Extraction of high frequency power cable characteristics from S-parameter measurements

A technique is developed for extraction of the wave propagation properties of power cables from S-parameter measurements. The method extracts the complex propagation constant and the characteristic impedance, as well as the LCRG telegrapher's equation parameters. The extraction process is developed after clarifying the effect of the connection between the measurement port and the power cable. It is concluded that treating the connection solely as a characteristic impedance change could lead to considerable errors in the parameter extraction. Furthermore, the method corrects for electrical lengths, which are not accounted for by the standard network analyzer calibration. The extraction is demonstrated for a medium voltage cross linked polyethylene (XLPE) cable over the frequency range 300 kHz to 300 MHz. The results are compared to a time domain short pulse propagation method for cable characterization. Both measurement methods are evaluated against a cable model.