System Identification of a Branched 50 Ohm Network by Transient Excitation

The transmission of a single conductor or filter can be determined analytically as well as with a measuring device such as the Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). Even small networks that cannot be calculated analytically can be determined with a network analyzer. The use of a network analyzer is not advisable in complex networks where the ports to be considered are spatially far apart. The measuring cables used for this would have to be very long, which increases the attenuation in the high-frequency range. This paper introduces a method for performing system identification on a branched 50 Ohm network using a signal generator and an oscilloscope. For this purpose, the network is stimulated with a transient signal and the system response is recorded. The transfer function can then be determined from this system response.