Patent · US Expired

Apparatus and method for determining single sideband noise figure from double sideband measurements

US5416422A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
4References
14Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateMay 20, 1994
Grant dateMay 16, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 20, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R29/26
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A single sideband noise figure of a device under test is determined from double sideband measurements. A noise measurement system is provided, which includes a noise source, a mixer, a local oscillator, and a tunable intermediate frequency receiver. Three independent measurements are performed (one with the local oscillator frequency on the high side of the RF measurement frequency, another with the local oscillator frequency on the low side of the RF measurement frequency, and the third with the local oscillator frequency at the RF measurement frequency and the intermediate frequency at twice its former frequency). These noise power measurements are combined in such a way as to cancel the unwanted sidebands. Preferably, three output noise power measurements are also performed during a calibration so that the subsequent measurements are corrected for impedance mismatch errors. The complexity and cost of performing accurate single sideband noise figure measurements are reduced compared to conventional single sideband measurement systems.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.