Sept 1, 2012

HAILP – Hybrid Active Injection Load Pull System
1. Introduction
This manual describes the calibration and configuration required to perform Hybrid Active Injection
Load Pull (HAILP).
There are two main components of a HAILP system:-Travelling wave-based measurements
Output RF signal injection for active tuning

For travelling wave-based measurements, the system can use one of the following methods (timedomain analyzers):-Agilent PNA-X NVNA measurements (PNA-X Option 520,510, 514, 518)
8-term measurements using Agilent PNA-X or R&S ZVA – this is the recommended method

The Active Injection can be implemented using one of the following instruments:-Agilent PNA-X (PNA-X Option 080 and 088)
Agilent MXG, PSG
Anritsu MG3692
R&S ZVA

The generic HAILP system is composed as follows:

Figure 1: Generic HAILP system

The connection to a power meter is purely for verification purposes and is not required. All power
measurements are performed using the time domain analyzer. Output power meter readings areincorrect when the active injection source is ON.

HAILP- Hybrid Active Injection Load Pull SystemThe HAILP system using the PNA-X as time domain analyzer as well as input RF source and active
injection source would be connected as follows:

It is recommended
that you attachloads to the otherports of thebroken jumpers.

To PM
To PM

Figure 2: HAILP setup using a PNA-X

2. System Calibration
1. The user must first determine the required attenuation on each of the four couplers paths (A1,B1, A2 and B2) so that the instrument receivers are not overloaded when the device is addedand tested. Normally a higher attenuation is used on the output coupler. It is important to keep
in mind that the attenuation cannot be so high that the couplers cannot be calibrated andverified (without DUT).
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HAILP- Hybrid Active Injection Load Pull System

2. Calibrate the input and output tuners (same frequency list for both tuners).
3. Calibrate the s-parameters of setup components: input termination, input block, fixture (withinput and output coupler included), output block and output termination.
4. For NVNA method: Perform the NVNA calibration. See the PNA-X NVNA Configuration andMeasurement Procedure.
5. For the 8Term method: Calibrate the VNA in the DUT reference with the receivers connected tothe couplers – the tuners can be included or excluded in this step depending on whether theuser is on-wafer or fixture:a. When using the PNA-X, a 2-port s-parameter calibration is performed on port 3 and 4.
See setup below:

VNA
Reference
Plane

Figure 3: VNA S-parameter calibration

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HAILP- Hybrid Active Injection Load Pull System

6. For the 8Term method: Perform the power calibration. Open the power calibration dialog byclicking theicon.

Figure 4a. Select the instruments to be used for the power calibration.
b. Again for the power calibration, the tuners can be included or excluded in this step
depending on whether the user is on-wafer or fixture. For an on-wafer setup, the s2p file
to de-embed will be the CONB file used for input tuner calibration and the power sensor is
attached to the output of the load tuner. For a fixture setup, it would be easier to connect
the power sensor to the output of the output wave coupler and select the fixture output
file as the file to de-embed to the DUT reference.
c. Select the frequencies to calibrate. It should match the tuner calibration frequency list.
d. The calibration power should be high enough to obtain accurate readings on thereceivers.
7. Select the following measurements and stimulus in the Measurement Editor:
a. RF Source: This can be any signal generator. If you are using the PNA-X port 1; for 8Term
method, use the SignalGenerator.PNAX_Opt080 driver; for NVNA method use
SignalGenerator.AgilentNVNA.
b. Active Injection: There are two available drivers for this instrument the Anritsu 3692B orthe PNAx (using port 3).
c. Wave measurements (PinWaves, PoutWaves, ...): For the Time domain analyzer, if you areusing the PNA-X, for 8Term method, use TimeDomainAnalyzer.PNAx_8TermCorrection,
for NVNA method, use TimeDomainAnalyzer.PNAxNVNA (orTimeDomainAnalyzer.PNAxNVNA_NoDeembed). If you are using the R&S ZVA, select theTimeDomainAnalyzer.RS_ZVA_8TermCorrection driver.
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