Investigating the Effects of IF Bandwidth and Averaging on Calibrated Scattering-Parameter Measurements

We investigate the effects of IF (intermediate-frequency) bandwidth and averaging on calibrated scattering-parameter measurements made with a vector network analyzer. We begin by examining the sweep times and noise-floor levels for various combinations of the two settings. Then, we study how these settings influence calibrated measurements and compare the results to uncertainties due to systematic and random effects for devices with varying insertion-loss values.