The Six-Port Reflectometer: An Alternative Network Analyzer

Abstract

Although the six-port measurement technique is rapidly gaining the attention of the microwave community, the theoretical development, to date, yields but limited practical insight into its operation. Following a brief review of the prior art, such that the six-port techniques may be placed in proper perspective, this paper presents an alternative introduction leading to much better insight, and to design criteria for a six-port circuit which optimally exploits the concept.