Determination of complex residual error parameters of a calibrated vector network analyzer

A novel technique for the determination of the residual directivity and the residual source match of a calibrated one-port vector network analyzer is investigated. The method corresponds to the ¿ripple extraction¿ schemes and is based on a single reflection measurement employing a high precision airline terminated by a short. The complex-valued residual system errors are not directly measured, but will be extracted over the entire measured frequency range by a sophisticated data analyzing scheme utilizing, among other things, bandpass filtering and linear prediction. By modeling the utilized short, also the residual reflection tracking can be estimated. Thus, in comparison with a standard SOL calibration (performed with sliding load), a VNA accuracy enhancement can be achieved by second-order error correction.