Power Measurement System for 1 mW at 1 GHz

Abstract : An automated measurement system designed to measure power accurately at the level of 1 mW and at the frequency of 1 GHz is described. The system consists of commercial IEEE Std-488 bus-controlled instruments, a computer controller, and software. The results of a series of measurements are output to the computer display and, optionally, to a printer. The results are the mean of the measurement series and an estimate of the systematic and random uncertainty. The total estimated uncertainty for the average of six consecutive measurements of a nominal 1 mW, 1 GHz source is typically less than 1 percent. The system can measure any power from 0.1 to 10 mW at any microwave frequency by making appropriate changes to the software and possibly, the hardware.