Guest Column: The Rise Of VNAs

How vector network analyzers help shape today's microwave/RF designs

By Bob Buxton, Anritsu Company

The vector network analyzer (VNA) has been around for many years. For much of that time, it has been considered complicated and expensive. However, with today's high-frequency complex designs, the microwave VNA may be perhaps the single most important measurement tool in the RF/microwave industry. Why? Because a microwave VNA is a precise, multichannel measurement system capable of measuring minute differences of amplitude and phase over multi-octave frequency ranges.