On quantifying the effects of receiver linearity on VNA calibrations

As more dynamic range is required in many measurements, it becomes more interesting to better understand how receiver non-linearities affect VNA calibrations and resulting measurements. By separating these problems and employing semi-realistic models of receiver behavior, one can get a better look at where issues may occur and how they will be manifested as a function of calibration type. Starting with simple 1-port calibrations and working up to multiport calibrations, the quantitative effects for some practical nonlinear models will be studied. Results include some strong dependencies on raw test set parameters for all calibrations and some noticeable effects of asymmetry/line variance in the TRL class of calibration techniques.