Determination of the Complex Residual Error Parameters of a Calibrated One-Port Vector Network Analyzer

Abstract

A novel approach for the determination of the complex residual error parameters of a calibrated one-port vector network analyzer (VNA) is proposed. The method is based on a single-reflection measurement employing a high-precision airline terminated by a short. The complex-valued residual directivity and source match are extracted over the entire measured frequency range by applying a sophisticated data analysis scheme utilizing low-pass filtering and linear prediction. By including an additional reflection measurement of the utilized short, the method allows the residual reflection tracking to be evaluated. Based on numerical simulations, advisable settings of method parameters are determined. In addition to the verification of the VNA calibration, the complex residual error parameters can be used for a second-order correction of the measured data. The significant enhancement of accuracy, which can be achieved this way, is demonstrated for standard calibrations by comparing the second-order corrected reflection data with results obtained from the well-established cross-ratio (quarter-wave) method.