NVNA versus LSNA: enemies or friends?

The NVNA and the LSNA are powerful instruments which allow to measure the full nonlinear behavior of microwave devices. They are super-oscilloscopes which are able to measure absolute time domain waveforms. Both instruments are based on a different measurement principle: the mixer-based architecture of the NVNA and the sampler based architecture of the LSNA. They both have their advantages and disadvantages. By using these nonlinear measurement instruments, one is able to gain a good insight into the nonlinear behavior of a system. Combining good measurements with good insight, results in good nonlinear modeling.