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Hello.

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My name is Chris Benki,
an Offering Manager

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with the Aerospace and
Defense Business Unit at NI.

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Phased arrays are becoming
an important RF architecture

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and aerospace and defense
applications such as radar

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and satellite communications.

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The components and modules used
to build these electronically

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scanned arrays require unique
and stringent RF measurements

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to ensure their functionality.

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As such, NI is recently released
the electronically scanned

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array characterization reference
architecture or ESA reference

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architecture for short,
which includes all of the IP

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necessary to perform
these measurements.

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In this demonstration,
we will show you

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how to perform
custom S-parameters

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using the NI vector signal
transceiver or VST for short.

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S-parameters are a
fundamental vector measurement

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performed on RF components
such as power amplifiers

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and transmit receive modules.

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This measurement includes
phase information

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and gain information to ensure
that the module is performing

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correctly.

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The pulsed RF
measurement library

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included within the ESA
reference architecture

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includes the ability to
perform custom S-parameters

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using the BST.

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These custom S-parameters
separate the reflectometry

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through the couplers from the
instrument itself allowing

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for several topologies.

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These topologies
can be optimized

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for things such as cost,
test time, and performance

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of the measurement itself.

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Here we see three topology
supported within the pulsed RF

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measurement library, ranging
from cost on the left to high

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performance on the right.

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In this demonstration, we
will use the middle topology,

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which uses a single VST and dual
couplers on each measurement

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port.

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The advantage of doing custom
S-parameters using the VST

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comes three-fold.

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The first is that
you can perform

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flexible S-parameter
measurements using

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the same stimulus and setup
as your typical large signal

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analysis.

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The second advantage is that
by combining these parameters

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with other parametric tests,
it simplifies the integration

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in the overall test plan.

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As such, the third advantage
is a reduced overall cost

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of tests and a reduction in
test time allowing you to get

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the results you need faster.

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In this particular
demonstration,

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we'll perform S-parameters
on a typical X-band transmit

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receive module used
in radar applications.

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This transmit receive
module is typically

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interfaced with a radiating
antenna on one port

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and a signal distribution
device such as a one to four

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beamformer on the other.

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As such, the setup
for this device

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will use this beamformer to
provide three functionalities.

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The first is an
amplified RF stimulus

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to hit the transmit receive
input at the right power level.

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The second is digital
control to ensure

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that the transmit
receive module's

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configured in the right state.

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And the third is a
regulated DC bias

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to ensure the power
amplifier is performing

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at the right efficiency.

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A typical setup for
measuring S-parameters

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would include a
vector measurement

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device such as a vector
network analyzer.

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The downside of
this setup, however,

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is given the fact that the
couplers are integrated

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in the instrument,
you're limited on where

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your test interfaces can be.

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In this scenario,
if we used a VNA,

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while one port would
be correctly connected

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to the radiating
antenna, the other port

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would be actually on the
other side of the one to four

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beamformer.

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Therefore, the S-parameters
you're measuring

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are not the device under test
but the overall test set up

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itself.

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By taking advantage of
the custom S-parameters

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with the VST, you can actually
separate out the couplers

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and put them at the
right interfaces.

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This allows both ports
and the four S-parameters

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to be focused on the transmit
receive module itself

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while maintaining the
more complex test setup

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required to perform the
remainder of your test plan.

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Now that we've
established the setup

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and shown how the hardware and
software should work together,

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let's switch to the
software itself.

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Here we see the interactive test
panel included in the pulsed RF

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measurement laboratory.

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This provides an easy to use
interactive method of setting

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up calibrating and performing
the parameter measurements.

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As you can see in
the test plan, you

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set up your hardware
configuration

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based on the topology
that you'd like to use.

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In this case, as I
mentioned earlier,

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we use a single VST and
two couplers per port.

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You can also configure
your switches based

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on how your system is set up.

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In this case, I'm using a
single switch with dual muxes.

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Furthermore, you can
set up your stimulus,

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whether it be a CW sweep
or a pulsed stimulus,

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as well as the test points
required in your sweep,

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and then subsequently,
the measurement

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settings such as IF
bandwidth, averaging,

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and where you want your
calibration to be pulled from.

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Speaking of calibration,
as everyone knows,

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calibration is essential to
perform accurate S-parameters.

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And as such, the
interactive example

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provides the ability to
easily do calibration

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on your custom setup
in the same manner

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that you might be familiar
with in other scenarios.

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These include
setup such as qsort

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or short-Open-Load-Reciprocal,
SOLR.

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This calibration
wizard once you open

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it will guide you through
the process of calibrating

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your custom at S-parameter setup
and then provide the ability

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to save those calibration
values to a file for later use.

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For the second
time, we've already

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done this, so let's skip ahead
to the measurement itself.

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I've specified my
previous Cal File

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and now I'll go ahead
and click Measure.

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An interactive panel
will open showing you

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how to set up the
connections to your device,

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and once you click Go, the
measurement will start.

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As the measurement's
occurring, we

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provide the automation
and synchronization

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of the stimulus, response,
and the switching required

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to measure all the
parameters necessary

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in the S-parameter results.

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The resulting data is then
displayed in various views

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that you might be familiar
with, such as your gain plot,

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your phase plot, your return
loss magnitude, or a Smith

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chart, depending on how you
like to look at the data.

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Once you're done with
the measurements,

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you can save the data to a
file for post processing.

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You've now completed the
S-parameter measurement

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as required and you can
move on to the next test

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step in your overall plan.

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So in this video,
we've shown you

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how to perform custom
S-parameters using

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the pulsed RF measurement
library within the ESA

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reference architecture.

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Some of the common
test challenges

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that you might be familiar
with with S-parameters include

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correlation of the
small signal analysis

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with large signal
measurements, the complexity

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of the data to phases, such as
the one we showed you today,

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and performing fundamental
RF measurements

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under unique application
specific stimuli.

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The NI advantage with this
reference architecture

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is that we solve most of those
common test challenges using

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software defined setups,
modular devices, and the ability

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to combine your small
signal and large signal

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analysis into a
single test plan.

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This reduces the overall
test time and cost

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of your overall project
allowing you to go to the market

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much faster.

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To learn more about custom
S-parameter measurements,

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please visit ni.com.

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