Process and system for characterizing a fixture component of a test fixture

A process for characterizing a fixture component of a test fixture,

• the fixture component comprising
• a test instrument interface comprising coaxial connector, and
• a device under test (DUT) interface comprising one of a printed circuit board (PCB) trace and a non-coaxial connector;
• wherein the fixture component is configured to mediate between signals of the DUT interface and signals of the test instrument interface,
• the process comprising
• connecting a test instrument to the test instrument interface;
• sequentially establishing a plurality of characterization setups for the fixture component and de-embedding a characterized error model of the fixture component in order to move a reference plane from the test instrument interface to the DUT interface, the plurality of characterization setups comprising two or more, the establishing respectively containing:
• providing an open circuit at the DUT interface, and
• providing a further fixture component of the test fixture at the DUT interface via mated connectors, wherein a corresponding sequence of characterization setups requires no short circuit, and wherein the corresponding sequence of characterization setups requires a start-up for reception (RX);
• and
• characterizing at least one scattering(S) parameter of the respectively established characterization setup.