Gibbs effects inherent of rectangular window, the window is tapered smoothly to
zero at the edges.

The Kaiser window is recommended by [9] because of the highly concentrated energy around
w=0 and the easy control of the side-lobe level and main lobe width. The Kaiser window was
defined in (2.7).

The side-lobes level of the Table II defines the value of A. By defining the value of A, the beta
value is found using

Appendix B
54

0.4
0 21
0.5842( 21) 0.07886( 21) 21 50
0.1102( 8.7) 50
A
A A A
A A
= + < <
>
(B.5)

The normalized window length, D, is defined in (B.6)

0.922 21
7.95
21
14.36
A
D
A
A

=

>
(B.6)

and the length of the Kaiser window is 1
w
M + , where M is described by (B.7)

s
w
r
D
M
T
= (B.7)

and
r
T is the cut-off time depicted in Table II.
s
is the sampling time / n fspan.The Kaiser
window must have the same length as the Fourier transform of the filter, so if it is needed the
Kaiser window must have to be extended using zeros, to reach M.

Appendix C
55
Appendix C

Overcompensation in truncated responses

This appendix explains briefly some measurements done in FD using a short and open terminal
in the VNA calibrated full-2-port.

The short and open terminals are from the calibration kits so it is expected to have the same
response for almost all the frequencies. Fig. C.1 shows the S11 of a short and open terminal,
measured from 30 kHz to 6 GHz. Both have been gated at the second side-lobe with minimum
shape. It shows the differences in compensation due to the mode which was measured. For
short terminal, the amplitude in linear scale goes over one at the edges, while for open terminal
it varies with the frequency as was expected due to the capacitor behaviour at high frequencies.
It exist overcompensation in band-pass mode. This could explain the overcompensation at both
edges in band-pass mode in Fig. 3.11.

0 200 400 600 800 1000
0.985
0.99
0.995
1
1.005
S11 with a long cable ended in short and open circuit in BPM
Short circuit
Open circuit

Fig. C.1 Band-pass mode (30kHz-6GHz), no adapters and no cables. Gated at second side-lobe
and minimum gate shape.

Fig. C.2 shows the S11 of a short and open terminal. The frequency range is from 1-2 GHz.
There is more notorious overcompensation at the left edge.
Appendix C
56
0 200 400 600 800 1000
0.999
1
1.001
1.002
1.003
1.004
1.005
1.006
1.007
S11 with a long cable ended in short and open circuit in BPM
SC minshap
OC
SC norshap
SC widshap
SC maxshap

Fig.C.2 Band-pass mode (1-2GHz), no adapters and no cable more than it was calibrated.
Gated at second side-lobe with different gate shapes.

Fig. C.3 shows the S11 of an open and short terminal gated in low-pass mode. In low-pass
mode the overcompensation is notorious at the right edge, which is the one is truncated. This
could explain the difference between the frequency response download from the VNA and the
one done by synthesis, see Fig. 3.11. From figures C.1 till C.3, the error is about 5%.
0 200 400 600 800 1000
0.996
0.997
0.998
0.999
1
1.001
1.002
1.003
1.004
1.005
S11 with a long cable ended in short and open circuit in LPM
SC minshap
OC minshap

Fig.C.3 Low-pass mode (30 kHz-6GHz), no adapters and no cable more than it was calibrated.
Gated at second side-lobe with minimum gate shape.

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Antenna Elements Matching

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