4. Calibration of the 6-port analyzer

Before use as a measurement system, the 6-port analyzer must be calibrated to determine all its intrinsic parameters. Once properly calibrated, the 6-port analyzer can perform accurate reflection and transmission measurements based on power measurements.

The preliminary calibration step consists of determining the characteristic constants of the "perfect" 6-port networks resulting from the transformation (P-space – -plane w). The actual calibration will concern the 4-port network, where all existing calibration methods in heterodyne systems can be applied. In particular for coaxial media: the SOLT method (short- – -open- – -load- – -thru) and the TRL method (thru- – -reflect- – -line) or more generally LRL (line- – -reflect- – -line). Here we will only consider the TRL (or LRL) method, which offers a considerable advantage in the field of microwave metrology on...