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Keysight Technologies
Making Reflection Measurements
Using the N9322C
Basic Spectrum Analyzer (BSA)
Application Note
Abstract
In addition to measuring the frequency power characteristics of your
device or system with a spectrum analyzer, sometimes you need to
evaluate the performance characteristics of antenna, RFID tags,
or RF Tx modules, such as their return loss, insertion loss, and VSWR.
The Keysight Technologies, Inc. N9322C basic spectrum analyzer (BSA)
supports those additional measurements through the use of an optional
tracking generator (Option TG7) and reflection measurement (Option
RM7). The built-in bridge in the tracking generator makes the N9322C
an easy-to-use reflection analyzer.
Introduction to Reflection Measurement
A scalar reflection measurement evaluates how efficiently energy is transferred into a device and
reveals the degree of mismatch between a device and a Z0 transmission line (Z0 = characteristic
impedance, typically 50 ). Not all the energy incident upon a device can be absorbed by the device,
and a portion of the energy is reflected back toward the source. We can determine the efficiency of
energy transfer by comparing the incident and reflected signals. See Figure 1.
Device
E incident
E transmitted
E reflected
E transmitted
Reflection coefficient r =
E incident
1+ r
SWR =
1- r
Return loss =