Fundamentals of RF amplifier measurements

The RF power amplifier is a key component used in a broad variety of applications such as wireless communication systems, medical equipments, and aerospace and defense areas. Characterizing the basic performance of the amplifiers is a critical stage in the R&D or manufacturing test environments. These amplifiers must meet strict performance specifications in order that the systems can comply with regulations.

This application note illustrates how to setup fundamental amplifier measurements such as S-parameters, K-factor gain compression, harmonic distortion or pulsed measurements with a simple configuration using a vector network analyzer (VNA). Some advanced techniques using the Agilent E5072A ENA Series Network Analyzer 1 will be covered in the note with step-by-step instructions of typical amplifier characterization.

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Originally published by Agilent Technologies Inc. at www.agilent.com as "Basics of RF Amplifier Measurements with the E5072A ENA Series Network Analyzer".