The bi-polar planar near-field measurement technique, part II:near-field to far-field transformation and holographic imaging methods

A novel customized bi-polar planar near-field measurement technique is presented in a two-part paper. This bipolar technique offers a large scan plane size with minimal “real-estate” requirements and a simple mechanical implementation, requiring only rotational motions, resulting in a highly accurate and cost-effective antenna measurement and diagnostic system. Part I of this two-part paper introduced the bi-polar planar near-field measurement concept, discussed the implementation of this technique at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and provided a comparative survey of measured results. This paper examines the data processing algorithms that have been developed and customized to exploit the unique features of the bi-polar planar near-field measurement technique. Near-field to far-field transformation algorithms investigated include both interpolatory and non-interpolatory algorithms due to the a typical arrangement of the bi-polar near-field samples. The algorithms which have been tailored for the bi-polar configuration include the optimal sampling interpolation (OSI)/fast Fourier transform (FFT), Jacobi-Bessel transform, and Fourier-Bessel transform. Additionally, holographic imaging for determination of antenna aperture fields has been incorporated to facilitate antenna diagnostics. Results for a simulated measurement of an array of infinitesimal dipoles and a measured waveguide-fed slot array antenna are included. Appropriate guidelines with respect to the advantages and disadvantages of the various processing algorithms are provided     

Prediction of far-field from uniform and non-uniform under-sampled near-field data in planar near-field antenna measurements

In near-field antenna measurements various forms of uniform and non-uniform sampling techniques have been widely deployed. Considering the fact that the near-field pattern of any antenna is a spatially quasi-band-width-limited function of space coordinates, Shannon's theorem simply defines the sampling frequency. Based on the sampling theorem, in order to precisely reconstruct a band-limited signal from its samples, the sampling frequency must be at least twice as much as the signal's bandwidth. Through the simulations and theoretical evaluations this research shows that if the near-field pattern is either uniformly or non-uniformly under-sampled due to any practical reasons, yet a good estimation of far-field pattern can be obtained especially if the antenna under test (AUT) is a directive high-gain or super high-gain antenna. Also the time efficiency of far-field prediction from under-sampled near-field data is discussed and the advantages and disadvantages are highlighted.     

Near-field diagnostics of small printed antennas using theequivalent magnetic current approach

A near-field to far-field transformation based on the antenna representation by equivalent magnetic current (EMC) sources has been proposed and validated experimentally on large high-directivity antenna arrays. In this paper, the use of EMC is extended to the diagnostics of low-directivity printed antennas. The limitation of the near-field to far-field transformation applied to EMC models of low-directivity antennas, caused by the finite dimensions of the antenna ground plane, is demonstrated. A method to partially overcome this limitation by including the contribution of diffracted rays is implemented, and its effectiveness is demonstrated with antenna prototypes. It is shown that the agreement between the far-field patterns measured in an anechoic chamber and the patterns computed from the EMC model obtained from the near-field measurements is significantly improved upon, within a sector of ±90° with respect to the antenna boresight in the E plane. The influence of the near-field sampling density and topology of the EMC model on the accuracy of the predicted far-field pattern is examined     

Phaseless bi-polar planar near-field measurements and diagnosticsof array antennas

Antenna near-field measurements typically require very accurate measurement of the near-field phase. There are applications where an accurate phase measurement may not be practically achievable. Phaseless measurements are beginning to emerge as an alternative microwave antenna measurements technique when phase cannot be directly measured. There are many important aspects for successful implementation of a phaseless measurement algorithm. This paper presents appropriate phaseless measurement requirements and a phase retrieval algorithm tailored for the bi-polar planar near-field antenna measurement technique. Two amplitude measurements and a squared amplitude optimal sampling interpolation method are integrated with an iterative Fourier procedure to first retrieve the phase information and then construct both the far-field pattern and diagnostic characteristics of the antenna under test. In order to critically examine the methodologies developed in this paper, phaseless measurement results for two different array antennas are presented and compared to results obtained when the near-field amplitude and phase are directly measured     

球面近远场和远近场变换算法

天线的远场对于研究天线辐射特性具有重大意义，近场测量技术因其能够避免直接测量远场而得到广泛应用，该技术采用近远场变换获得远场，然而，检验该远场的准确性也是很重要的.为了解决此类问题，文中以球面近场测量为例，提供了一种解决方案.该方案主要探讨了球面波模式展开理论，该理论是实现球面近远场变换算法的关键，其将待测天线在空间建立的场展开成球面波函数之和，天线的加权系数既包含了远场信息也包含了近场信息.因此，不仅能够利用近场测量信息获得远场辐射特性，同样能够利用远场辐射特性反推得到近场处电场，这样就能检验由近远场变换算法得到的远场是否准确.文中首先推算得到了近远场变换公式，随后进一步推算得到远近场变换的公式，最后将本文算法计算结果与FEKO测量结果进行比较，二者吻合良好，从而证实了本文两种算法的有效性.     

Far-field patterns of spaceborne antennas from plane-polar near-field measurements

Certain unique features of a recently constructed plane-polar near-field measurement facility for determining the far-field patterns of large and fragile spaceborne antennas are described. In this facility, the horizontally positioned antenna rotates about its axis while the measuring probe is advanced incrementally in a fixed radial direction. The near-field measured data is then processed using a Jacobi-Bessel expansion to obtain the antenna far fields. A summary of the measurement and computational steps is given. Comparisons between the outdoor far-field measurements and the constructed far-field patterns from the near-field measured data are provided for different antenna sizes and frequencies. Application of the substitution method for the absolute gain measurement is discussed. In particular, results are shown for the 4.8-m mesh-deployable high-gain antenna of the Galileo spacecraft which has the mission of orbiting Jupiter in 1988.     

时域近场测量的间接频域算法和直接时域算法研究

时域近远场变换是时域近场天线测量的关键技术。本文对时域近远场变换的间接频域算法和直接时域算法进行了数值模拟和分析。针对开口矩形波导天线的时域近场测量 ,选取时空采样参数和内插公式 ,用两种算法计算时域远场方向图 ,分析周期性、时域混叠问题和扫描面截断效应 ,在相互比较和验证的基础上 ,指出两者的优、缺点及适用的情况。     

球模式展开理论近远场变换及快速算法

基于球模式展开理论的近远场变换是天线球面近场测量系统实现的关键,它将待测天线在空间建立的场展开成球面波函数之和,由于其计算公式复杂,因而计算耗费时间长。该文在实际计算中利用快速傅里叶变换及矩阵的思想可以大幅度提高程序运行速度,节省计算时间。采用该方法对角锥喇叭天线的近远场数据进行仿真验证,结果表明外推远场的结果和理论值吻合良好,说明了该方法在保证计算精度的同时,可缩短计算时间。     

一种近场调制型芯片天线特性的研究

近场直接天线调制（NFDAM）技术是新近出现的一种高安全性宽频带调制技术,它改善了传统调制技术中系统结构复杂、通信的安全性差等特点。应用NFDAM 技术所设计的近场调制型芯片天线能够发射一种与方向相关的信号,所辐射的远场信号由于天线近场电磁边界条件的改变而进行调制,本论文通过在主天线附近放置具有开关的反射器的方式实现改变天线辐射特性,开关的闭合和断开的控制改变反射器的反射特性,从而形成不同组合的天线形式。本文设计完成了一个工作在60GHz 的最简化近场调制型芯片天线,利用CST 电磁仿真软件和MATLAB 软件对天线远场的辐射特性进行了仿真和分析,对近场调制型芯片天线的调制作用及通信的安全性进行了验证。     

Evaluation of adaptive phased array antenna, far-field nullingperformance in the near-field region

A theory for analyzing the behavior of adaptive phased array antennas illuminated by a near-field interference test source is presented. Conventional phased array near-field focusing is used to produce an equivalent far-field antenna pattern at a range distance of one to two aperture diameters from the adaptive antenna under test. The antenna is assumed to be a linear array of isotropic receive elements. The interferer is assumed to be a bandlimited noise source radiating from an isotropic antenna. The theory is developed for both partially and fully adaptive arrays. Results are presented for the fully adaptive array case with single and multiple interferers. The results indicate that near-field and far-field adaptive nulling can be equivalent. The adaptive nulling characteristics studied in detail are the array radiation patterns, adaptive cancellation, covariance matrix eigenvalues, and adaptive array weights     

Planar near-field scanning in the time domain .2. Sampling theoremsand computation schemes

For part 1 see ibid. vol.47, no.9, p.1280 (1994). Two computation schemes for calculating the far-field pattern in the time domain from sampled near-field data are developed and applied. The sampled near-field data consists of the values of the field on the scan plane measured at discrete times and at discrete points on the scan plane. The first computation scheme is based on a frequency-domain near-field to far-field formula and applies frequency-domain sampling theorems to the computed frequency-domain near field. The second computation scheme is based on a time-domain near-field to far-field formula and computes the time-domain far field directly from the time-domain near field. A time-domain sampling theorem is derived to determine the spacing between sample points on the scan plane. The computer time for each of the two schemes is determined and numerical examples illustrate the use and the general properties of the schemes. For large antennas the frequency-domain computation scheme takes less time to compute the full far field than the time-domain computation scheme. However, the time-domain computation scheme is simpler, more direct, and easier to program. It is also found that planar time-domain near-field antenna measurements, unlike single-frequency near-field measurements, have the capability of eliminating the error caused by the finite scan plane, and thus can be applied to broadbeam antennas     

Near- and Far-Field Characterization of Planar mm-Wave Antenna Arrays with Waveguide-to-Microstrip Transition

We present the design and characterization of planar mm-wave patch antenna arrays with waveguide-to-microstrip transition using both near- and far-field methods. The arrays were designed for metrological assessment of error sources in antenna measurement. One antenna was designed for the automotive radar frequency range at 77 GHz, while another was designed for the frequency of 94 GHz, which is used, e.g., for imaging radar applications. In addition to the antennas, a simple transition from rectangular waveguide WR-10 to planar microstrip line on Rogers 3003? substrate has been designed based on probe coupling. For determination of the far-field radiation pattern of the antennas, we compare results from two different measurement methods to simulations. Both a far-field antenna measurement system and a planar near-field scanner with near-to-far-field transformation were used to determine the antenna diagrams. The fabricated antennas achieve a good matching and a good agreement between measured and simulated antenna diagrams. The results also show that the far-field scanner achieves more accurate measurement results with regard to simulations than the near-field scanner. The far-field antenna scanning system is built for metrological assessment and antenna calibration. The antennas are the first which were designed to be tested with the measurement system.     

Ground penetrating radar antennas: theoretical and experimentaldirectivity functions

The prediction of the directivity function of a GPR antenna still remains a partially unsolved problem because of the subject complexity. First, the far-field conditions are often not satisfied and second, the antenna design has little in common with the Hertzian dipole for which an analytical approach can be used. The authors' contribution is both theoretical and experimental. On one side, they solve the (electromagnetic) EM integral equations numerically to derive the wavefield components from near to far-field distances. On the other side, they experiment with two novel techniques for measuring the directivity functions in the near to far-field range on dry and saturated sand. Theoretical and experimental results show that neither the analytic approximation of far-field directivity for the numerical integration of near-field directivity can perfectly match the measured functions, although near-field solutions are generally more consistent. The mismatch should be attributed to the present-day GPR antenna design that includes absorbers and shields. Although the effects of these elements are not included in the present numerical near-field solutions, they believe the approach to be of practical value to predict an average directivity function. A smoothed version of the analytic far-field solution can also be used in the range of the near to far-field transition but near-field solutions are really recommended when TX-RX distances are shorter than five wavelengths     

Analysis of phase-focused near-field testing for multiphase-centeradaptive radar systems

Airborne or spaceborne radar systems often require tests before deployment to verify how well the system detects targets and suppresses clutter and jammer signals. The radar antenna diameter can be large and thus the conventional far-field test distance is impractical to implement. The theory and simulations of phase-focused near-field testing for adaptive phased array antennas is discussed. With near-field source deployment, standard phased-array near-field phase focusing provides far-field adaptive nulling equivalent performance at a range distance of one aperture diameter from the adaptive antenna under test. Both main beam clutter sources and sidelobe jammer sources are addressed. The phased array antenna elements analyzed are one-half wavelength dipoles over the ground plane. Bandwidth, polarization, array mutual coupling, and finite array edge effects are taken into account. Numerical simulations of an adaptive antenna that has multiple displaced phase centers indicate that near-field and far-field testing can be equivalent     

Planar near-field to far-field transformation using an equivalentmagnetic current approach

An alternative method is presented for computing far-field antenna patterns from near-field measurements. The method utilizes the near-field data to determine equivalent magnetic current sources over a fictitious planar surface that encompasses the antenna, and these currents are used to ascertain the far fields. Under certain approximations, the currents should produce the correct far fields in all regions in front of the antenna regardless of the geometry over which the near-field measurements are made. An electric field integral equation (EFIE) is developed to relate the near fields to the equivalent magnetic currents. The method of moments is used to transform the integral equation into a matrix one. The matrix equation is solved with the conjugate gradient method, and in the case of a rectangular matrix, a least-squares solution for the currents is found without explicitly computing the normal form of the equation. Near-field to far-field transformation for planar scanning may be efficiently performed under certain conditions. Numerical results are presented for several antenna configurations     

Nonuniform sampling techniques for antenna applications

Recent investigations have demonstrated that uniform sampling techniques can be effectively applied for construction of far-field patterns of antennas. There are, however, many circumstances for which it may not be practical to directly utilize uniform sampling techniques. A two-dimensional sampling technique which can employ irregularly (nonuniformly) spaced samples (amplitude and phase) in order to generate the complete far-field patterns is presented. The technique implements a matrix inversion algorithm which depends only on the nonuniform sampled data point locations and with no dependence on the actual field values at these points. A powerful simulation algorithm is presented to allow a real-life simulation of many reflector/feed configurations and to determine the usefulness of the nonuniform sampling technique for the co-polar and cross-polar patterns. Additionally, an overlapped window concept and a generalized error simulation model are discussed to identify the stability of the technique for recovering the field data among the nonuniform sampled data. Numerical results are tailored for the pattern reconstruction of a 20-m offset reflector antenna operating atL-band. This reflector is planned to be used in a proposed measurement concept of large antennas aboard the space shuttle, whereby it would be almost impractical to accurately control the movement of the shuttle with respect to the radio frequency (RF) source in prescribed directions in order to generate uniform (u, v) sampled points. Also, application of the nonuniform sampling technique to patterns obtained using near-field measured data is demonstrated. Finally, results of an actual far-field measurement are presented for the construction of patterns of a reflector antenna from a set of nonuniformly distributed measured amplitude and phase data.     

Far-field errors due to random noise in cylindrical near-fieldmeasurements

A full characterization of the far-field noise obtained from cylindrical near-field to far-field transformation, for a white Gaussian, space stationary, near-field noise is derived. A possible source for such noise is the receiver additive noise. The noise characterization is done by obtaining the autocorrelation of the far-field noise, which is shown to be easily computed during the transformation process. Even for this simple case, the far-field noise has complex behavior dependent on the measurement probe. Once the statistical properties of the far-field noise are determined, it is possible to compute upper and lower bounds for the antenna radiation pattern for a given probability. These bounds define a strip within the radiation pattern with the desired probability. This may be used as part of a complete near-field error analysis of a particular cylindrical near-field facility     

Antenna measurements using a hologram CATR

It becomes increasingly difficult to obtain far-field measurements for large millimetre wave antennas at higher frequencies due to the required large distance between the antennas. A hologram compact antenna test range (CATR) is used to determine the radiation characteristics of a 39 GHz planar antenna in a small facility. The results are compared with those obtained from planar near-field scanning and conventional far-field measurements     

A near-field to far-field transformation for spheroidal geometry utilizing an eigenfunction expansion

This work presents a near-field to far-field (NF-FF) transformation for antenna and scatterer radiation evaluation. The transformation allows practical computation by making use of a sampling surface in the near-field that is spheroidal in shape: namely a prolate or oblate spheroid. The resulting vector wave equation does not support orthogonal vector solutions in spheroidal coordinates and instead rectangular field components are solved for using the scalar wave equation in spheroidal coordinates. The new transformation only requires knowledge of the completely-specified near-field electric field along the spheroidal transformation surface and does not need any information associated with the corresponding magnetic field. The benefit of using a spheroidal near-field geometry is its ability to closely conform to both linear and planar radiating structures while still permitting evaluation of the full far-field radiation pattern. Our approach makes use of an eigenfunction expansion of spheroidal wave-harmonics to develop two distinct, yet closely related, NF-FF transformation algorithms for each type of spheroidal surface. The spheroidal NF-FF transformation is validated and performance assessed using a well-characterized radiation structure. By applying the prolate and oblate algorithms to a radiating structure with known analytical near- and far-field electric fields, viz., a filament dipole with sinusoidal current distribution, we are able to setup and conduct multiple numerical tests that serve as a proof-of-concept for the spheroidal NF-FF transformation.