Cost-effective, Accuracy Preserving Scalar Characterization for mmWave Transceivers

The development of instrument grade mmWave transceivers comes with many challenges. A general rule of thumb requires that the performance of any instrument must be higher than the performance of the unit under test. The performance is measured in terms of accuracy and stability. The calibration and characterization of mmWave transceivers are important pillars for commercial products. One famous method for calibrating a mmWave test equipment transceiver is using the Vector Network Analyzer (VNA) with a mixer option. This method has proven a high performance in mmWave transceivers’ calibration. However, this approach comes with a high cost. It costs a million dollars for some configuration. In this work, a reduced-cost method to calibrate mmWave instrument grade transceivers is proposed. The method is based on employing a Magic Tee whereas, the VNA technology relies on internal couplers to signal source and receiver to perform the S-parameters. A comparison between the proposed method and the VNA technology is provided. A demonstration of significant challenges is discussed, and an approach to meet the requirements is proposed.