The Increasing Importance of Increasing Ports
White Papers
Abstract
Modern devices are highly integrated. As a result, wireless and high-speed digital engineers often test devices with more than four ports. In wireless RF, frontend modules (FEM) for multi-band operation and multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antennas require multiport characterization for all their components. Testing high-speed digital technologies like HDMI and USB 3.1 is even more tedious. Not only do digital cables have multiple internal cables and connectors, but each must undergo testing twice — once in the time domain and once in the frequency domain.
The need for multiport test accelerated the development of switch-based solutions for traditional vector network analyzers (VNAs). When switch-based solutions were not adequate to keep up with multiport test, the VNA itself was re-imagined and optimized for multiport test.