Signal pre-processing for estimating attributes of a transmission line

In the process of estimating attributes of a transmission line from reflectometry measurements, small yet important reflections may be drowned in the immediate reflected signal owing to the mismatch between the reference impedance with respect to which the 1-port scattering parameter of the line has been determined and the characteristic impedance of the line. The major part of the near-end reflections are eliminated by estimating the characteristic impedance of the line, and by converting the 1-port scattering parameter of the line from the reference impedance base to the estimated characteristic impedance base. However, there is still a residual influence of the near-end reflections. It is then highly necessary to determine a time zone wherein the residual near-end reflections are enclosed so as their contribution is further neutralized in the process of estimating attributes of the transmission line.