C-band noise-parameter measurement of microwave amplifiers under nonlinear conditions

A noise parameter measurement setup dedicated to microwave devices operating under large-signal conditions is presented in this paper. The method is based on the multiple impedance technique and the test set has been modified to include a pump generator. Appropriate low-pass filters are also present in order to avoid the saturation (of the different measurement apparatus. The results obtained on two different amplifiers show a good accordance with experimental[ data extracted from residual phase noise measurements. This test set can thus be used to design low phase noise amplifiers.