Instruments for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal

Abstract: An instrument for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal comprising: an input port (11) for receiving said microwave signal; means (13) for dividing said microwave signal into first and second microwave divisions thereof; means (3) for measuring the frequency of said first microwave division; and means (21, 5) for measuring the power of said second microwave division.

Description: This invention relates to instruments for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal. One known such instrument comprises an input port for receiving the microwave signal, means for down-converting the microwave signal to an intermediate frequency signal, and means for measuring the frequency and power of the intermediate frequency signal thence to provide, after taking into account the down-conversion, a measure of the frequency and power of the microwave signal. A problem with this known instrument is that the frequency and power measurements are performed on an intermediate frequency signal derived from the microwave signal, and not the microwave signal itself. This leads to inaccuracy in the measurement of the power of the microwave signal. The down-conversion is made in the known instrument in order to avoid the difficulties associated with making simultaneous frequency and power measurements on a microwave frequency signal. It is an object of the present invention to provide an instrument for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal wherein the above problem is overcome. According to the present invention there is provided an instrument for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal supplied to an input port of said instrument comprising: means for dividing said microwave signal into first and second microwave divisions thereof; a frequency counter for measuring the frequency of said first microwave division thereby providing said measurement of the frequency of said microwave signal supplied to said input port; and a power sensor and power meter connected to the output thereof for measuring the power of said second microwave division, a calibration correction dependent on the frequency measured by said frequency counter being made to the measurement of the power of said second microwave division thereby to provide said measurement of the power of said microwave signal supplied to said input port. SU-A-1322189 discloses an apparatus for determining the conductance of an active microwave instrument. It does this by determining the incline of synchronisation ellipse axes by measuring the dependency of the change of output power on generation frequency. The apparatus of SU-A-1322189 includes a directional coupler for dividing a signal derived from the microwave instrument into first and second fractions, a power meter for measuring the power of one fraction and a spectrum analyser for measuring the frequency of the other fraction. The apparatus thereby provides a measurement of the frequency and power of the signal derived from the microwave instrument. An instrument in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a schematic circuit diagram of the instrument; Figure 2 shows an improved measurement head to the measurement head of the instrument of Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows an alternative measurement head to the head of Figure 2. Referring to Figure 1, the instrument comprises a measurement head 1, a frequency counter 3, and a power meter 5. The measurement head 1 is for connection to the source of the microwave signal to be measured, and is remotely connected to the frequency counter 3 and power meter 5 by means of flexible connections 7, 9 respectively, flexible connection 7 of which is a microwave cable. The head 1 comprises an input port 11 for receiving the microwave signal, a microwave signal splitter 13 comprising first and second 50 ohm resistors 15, 17 for dividing the received microwave signal into first and second microwave divisions thereof, in this division the power of the received microwave signal being divided and each of the first and second microwave divisions having the same microwave frequency as the received microwave signal, an output port 19 for receiving the first microwave division and passing it to the microwave cable 7 for frequency measurement by the frequency counter 3, and a power sensor 21 for sensing the power of the second microwave division and providing an output indicative thereof to the power meter 5 by means of flexible connection 9. The power sensor 21 includes a memory (not shown) which stores in respect of each of a series of frequencies a calibration correction factor previously derived during calibration of the instrument. The calibration is necessary at a series of frequencies to compensate for variation in the sensitivity of the power sensor 21 with frequency. The frequency measured by the frequency counter 3 is supplied, by means of a connection 23 between the counter 3 and power meter 5, to the meter 5 which reads the memory of the power sensor 21 for the calibration correction factor corresponding to the measured frequency. This factor is applied by the power meter 5. A drawback of the instrument of Figure 1 is the poor input match of the frequency counter 3 which gives rise to reflection of the first microwave division which reaches the power sensor 21. To cater for this reflection it is necessary that the memory of the sensor 21 store a calibration correction factor in respect of each of a very large number of frequencies. The input match of the counter 3 can be improved by incorporating at the input to the counter 3 an attenuator. However, this results in a reduction in the sensitivity of the frequency measurement. The improved measurement head of Figure 2 overcomes these problems. Referring to Figure 2, the improved measurement head 25 comprises an input port 27 for receiving the microwave signal to be measured, a directional bridge 29 comprising first, second, third, and fourth 50 ohm resistors 31, 33, 35, 37 for dividing the received microwave signal into first and second microwave divisions thereof, in this division the power of the received microwave signal being divided and each of the first and second microwave divisions having the same microwave frequency as the received microwave signal, an output port 39 for receiving the first microwave division and passing it to microwave cable 7 (Figure 1), and a power sensor 41 for sensing the power of the second microwave division and providing an output indicative thereof on connection 9 (Figure 1). The second microwave division is derived across resistor 35 and applied by way of a balun 43 across a power sensing element 45 (e.g. diode or thermoelectric device) of the power sensor 41. The balun 43 decouples the ground of sensor 41 from the ground of bridge 29. The sensor 41 includes a memory (not shown), as the memory of sensor 21 of Figure 1, which stores in respect of each of a series of frequencies a calibration correction factor. Thus, given that the resistance of the source of the microwave signal to be measured is 50 ohms, the second microwave division for power measurement is derived across the central resistor 35 of a bridge 29 balanced as regards reflection from the frequency counter 3 (Figure 1), that is set up such that reflection from the counter 3 does not contribute to any current flowing through and potential difference across resistor 35. Therefore, reflection from counter 3 does not reach power sensor 41. It will be noted that for the bridge 29 to be balanced the resistances of the resistors 31, 33, 37 and the microwave source need not all be 50 ohms, it only being necessary that they obey the relationship: R 31 R 33 = R S R 37 , where R 31 , R 33 , R 37 and R S are the resistances of the resistors 31, 33, 37 and the microwave source respectively. Referring to Figure 3, components of the alternative measurement head 51 that are the same as those of the head 25 of Figure 2 are labelled with the same reference numerals. The head 51 of Figure 3 is the same as the head 25 of Figure 2 except that the ground of sensor 41 is decoupled from the ground of bridge 29 by means of capacitors 53, 55 not balun 43, and resistor 35 of bridge 29 is omitted. In effect, the bridge 29 of Figures 2 and 3 provides much greater isolation (ideally perfect isolation) between the counter 3 and sensor 41 than the very little isolation provided by the splitter 13 of Figure 1 between the counter 3 and sensor 21. In this connection it will be appreciated that directional devices other than a directional bridge may be used to isolate the power sensor from reflection of the first microwave division. For example, a directional bridge is particularly suitable for use as the directional device when measuring broadband microwave signals, e.g. 10MHz - 26.5 GHz, if measurement of only narrowband microwave signals is required a directional coupler could be used as the directional device.

Claims: An instrument for measuring the frequency and power of a microwave signal supplied to an input port (11, 27) of said instrument comprising: means (13, 29) for dividing said microwave signal into first and second microwave divisions thereof; a frequency counter (3) for measuring the frequency of said first microwave division thereby providing said measurement of the frequency of said microwave signal supplied to said input port; and a power sensor (21, 41) and power meter (5) connected to the output thereof for measuring the power of said second microwave division, a calibration correction dependent on the frequency measured by said frequency counter (3) being made to the measurement of the power of said second microwave division thereby to provide said measurement of the power of said microwave signal supplied to said input port. An instrument according to Claim 1 wherein: said input port (11, 27), said means (13, 29) for dividing, and said power sensor (21, 41) are located in a measurement head (1, 25) of the instrument remote from said power meter (5) and said frequency counter (3); said frequency counter (3) is connected to said measurement head (1, 25) by means of a microwave cable (7) of the instrument; said frequency counter (3) and said power meter (5) are connected for the supply by the frequency counter (3) of its frequency measurement to the power meter (5); said power sensor (21, 41) includes a memory which stores in respect of each of a series of frequencies a calibration correction factor for the making of said calibration correction; and said power meter (5) reads said memory for the calibration correction factor corresponding to the frequency supplied to the power meter (5) by said frequency counter (3) and makes therewith said calibration correction. An instrument according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein said means (13, 29) for dividing comprises a microwave signal splitter (13) comprising first (15) and second (17) resistors, one side of each of which resistors (15, 17) is connected to a junction which is connected to said input port (11), the other sides of said first (15) and second (17) resistors being connected respectively to said means (3) for measuring the frequency and said means (21, 5) for measuring the power. An instrument according to Claim 3 wherein said first (15) and second (17) resistors are each 50 ohm resistors. An instrument according to Claim 3 or Claim 4 further including an attenuator at the connection of said microwave cable (7) to said frequency counter (3). An instrument according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein said means (13, 29) for dividing comprises a directional device (29) for isolating said means (41, 5) for measuring the power from reflection of said first microwave division. An instrument according to Claim 6 wherein said directional device (29) comprises a directional bridge (29) comprising first (31), second (33), third (35) and fourth (37) resistors, one side of each of the first (31) and second (33) resistors and said means (3) for measuring the frequency being connected to a first junction, the other side of said first (31) resistor and one side of said third (35) resistor and said input port (27) being connected to a second junction, the other sides of said second (33) and third (35) resistors and one side of said fourth (37) resistor being connected to a third junction, the other side of said fourth (37) resistor being grounded, a power sensing element (45) of said means (41, 5) for measuring the power being connected across said third (35) resistor, the values of said first (31), second (33) and fourth (37) resistors obeying the relationship: R 1 R 2 = R S R 4 , where R 1 , R 2 and R 4 are the resistances of the first (31), second (33) and fourth (37) resistors respectively and R S is the resistance of the source of the microwave signal to be measured. An instrument according to Claim 7 wherein the resistance of each said first (31), second (33), third (35) and fourth (37) resistors is 50 ohms. An instrument according to Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein said power sensing element (45) is connected across said third (35) resistor by way of a balun (43). An instrument according to Claim 6 wherein said directional device (29) comprises a directional bridge (29) comprising first (31), second (33) and third (37) resistors, one side of each of the first (31) and second (33) resistors and said means (3) for measuring the frequency being connected to a first junction, the other side of said first (31) resistor and said input port (27) being connected to a second junction, the other side of said second (33) resistor and one side of said third (37) resistor being connected tot a third junction, the other side of said third (37) resistor being grounded, a power sensing element (45) of said means (41, 5) for measuring the power being connected across said second and third junctions, the values of said first (31), second (33) and third (37) resistors obeying the relationship: R 1 R 2 = R S R 3 , where R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are the resistances of the first (31), second (33) and third (37) resistors respectively and R S is the resistance of the source of the microwave signal to be measured. An instrument according to Claim 10 wherein the resistance of each of said first (31), second (33) and third (37) resistors is 50 ohms. An instrument according to claim 10 or Claim 11 wherein said power sensing element (45) is connected across said second and third junctions by way of first (53) and second (55) capacitors, the first (53) being connected between one side of said power sensing element (45) and said second junction, the second (55) being connected between the other side of said power sensing element (45) and said third junction. An instrument according to Claim 6 wherein said directional device comprises a directional coupler.

Inventors: BULLOCK ANDREW GEORGE, HJIPIERIS GEORGE, PEGG TIMOTHY JAMES, BULLOCK, ANDREW GEORGE, HJIPIERIS, GEORGE, PEGG, TIMOTHY JAMES
Applicants: MARCONI INSTRUMENTS LTD, MARCONI INSTRUMENTS LIMITED
Application year: 1992
Main classification: G01R21
IPC codes: G01R23, F16L59, G01R21