Highly Integrated 4-32-GHz Two-Port Vector Network Analyzers for Instrumentation and Biomedical Applications

Nasr I, Nehring J, Schütz M, Dietz M, Nasr I, Aufinger K, Weigel R, Kissinger D (2016)

Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Pages Range: 1-16

DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2016.2616873

Abstract

This paper addresses the miniaturization of microwave vector network analyzers (VNAs) and the future vision of the VNA on a chip. Therefore, a highly integrated two-port VNA with a multioctave bandwidth from 4 to 32 GHz is presented. The proposed system is based on a fully integrated radio-frequency frontend consisting of a two-port stimulus, a four-channel heterodyne receiver, and a wideband testset. The testset is comprised of on-chip multisection directional couplers. The chip is operated inside a hardware demonstrator using a 16-term calibration procedure. The measurement of arbitrary devices under test is in excellent agreement with commercial measurement equipment and showed a mean deviation from the reference measurement of 0.17 dB and 1.29° regarding the forward transmission of a coaxial 30-dB attenuator. The system and receiver dynamic ranges are 44-77 and 82-101 dB at a resolution bandwidth of 100 kHz over the full system bandwidth. The measurements are highly repeatable and are robust against drift over time. As a proof of concept, the developed integrated network analyzers are utilized in a biomedical sensing scenario with an external and an on-chip sensor. Both approaches showed good sensitivity regarding the mixture ratio of binary solutions of ethanol and methanol.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik / IHP GmbH - Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics Germany (DE) Infineon Technologies AG Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Nasr, I., Nehring, J., Schütz, M., Dietz, M., Nasr, I., Aufinger, K.,... Kissinger, D. (2016). Highly Integrated 4-32-GHz Two-Port Vector Network Analyzers for Instrumentation and Biomedical Applications. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 1-16. https://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TMTT.2016.2616873

MLA:

Nasr, Ismail, et al. "Highly Integrated 4-32-GHz Two-Port Vector Network Analyzers for Instrumentation and Biomedical Applications." IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (2016): 1-16.

BibTeX: Download