Alignment procedures for planar near-field positioners

The alignment of a planar near-field scanner is important for achieving low phase error in measurements and, hence, good pattern data. Non-planarity phase errors can be measured and removed in the data-collection software. However, better mechanical alignment translates into better sidelobe measurements and a higher frequency of operation. This paper describes a procedure for installation and alignment of a planar-scanner positioner, and illustrates the procedure using a box-frame-type scanner. Alignment of the scan plane is independent of the drive system used, since the positional errors associated with the drive system are defined as positional errors     

Error analysis techniques for planar near-field measurements

A combination of techniques is described for reliably estimating the magnitude of each error arising in planar near-field measurements. They include mathematical analysis, computer simulation, and measurement tests. There are three primary applications for these tests: in designing a measurement facility, the requirements of each part of the measurement system can be specified to meet a given level of accuracy; during actual measurements, the experimenter can identify, and reduce where necessary, potential sources of error in the measurement; and when a measurement has been completed, the estimated uncertainty in the measurement can be obtained with confidence and ease. The latter application has been used in many measurements to verify that the planar near-field technique produces high-accuracy results competitive with any other measurement technique     

Scan-plane reduction techniques for planar near-field antenna measurements

In this work, two planar near-field scan-plane reduction techniques are considered and results are presented. It is shown how truncation based on field-intensity contours, instead of simple geometric truncation, can in some cases improve the efficiency of the truncation process. Both techniques are applied to measured data sets, and it is shown how these methods can be used to reduce data-acquisition times, while also assessing the impact of the total acquisition surface reduction on the far-field radiation-pattern integrity.     

Electro-optic near-field mapping of planar resonators

A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study for the determination of the electric near-field above planar resonators is presented. The transverse component of the electric field is mapped by external electro-optic (EO) sampling technique with high spatial and temporal resolution. The evolution of the near-field radiation pattern of the investigated 7-GHz planar resonator to the onset of the far-field pattern is traced by measurements at various heights above the sample. Frequency-dependent measurements allow to characterize the field pattern changes when the frequency is swept through the main resonance. Additional undesired resonances are identified by the detected mode pattern. The experimental data are reproduced by simulations based upon an electric field integral equation (EFIE) method     

Core alignment procedure for single-mode-fibre jointing

An auxiliary optical system is described which will enable the core alignment of single-mode fibres in a jointing location without use of far-end apparatus. The system is based on the launching of an optical signal into the core of the first fibre and the detection of this signal from the core of the second fibre by bending of the fibres and without removal of the coating. A two-step experimental alignment procedure is described consisting of a visual coarse alignment followed by a fine alignment by means of a simple piezo-electric fibre translator.     

Linear spiral sampling for the bipolar planar near-field antennameasurement technique

This paper investigates linear spiral sampling for bipolar planar near-field antenna measurements. This sampling scheme is, depending on range implementation, the most rapid polar near-filed data acquisition mode. The near-field to far-field transformation is performed using a modified optimal sampling interpolation (OSI)/fast Fourier transform (FFT) approach. Measured far-field pattern results for a waveguide-fed slot array antenna are presented and are shown to have excellent agreement with results obtained from a conventional bipolar measurement     

平面近远场变换的快速算法

基于考虑探头补偿的平面近远场变换理论 ,根据实际需要 ,提出了一种工程实用的平面近远场变换快速算法。通过该算法由近场测量数据变换得到的天线远场方向图 ,既能达到任意分辨率 ,又能节约计算内存和提高计算速度。     

Single-reference near-field calibration procedure for step-frequency ground penetrating radar

The antenna system of ground penetrating radar is usually positioned in the vicinity of the ground surface to obtain sufficient spatial resolution for detecting small targets. Therefore, received signals are subject to errors caused by unwanted reflections and coupling. A near-field calibration procedure taking into account these effects as well as antenna dispersion is presented. For practical convenience, only a metal plane is used here as a calibration standard. Calibration data are measured for a set of distances between the antenna and metal plane. The reference reflections in all positions are computed using polynomial representation of the reflected signal. Then, error coefficients are obtained by a solution of a linear system of equations in the least squares sense. Experimental verification of the proposed calibration technique demonstrated efficient removal of artefacts caused by unwanted reflections. Moreover, peaks in the radar range profile become sharper after calibration if the antenna is dispersive. Consequently, the ground response in the form of an exponential term can be effectively subtracted from the received signal. This helps to reveal and discriminate shallow underground targets obscured by strong reflection of the ground surface. Experimental examples are given to illustrate the performance of the method.     

Aperture sampling requirements in planar near-field and patterncalculations

The paper covers a simple idea. If we sample an aperture, we can obtain valid patterns over a limited angular region about the normal to the aperture. The same expression can be used with near-field measurements. I reduced the expression to a nomograph. A nomograph allows one to rapidly test various choices. In the second half of the paper, I answer questions caused by the February column which discussed polarization (Milligan, IEEE Antennas. Propag. Mag., vol.38, no.1, p.56-8, 1996)     

Effect of random errors in planar near-field measurement

Expressions that relate the signal-to-noise ratio in the near field to the signal-to-noise ratio in the far field are developed. The expressions are then used to predict errors in far-field patterns obtained from near-field data. A technique for measuring the noise in the calculated far-field pattern by calculating the spectrum in the evanescent region from a single-dimensional oversampled scan is also described     

一种修正平面近场测量中探头位置误差的有效算法

该文提出了一种修正平面近场测量中探头位置误差的算法,并进行了计算机模拟。计算结果表明,所提出的修正算法收敛速度快、数值稳定性好、计算精度高,是一种实用而有效的修正平面近场测量中探头位置误差的方法。     

模式滤波技术在平面近场天线测量中的应用

为了修正平面近场测量中的多次反射误差,介绍了模式滤波修正技术在平面近场测量中的应用,提出了一种合适的模式滤波函数.推导出模式滤波修正技术的相关公式并进行了数值仿真,仿真结果表明通过利用模式滤波技术对平面近场天线测量结果进行后处理能够有效地改善测量结果.     

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     

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.     

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.     

Formulation of probe-corrected planar near-field scanning in thetime domain

Probe-corrected planar near-field formulas in the time domain are derived for both acoustic and electromagnetic fields, so that a single set of near-field measurements in the time domain yields the fields of the test antenna directly in the time domain. The time-domain probe-corrected formulas are first derived by taking the inverse Fourier transform-of the corresponding frequency-domain formulas, and then by using a time-domain expansion for the fields of the test antenna and a time-domain receiving characteristic of the probe. Because these general formulas, which involve a double integral over the scan plane and an infinite time-convolution integral, are rather complicated, we consider a special probe whose output due to an incoming time domain plane wave is proportional to the time derivative of the field of that plane wave. For this special “D-dot probe”, the probe-corrected formulas simplify to give the time-domain far-held pattern as a double spatial integral of the time-domain output of the probe over the scan plane multiplied by the angular dependence of the inverse receiving characteristic of the probe. Time-domain reciprocity relations are derived for reciprocal probes, and their time-domain receiving characteristics are related to their far fields. Finally, a time-domain sampling theorem is derived and a numerical example illustrates the use of the time-domain probe-corrected formulas     

Simple alignment procedure for a helium?neon laser

A simple alignment procedure for a helium?neon laser is described. Using only an infrared detector and a selective amplifier, the method yields, in a few minutes, accurate enough alignment for oscillation to occur on the three main lines of the helium?neon laser.     

Antenna array with beam focused in near-field zone

A novel antenna array producing a beam focused in the near-field zone has been developed for use in non-destructive, non-contact microwave sensing applications. Two prototype antennas have been developed and tested, showing good agreement between predicted and measured performance, thereby validating the novel design concept.     

Reflector radiation pattern from planar near-field measurements of array feed

High gain shaped beam antennas for satellite frequency reuse applications are almost exclusively obtained by the use of complex multielement feed arrays to provide pattern control in conjunction with offset reflectors to remove blockage effects. In the design of complex multielement feed arrays for offset reflectors, the element excitations are usually synthesized using the isolated element properties. Proper performance of the array often requires that these theoretical excitations be modified to account for the effects on the feed elements due to the array environment. Near-field planar probing of the fields of the feed array have been found to provide an efficient and accurate method of predicting the secondary performances, including cross polarization and axial ratio. The nearfield measurement technique, moreover, provides an extremely effective method of determining the element performance and for determining the required compensation for desired antenna performance.     

Accurate determination of planar near-field correction parametersfor linearly polarized probes

A procedure used by the US National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for accurately determining the plane-wave receiving parameters of both single- and dual-port linearly polarized probes is described. Examples are presented, and the effect of these probe receiving characteristics in the calculation of the parameters for the antenna under test is demonstrated using the required planar near-field theory. The planar near-field theory necessary to accomplish probe correction and to formulate probe parameter errors is presented in a concise and meaningful way to help understand when probe correction is or is not needed