Measurement of two-tone transfer characteristics of high-power amplifiers

In this paper, we present an accurate measurement method for acquiring the two-tone transfer characteristics of high-power amplifiers. The measurement setup and sequence are described. The measured amplitude and phase data of the two-tone fundamental, third-order intermodulation, and fifth-order intermodulation components versus input power level are also presented. The measured two-tone transfer characteristics are very useful for the design of a predistortion linearizer or for nonlinear model extraction for high-power amplifiers.