INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Reduction of the Uncertainty

on Noise Figure Measurements
A. Cremonini 1, M. De Dominicis 2, S. Mariotti 1 , E. Limiti 3, A.Serino 3

1
INAF Institute of Radioastronomy- Bologna Italy
2
Elettronica s.p.a. V. Tiburtina Valeria, Rome Italy
3
University Tor Vergata Electronic Eng. Dept. Rome - Italy

Sergio Mariotti s.mariotti@ira.inaf.it Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

WHY
Reduce Uncertainty?
Noise Figure +/- 3.5 % = +/- 0.15 dB 3.5E-02

RF Impedance 5E-03

Voltage 5E-07

1E-13
Time
For a receiver:
NF = 0.3 +/-0.15 1.E-14
dB 1.E-12 1.E-10 1.E-08 1.E-06 1.E-04 1.E-02 1.E+00

Te = 21 +/- 11 K Absolute Uncertainty

Uncertainty should be much lower than the value to be measured

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

How
Reduce Uncertainty?
Looking for and Find Sources of Uncertainty (U)
Minimize the sources wherever it is possible
Analyze and propagate uncertainty

Since U(ENR) is dominant, let do calibration of Noise

Source with a Secondary Standard (liq. N2)

Let Practical operations accurate as possible

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Involved Environments
Room Temperature Cryogenic /on Dewar
- easier - less jitter
- faster - more realistic
- accurate - accurate

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Sources (causes) of Uncertainty:

Propagation, Math Formulation
F12 F2 1
F12 F1
F1 = 3 dB F2 = 10dB G1
G1= 15 dB
2 2
F F 2
uc2 NF1 12 u 2 NF12 u NF2
2

F1 F1G 1 uc NF1 0.112 0.022 0.0772 0.0982 0.167 dB

2 2
F 1 F F
2 u 2 G1dB 12 2 u 2 ENR dB
F1G1 F1 F1G 1

Depend on many causes, even U(ENR)

Depend on U(ENR)
Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006
 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Causes of Uncertainty:
Graphical - Intuitive
Ph

P
Pcc

Te T c Tc Th
Reducing Tc, will reduce U(Te)
Reducing U(Th) and U(Tc) will reduce U(Te)
Increasing Th dont reduce U(Te) , because U(Th)/Th is a constant
Instead increase Th may generate non-linearity . Yopt 25
Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006
 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Causes of Uncertainty:
Practical, Tips&Tricks
|S11 ON| , |S11 OFF| < - 33 dB
Selected Attenuator
PT 100 A 6 dB 10 dB

Cascade Ferrite Isolators

Precision Connectors / Connector Care
NO cables movement
Environment: Thermostatic room,
Type A Uncert. << Type B Uncert.

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Other causes of Uncertainty:

Mismatch: A closed form expression doesnt exist

1
Te 1 290 T e
Approximate Expression 1 NS DUT
2

100.0

10.0
+/- Te [oK ]

NS
1.0

DUT
0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
R.L. NoiseSource + R.L. DUT [dB ]

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Principle of Operation 1/3

800 W
3200
9400 W
Liq. N2
77 K POWER METER

Noise Source
+
Attenuator

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Principle of Operation 2/3

Cold Load

77 K 01
7mm-K 1 M0,crio Receiver

1 0
LNA HP 8971C
6 dB Px
TaTH 2

2 M0,x
HP 8970B
Noise Source 02
IF 20 MHz
Switch Isolators

M 0,crio 01 Yx 1
PA

Tx Ta Tcrio Ta Te iso
Pad 3dB

M 0, x 02 Ycrio 1
PA
IF
Att. Step 1dB

Att. Step 10dB

Power Meter
Vector Correction

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Pictures
Coaxial
1-18 GHz

WR 28
26.5-40 GHz

WR 22
33-50 GHz

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Data Analysis

MatLab codes has been used to:

Process spar of non insertable Adapter

Compute Mismatch and Available Gain

Instruments control and automatic data collection

Calculate ENR and associated Uncertainty

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Uncertainty of the Result

u Thot uT uT uT uT
2 2 2 2
hot s hot a hot Y hot S

18.0 1.83 8.68 23.5 30.9 K

2 2 2 2

Depend on U(Tcryo)
S par Uncertainty
u Tcrio u Tcrio T u Tcrio S trans u Tcrio T '
2 2 2
a 21

0.0045 1.72 0.74 1.87 K

2 2 2

S par Uncertainty

Uncertainty of VNA is dominant ( 0.045 dB - hp 8510C )

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Results and
Associated Uncertainty

U(ENR) was +/- 0.15 dB U(ENR) = +/- 0.06 dB

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Spin-off for the LNAs

140 Simulation
Simulation
Noise Temperature [ K ]
Common U(ENR)
Simulation
Common
Low U(ENR)
U(ENR)

120

100

80
18 20
20 22
22 24
24 26
26
Frequency [ GHz ]

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

WHAT can we do ? 1/3

No possibility to further reduce ENR Uncertainty

but we may transfer our expertise to reduce

ENR Uncertainty of other Noise Sources

REQUEST and submit a PROPOSAL

Need to share expensive Instruments (CryoLoad)

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

WHAT can we do ? 2/3

PROPOSAL:
Comparition of Noise Figure Measurement
over community (better if even larger)

As the IEEE Round Robin, an LNA will be sent

to European Laboratories to be measured.
Each laboratory will perform measurement as
usual and according to its own methodology
Measured data will be compared and published

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

WHAT can we do ? 3/3

LNA Bandwidth has Euro Plug
been chosen to be a Power Supply
bridge between the
easy 1-18 GHz and
the difficult
over 18 GHz. LNA

Freq. 16 26 GHz,
Gain=27dB,
NF=1.6 dB (130K)

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Essential Bibliography
[1] J. Randa, Noise Temperature Measurements on wafer NIST
Tech. Note 1390 03/1997
[2] Agilent Technologies, Noise Figure measurement accuracy
The Y-Factor method, Application Note 57-2, 2001.
[3] W.C. Daywitt, Radiometer equation and analysis of systematic
errors for the NIST automated radiometers, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, Technical Note 1327, 03/1989.
[4] C.T. Stelzried, Temperature calibration of microwave thermal
noise sources, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques
(Correspondence), Vol. MTT-13, No. 1, 01/1965, pp. 128-130.
[5] R.F. Bauer, P. Penfield, De-Embedding and Unterminating, IEEE
Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Vol. 22, No. 3,
03/1974, pp. 282-288.
[6] J.D. Gallego, Accuracy of Noise Temperature Measurement of
Cryogenic Amplifiers, - NRAO Int. Rep. No 285 jan. 1990.

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

 INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Conclusions
The ENR of some Noise Sources has been calibrated.

The Uncertainty related to ENR has been reduced from +/-0.15 dB typ to

+/- 0.06 dB typ

Waveguide, millimeter cryoloads are needed to improve reliability

The calibration routine and the instrumental set-up may be repeated

once again.

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006

INSTITUTE OF RADIOASTRONOMY, - ITALY UNIVERSITY TOR VERGATA - ROME

Thanks

Sergio Mariotti Gteborg, jun 19th 2006