A test-bed designed to utilize Zhu´s general sampling theorem to characterize power amplifiers

Characterizing power amplifiers require test set-ups with performance superior to the power amplifiers. A commonly used method is to use an IQ-demodulator. However, problem arises due to imperfections in the demodulator such as IQ-imbalance; an alternative method is to use a direct down converter to intermediate frequency. The drawback then is the limited bandwidth. However, the required bandwidth of the ADC does not need to be exceptional. According to Zhu´s general sampling theorem is it enough to sample the output signal at the Nyquist rate of the input. However, even though the required sampling rate is reduced the demands on the analog bandwidth remains. Unfortunately, commercially available instruments such as vector signal analyzers can not be used for this purpose since their analog bandwidth is too small. In this paper a test-bed is designed to utilize the Zhu´s general sampling theorem. The RF front-end has frequency range of 500 MHz - 2.7 GHz and a bandwidth of 1 GHz. All performance data are verified with measurements.