Application
R&S
®
ZN-Z84
35
User Manual 1319.5413.02 ─ 02
The R&S
ZNx firmware prioritizes the available routes according to the number of
switches they traverse:
●
To obtain highest measurement
precision
, the driving VNA port should always
use the "best possible" (highest priority) route. On the other hand this may
cause additional matrix switching procedures and hence may result in a
reduced measurement speed.
●
If the focus is on measurement
speed
, the number of matrix switching proce-
dures should be minimized, disregarding a possible loss in measurement pre-
cision.
As for "slow" management connections the trade-off between precision and
speed cannot be resolved, the R&S ZNx firmware allows to select which optimiza-
tion should be performed.
To see the difference between the two optimizations, again consider a DUT with 6
unbalanced ports, connected to a 2-port analyzer via the R&S
ZN-Z84 base unit
without extension. If all S-parameters shall be measured, at least 6*5/2 succes-
sive matrix switching procedures are required (one for each pair of test ports) and
the
speed
optimization would choose one of these minimum solutions. In con-
trast, the
precision
optimization always selects the priority 1 route for the driving
port, which results in 6*5 successsive matrix switches (one per
directed
port pair).
Always choose the
precision
optimization if R&S
ZNx and R&S
ZN-Z84 are
connected using
. The switching speed of the matrix in this
case is in the same range as the source switch of the VNA.
Multiple Paths: Precision vs. Speed
