Fast Multiharmonic Active Load–Pull System With Waveform Measurement Capabilities

A novel fast multiharmonic active load-pull system is presented, which allows for the acquisition of the complete voltage and current waveforms. The system is capable of measuring multiple different load impedance or input power states within a short time instance (typically 180 states within 20 ms). It also facilitates high-power capability (up to 100 W) and high-frequency operation (up to 50 GHz). Furthermore, the dynamic range at the higher order harmonics is significantly improved by introducing an equalizer in cascade with the wideband harmonic samplers. A new algorithm for presenting the wanted load impedance to the device-under-test is also proposed. The method allows for simultaneous optimization on multiple harmonics, converging within five iterations. This method is applicable to all open loop active load-pull systems and could significantly reduce the number of iterations, hence reducing the measurement time. This paper provides a detailed description of the measurement system, including on-wafer verification measurements.