We develop a covariance-matrix-based uncertainty analysis for vector-network-analyzer scattering-parameter measurements. The covariance matrix captures all of the measurement uncertainties and statistical correlations between them. This allows the uncertainties of vector-network-analyzer scattering-parameter measurements to be propagated into the uncertainties of other quantities derived from s...

Scattering parameters (S-parameters) were first mentioned in articles and textbooks in the 1950s and 1960s by Matthews, Collins and Kurokawa and popularized by the release of Hewlett Packard’s first network analyzers in the 1960s. Since then, S-parameters have been used to describe the complex characteristics of a network by quantifying the RF power flowing between its ports. S-parameters are e...

A new, seven-state switched perturbation twoport (PTP) for vector reflection measurement based on scalar measurement only was designed and realized in microstrip structure using PIN diodes. The structure was experimentally tested by means of vector measurements of different impedances in frequency band with relative bandwidth of 2.5 octaves. Good agreement with data obtained using a precise vec...

We present an iterative algorithm for calibrating vector network analyzers based on orthogonal distance regression. The algorithm features a robust, yet efficient, search algorithm, an error analysis that includes both random and systematic errors, a full covariance matrix relating calibration and measurement errors, 95% coverage factors, and an easy-to-use user interface that supports a wide v...