HistoryofSparameters

Sparametersrefertothescatteringmatrix("S"inSparametersreferstoscattering).Theconceptwasfirst
popularizedaroundthetimethatKaneyukeKurokawaofBellLabswrotehis1965IEEEarticlePowerWaves
andtheScatteringMatrix.CheckhimoutinourMicrowaves101HallofFame!Ithelpedthatduringthe1960s,
HewlettPackardintroducedthefirstmicrowavenetworkanalyzers.We'llalsoadmitthatthereareseveral
papersthatpredateKurokawa'sfromthe1950s,onegoodearlyworkwaswrittenbyE.M.Matthews,Jr.,of
SperryGyroscopeCompany,titledTheUseofScatteringMatricesinMicrowaveCircuits.Also,RobertCollin's
textbookFieldTheoryofGuidedWaves,published1960,hasabriefdiscussionontheScatteringmatrix.
Collin'sbookisextensivelyannotated,includinganauthorindex,whichreadslikeaWho'sWhoof
electromagnetictheoryforthefirsthalfofthetwentiethcentury.
IntroductiontoSparameters
Beforewegetintothemath,let'sdefineafewthingsyouneedtoknowaboutSparameters.
ThescatteringmatrixisamathematicalconstructthatquantifieshowRFenergypropagatesthroughamulti
portnetwork.TheSmatrixiswhatallowsustoaccuratelydescribethepropertiesofincrediblycomplicated
networksassimple"blackboxes".ForanRFsignalincidentononeport,somefractionofthesignalbounces
backoutofthatport,someofitscattersandexitsotherports(andisperhapsevenamplified),andsomeofit
disappearsasheatorevenelectromagneticradiation.TheSmatrixforanNportcontainsaN2coefficients
(Sparameters),eachonerepresentingapossibleinputoutputpath.
Sparametersarecomplex(magnitudeandangle)becauseboththemagnitudeandphaseoftheinputsignal
arechangedbythenetwork.Quiteoftenwerefertothemagnitudeonly,asitisofthemostinterest.Who
careshowthesignalphaseischangedbyanamplifierorattenuator?Youmostlycareabouthowmuchgain
(orloss)youget.Sparametersaredefinedforagivenfrequencyandsystemimpedance,andvaryasa
functionoffrequencyforanynonidealnetwork.
SparametersrefertoRF"voltageoutversusvoltagein"inthemostbasicsense.Sparameterscomeina
matrix,withthenumberofrowsandcolumnsequaltothenumberofports.FortheSparametersubscripts
"ij",jistheportthatisexcited(theinputport),and"i"istheoutputport.ThusS11referstotheratioofsignal
thatreflectsfromportoneforasignalincidentonportone.ParametersalongthediagonaloftheSmatrixare
referredtoasreflectioncoefficientsbecausetheyonlyrefertowhathappensatasingleport,whileoff
diagonalSparametersarereferredtoastransmissioncoefficients,becausetheyrefertowhathappensfrom
oneporttoanother.HerearetheSmatricesforone,twoandthreeportnetworks:

NotethateachSparameterisavector,soifactualdatawerepresentedinmatrixformat,amagnitudeand
phaseanglewouldbepresentedforeachSij.

Theinputandoutputreflectioncoefficientsofnetworks(suchasS11andS22)canbeplottedontheSmith
chart.Transmissioncoefficients(S21andS12)areusuallynotplottedontheSmithchart.
DefinitionofSparameters
SparametersdescribetheresponseofanNportnetworktovoltagesignalsateachport.Thefirstnumberin
thesubscriptreferstotherespondingport,whilethesecondnumberreferstotheincidentport.ThusS21
meanstheresponseatport2duetoasignalatport1.Themostcommon"Nport"inmicrowavesareone
portsandtwoports,threeportnetworkSparametersareeasytomodelwithsoftwaresuchasAgilentADS,
butthethreeportSparametermeasurementsareextremelydifficulttoperformwithaccuracy.MeasureS
parametersareavailablefromvendorsforamplifiers,butwe'veneverseenavendoroffertruethreeportS
parametersforaevenasimpleSPDTswitch(athreeportnetwork).
Let'sexamineatwoportnetwork.Theincidentvoltageateachportisdenotedby"a",whilethevoltage
leavingaportisdenotedby"b".Don'tgetallhunguponhowtwovoltagescanoccuratthesamenode,think
ofthemastravelinginoppositedirections!

IfweassumethateachportisterminatedinimpedanceZ0,wecandefinethefourSparametersofthe2port
as:

There'samissingsteptothisderivation,whichwaspointedoutbyAlex(thanks!)You'llfindthecomplete
derivationonWikipedia,we'llupdatethispagesoon.
Seehowthesubscriptneatlyfollowstheparametersintheratio(S11=b1/a1,etc...)?Here'sthematrix
algebraicrepresentationof2portSparameters:

IfwewanttomeasureS11,weinjectasignalatportoneandmeasureitsreflectedsignal.Inthiscase,no
signalisinjectedintoport2,soa2=0duringalllaboratorySparametermeasurements,weonlyinjectone
signalatatime.IfwewanttomeasureS21,weinjectasignalatport1,andmeasuretheresultingsignal

exitingport2.ForS12weinjectasignalintoport2,andmeasurethesignalleavingport1,andforS22we
injectasignalatport2andmeasureitsreflectedsignal.
Didwementionthatalloftheaandbmeasurementsarevectors?Itisn'talwaysnecessarytokeeptrackof
theangleoftheSparameters,butvectorSparametersareamuchmorepowerfultoolthanmagnitudeonly
Sparameters,andthemathissimpleenougheitherway.
Sparametermagnitudesarepresentedinoneoftwoways,linearmagnitudeordecibels(dB).BecauseS
parametersareavoltageratio,theformulafordecibelsinthiscaseis
Sij(dB)=20*log[Sij(magnitude)]
Rememberthatpowerratiosareexpressedas10xlog(whatever).Voltageratiosare20xlog(whatever),
becausepowerisproportionaltovoltagesquared.
TheangleofavectorSparameterisalmostalwayspresentedindegrees(butofcourse,radiansare
possible).
TypesofSparameters
WhenwearetalkingaboutnetworksthatcanbedescribedwithSparameters,weareusuallytalkingabout
singlefrequencynetworks.Receiversandmixersaren'treferredtoashavingSparameters,althoughyoucan
certainlymeasurethereflectioncoefficientsateachportandrefertotheseparametersasSparameters.The
troublecomeswhenyouwishtodescribethefrequencyconversionproperties,thisisnotpossibleusingS
parameters.
SmallsignalSparametersarewhatwearetalkingabout99%ofthetime.Bysmallsignal,wemeanthatthe
signalshaveonlylineareffectsonthenetwork,smallenoughsothatgaincompressiondoesnottakeplace.
Forpassivenetworks,smallsignalisallyouhavetoworryabout,becausetheyactlinearlyatanypowerlevel.
LargesignalSparametersaremorecomplicated.Inthiscase,theSmatrixwillvarywithinputsignal
strength.MeasuringandmodelinglargesignalSparameterswillnotbedescribedonthispage(perhapswe
willgetintothatsomeday)
MixedmodeSparametersrefertoaspecialcaseofanalyzingbalancedcircuits.We'renotgoingtogetinto
thateither!
PulsedSparametersaremeasuredonpowerdevicessothatanaccuraterepresentationiscapturedbefore
thedeviceheatsup.Thisisatrickymeasurement,andnotsomethingwe'regonnatackleyet.
ColdSparameters
InformationoncoldSparametersstartsonthispage.
Othermatrices
Sparametersarejustonematrixthatcanfullydescribeanetwork.OthermatricesincludeABCDparameters,
YparametersandZparameters.ABCDparametersareactuallyused"behindthescenes"inmany
calculations,becausetheyareeasilycascadable.Bycascadable,wemeanthatifyouwanttosimulatean
attenuatorfollowedbyanamplifier,theSparametermathwilldriveyouinsane,whiletheABCDmathinvolves
nothingmorethanmultiplication.Thiswillremainatopicforanotherday!