Error Propagation in a Practical Six-Port Device

In this contribution the various influences on the accuracy of the phase measurement unit of a near range precision radar are investigated. The front-end is a monostatic design operating at 34–36.2 GHz. The hardware configuration enables different modes of operation including FM-CW and a single frequency mode with phase and frequency measurement. To achieve a highly accurate distance measurement, attention must be paid to various error sources. Due to the use of a six-port it is rather complicated to determine the corresponding error propagation. In the following the results of investigations on how to achieve an exceptional accuracy of 0.1 mm are described. Especially the error propagation through the six-port is analyzed in detail.