Sensitivity analysis of a single-port vector reflectometer with a wideband phase-shifter

Abstract

Sensitivity analysis is presented for wideband single-port vector reflectometers designed based on a noncoherent detection scheme. Simulations are performed to obtain the sensitivity of the systems to noise associated with the measured standing-wave voltage. The effect of insertion loss in phase-shifter, total phase shift and error in detector characterization on the accuracy of measuring the reflection coefficient of a device under test (DUT) is investigated. Results of this analysis are validated using measurements performed by custom-designed single-port reflectometer systems at X-band (8.2 -12.4 GHz) and Ka-band (26.5 -40 GHz).