Error Analysis of an I and Q Linear Detector

A tentative software computer program is proposed to control instruments on the IEEE Bus for testing a coherent I/Q linear detector used in search radars. Hewlett-Packard (HP) equipments are used in the test setup which features a HP-9845 option 270 desk-top computer. A four-part HPL computer program consists of an analysis section, a short routine for generation of actual error data, a reduction portion for reducing this data, and a plotting section. Results from this study indicate that amplitude and phase errors are passed through directly. Both amplitude and phase errors of the output vary at twice the angular rate (e.g., sin 2¿ not sin¿) and appear to be in quadrature. It is hoped that this work will make it easier for bench checking I/Q channels thus cutting down on the enormous amount of testing time during fabrication and final factory testing for the verification of specifications. Future work will include the hardware implementation of the test setup and measurement on an actual I/Q channel.