Visitors to the Maury Microwave booth at the IMS 2008 Exhibition in Atlanta, GA last month saw a demonstration of Agilent's new PNA-X network analyzer using Maury tuners to measure non-linear load pull with X-parameters/time domain and full noise parameters.

The seamless integration of the Maury automated tuners and software into the PNA-X made the setups very simple and easy to use. The newly released Maury ATS version 5.0 software was installed into the PNA-X and the tuners were simply connected to USB ports on the front panel of the PNA-X. The two showcased solutions both demonstrate break-though capabilities.

Load pull with X-parameters is very significant because the measured data reads directly into Agilent’s Advanced Design System (ADS) simulator, and acts like a large-signal model without the modeling effort. This provides a simple and effective way to go immediately from measurement to circuit design. The nonlinear vector network analyzer (NVNA) option in the PNA-X also allows fast power measurements and analysis of time domain waveforms vs. impedance.

The noise parameter measurement is simpler and several times faster than any other available setup. By itself, the PNA-X provides error corrected noise figure at 50 ohms. With one Maury tuner, S-parameters and full noise parameters are measured. The calibration and measurement is fast, simple and accurate.

Maury has been Agilent's Channel Partner for device characterization solutions since 2001 and the two companies have been working since then to bring the test and measurement industry a suite of tools that integrate the newest generation of Maury tuners and software with Agilent's newest, most advanced network analyzers.