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Azur Electronics
Network Analysis is the process of creating a data model of transfer and/or impedance characteristics of a linear network through sine wave testing over the frequency range of interest.
Creating a data model is important in that actual circuit performance often varies considerably from the performance predicted by calculations. This occurs because the perfect circuit element doesn't exist and because some of the electrical characteristics of a circuit may vary with frequency.
At frequencies above 1MHz lumped elements actually become 'circuits' consisting of the basic elements plus parasitics like stray capacitance, lead inductance, and unknown absorptive losses. Since parasitics depend on the individual device and its construction they are almost impossible to predict.
Network Analyser "Stack" 2008
Above 1GHz component geometries are comparable to a signal wavelength, intensifying the variance in circuit behaviour due to device construction. Further, lumped-element circuit theory is useless at these frequencies and distributed-element (or transmission line) parameters are required to completely characterise a circuit.
Data models of both transfer and impedance functions must be obtained to completely describe the linear behaviour of a circuit under test. At lower frequencies, h, y and z-parameters are examples of transfer and/or impedance functions used in network description. At higher frequencies, s-parameters are used to characterise input-output impedances and transfer functions. Therefore a network analyser must measure some form of a circuit's transfer and impedance functions to achieve its objective of complete network characterisation. Network analysis is limited to the definition of linear networks. Since linearity constrains networks stimulated by a sine wave to produce a sine wave output, sine wave testing is an ideal method for characterising magnitude and phase response as a function of frequency. In non-linear measurements phase is often meaningless and amplitude has to be defined with respect to individual frequency components. For non-linear measurements see information on spectrum analysers and wave analysers.
REF: HP Catalogue 1980 page 448
August 2019
All the 8407A & 8410C based Network Analyser System has now been Sold.