Test zone field compensation

Test zone field (TZF) compensation increases antenna pattern measurement accuracy by compensating for extraneous fields created by reflection and scattering of the range antenna field from fixed objects in the range and by leakage of the range RF system from a fixed location in the range. TZF compensation can be used on fixed line-of-sight (static) far-field, compact, and near-field ranges. Other compensation techniques are seldom used in practical measurement situations because they are limited in the amount of compensation they provide. These techniques do not adequately model the type of extraneous field present in the range or require increased measurement time and equipment necessary to implement the technique. TZF compensation overcomes these limits as follows. The TZF is measured over a spherical surface encompassing the test zone using a low gain probe. The measured TZF is used antenna pattern measurements to compensate for extraneous fields. TZF compensation theory is presented and demonstrated using measured data     

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.     

一种实用的相控阵近场诊断新方法

提出了一种相控阵天线近场诊断的新方法.传统的方法要诊断出相控阵天线单元的激励,必须已知阵列单元的方向图和探头的方向图.文中基于相控阵天线的激励、单元方向图、探头方向图和近场测量数据之间的关系,得到了相控阵天线的激励和近场测量数据之间的耦合方程.利用多项式插值,在不必已知单元方向图和探头方向图的情况下,求解出相控阵天线的单元激励.     

Evaluation des cadences de mesure de champs proches au moyen de sondes modulées

The problems involved in the direct far-field measurements of large antennas have led to the development of the near-field measurement technique. According to this method, the far-field pattern of the antenna is calculated from the near-field measurements close to the antenna. The only inconvenience in this technique is the slow rate of measurements. This slowness is due to the mechanical displacement of the measuring probe or the test antenna. The modulated scattering technique is a method to reduce the measurement time while preserving acceptable levels of accuracy. This article is mainly concerned with estimating the possible measurement rates in typical configurations.     

Correction de rotation continue en mesures de champs proches

In near-field techniques applicable to large antennas the measurements are often made through the scanning of a meridian of the desired surface for different orientations of the test antenna. Utilisation of a probe array permits a rapid analysis of the field along that meridian. As shown in this paper, it is not necessary to stop the movement of the antenna during measurements along the meridian, if a simple scheme for continuous rotation of the test antenna is utilised.     

An overview of near-field antenna measurements

After a brief history of near-field antenna measurements with and without probe correction, the theory of near-field antenna measurements is outlined beginning with ideal probes scanning on arbitrary surfaces and ending with arbitrary probes scanning on planar, cylindrical, and spherical surfaces. Probe correction is introduced for all three measurement geometries as a slight modification to the ideal probe expressions. Sampling theorems are applied to determine the required data-point spacing, and efficient computational methods along with their computer run times are discussed. The major sources of experimental error defining the accuracy of typical planar near-field measurement facilities are reviewed, and present limitations of planar, cylindrical, and spherical near-field scanning are identified.     

Surface accuracy measurement of a deployable mesh reflector byplanar near-field scanning

Using a near-field antenna measurement facility, it is possible to simultaneously evaluate the surface accuracy of a reflector antenna as well as the far-field pattern of the antenna for a short time. The surface errors of a 2-m deployable mesh reflector for satellite use were measured by a planar near-field system. As a result, the influence of periodic structures, due to the antenna ribs, is clearly observed. Also, the surface accuracy obtained with the near field scanning technique coincides well with that obtained by an optical measurement technique     

Linear array characteristics with one-dimensional reactive-regionnear-field scanning: simulations and measurements

A model for simulating the performance of a phased-array antenna with one-dimensional near-field scanning is addressed. Measurements and simulations in the reactive near-field region for a linear array with monopole elements are described. The array and near-field probe characteristics are simulated by using the method of moments. Measurements and simulations of the array near-zone received voltage, plane-wave spectrum, and far-field data, using centerline scanning at less than one wavelength distance from the antenna, are shown to be in good agreement. The presence of evanescent grating lobes in the plane-wave spectrum is observed. It is shown that a V-dipole theoretical probe antenna can accurately model a practical near-field measurement probe     

无相位近场测量和全息诊断中基于泛函极值的相位恢复方法

相位恢复是无相位近场测量和全息诊断的关键技术.本文考虑探头修正,构造加权目标泛函,给出避免局部极值的无相位测量条件.为提高计算效率和工程实用性,对Fletcher-Reeves共轭梯度法采取再开始技术、FFT算法和构造迭代初值等改进措施.数值模拟表明,应利用有关天线和近场测量的先验信息,选取尽量少的搜索变量.实验结果验证了本文方法的正确性和有效性.     

基于傅立叶变换频移特性的平面近场测试方法

为了满足快速和无相测试现场天线的需求,文中提出了一种基于傅立叶变换频移特性的平面近场测 试方法。该方法采用多探头技术,利用各个通道的移相,达到天线角域的移动,实现了任意指向角信号的采集,具有 测试快速、使用便捷的特点,特别适用于天线的大规模生产测试和现场测试等。对一个标准喇叭天线进行了平面近 场扫描测量,对比了用传统近场数据处理插值方式得到的和用频移性质得到的天线远场方向图(E 面)。实验显示, 该方法具有与传统近场测试方法相同的效果,能有效地测试天线方向图。     

Real-time spherical near-field handset antenna measurements

A new spherical near-field measurement system, dedicated to personal-communications applications, has been installed at e-tenna Corporation. The system, sold by Satimo, uses an electronically scanned probe array, and offers a dramatic reduction of the measurement time (by a factor ranging from 60 to 1,000) with respect to conventional mechanical scanners. This test range has undergone extensive acceptance testing, which has verified the specified measurement accuracy. The speed of the system, combined with the availability of full-sphere measurement data, enables rapid measurement of antenna efficiency. The system also enables the measurement of other parameters, such as the percentage of radiated power dissipated into the body of a human test subject operating a cellular telephone     

车载天线整车测试系统集成与实现

针对自动驾驶、车联网等新技术场景下汽车天线整车性能测试的新需求,借鉴近年来近场测量技术的研究成果,设计采用半球面近场与平面近场相结合的方式,集成了一套汽车天线整车测试系统.系统基于8 m直径的方位转台实现了中小型汽车的车载天线测试定位,基于12 m直径的弧形多探头采样架实现了 400 MHz～6 GHz工作频段内的车载...     

Determination of far-field antenna patterns from near-field measurements

In many cases, it is impractical or impossible to make antenna pattern measurements on a conventional far-field range; the distance to the radiating far field may be too long, it may be impractical to move the antenna from its operating environment to an antenna range, or the desired amount of pattern data may require too much time on a far-field range. For these and other reasons, it is often desirable or necessary to determine far-field antenna patterns from measurements made in the radiating near-field region; three basic techniques for accomplishing this have proven to be successful. In the first technique, the aperture phase and amplitude distributions are sampled by a scanning field probe, and then the measured distributions are transformed to the far field. In the second technique, a plane wave that is approximately uniform in amplitude is created by a feed and large reflector in the immediate vicinity of the test antenna. And in the third technique, the test antenna is focused within the radiating near-field region, patterns are measured at the reduced range, and then the antenna is refocused to infinity. Each of these techniques is discussed, and the various advantages and limitations of each technique are presented.     

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     

天线时域平面近场测试的误差分析

天线时域近场测试技术对误差体系研究的缺失,导致测试结果的不确定度分析一直无法完成.为解决这一问题,以天线时域平面近场测试为例,对时域近场测试的误差进行研究,给出时域测试区别于频域测试技术的四个误差项:探头调制误差、信号源稳定度误差、时间采样间隔误差、时间采样长度误差.在给出误差项后,对误差的产生机理进行了讨论,通过仿真和实测给出了误差对测试结果的影响.     

Fully Probe-Corrected Near-Field Far-Field Transformation Employing Plane Wave Expansion and Diagonal Translation Operators

Near-field antenna measurements combined with a near-field far-field transformation are an established antenna characterization technique. The approach avoids far-field measurements and offers a wide area of post-processing possibilities including radiation pattern determination and diagnostic methods. In this paper, a near-field far-field transformation algorithm employing plane wave expansion is presented and applied to the case of spherical near-field measurements. Compared to existing algorithms, this approach exploits the benefits of diagonalized translation operators, known from fast multipole methods. Due to the plane wave based field representation, a probe correction, using directly the probe's far-field pattern can easily be integrated into the transformation. Hence, it is possible to perform a full probe correction for arbitrary field probes with almost no additional effort. In contrast to other plane wave techniques, like holographic projections, which are suitable for highly directive antennas, the presented approach is applicable for arbitrary radiating structures. Major advantages are low computational effort with respect to the coupling matrix elements owing to the use of diagonalized translation operators and the efficient correction of arbitrary field probes. Also, irregular measurement grids can be handled with little additional effort.     

Planar near-field to far-field transformation using an array ofdipole probes

A method is presented for computing far-field antenna patterns from measured near-field data measured by an array of planar dipole probes. The method utilizes the near-field data to determine some equivalent magnetic current sources over a fictitious planar surface which encompasses the antenna. These currents are then used to find the far fields. The near-field measurement is carried out by terminating each dipole with 50 Ω load impedances and measuring the complex voltages across the loads. An electric field integral equation (EFIE) is developed to relate the measured complex voltages to the equivalent magnetic currents. The mutual coupling between the array of probes and the test antenna modeled by magnetic dipoles is taken into account. The method of moments with Galerkin's type solution procedure is used to transform the integral equation into a matrix one. The matrix equation is solved with the conjugate gradient-fast Fourier transformation (CG-FFT) method exploiting the block Toeplitz structure of the matrix. Numerical results are presented for several antenna configurations to show the validity of the method     

A First/Third-Order Probe Correction Technique for Spherical Near-Field Antenna Measurements Using Three Probe Orientations

A probe correction technique is described for spherical near-field antenna measurements based on sampling the near field for three probe orientations in each measurement direction. The technique applies to odd-order probes whose radiated field contains (significant) power only in the first (mu = plusmn1) and third- order (mu = plusmn3) azimuthal spherical modes. The technique is ideally suited as an optional probe correction technique for high-accuracy measurements in existing measurement systems that employ a rectangular or square waveguide probe and the traditional first-order probe correction technique.