Accurate millimeter wave antenna phase pattern measurements usingthe differential phase method with three power meters

The novel differential phase measurement method has been demonstrated at millimeter waves using three power meters instead of a phase-sensitive measurement device. Compared to conventional antenna phase measurement methods, the differential phase method provides several advantages. This method requires no rotary joints or flexible cables. Phase-locking of the oscillators is not necessary. It is shown that the phase measurement device can be replaced by three power dividers and three power meters or detectors. The phase patterns measured with three power meters agree well with the measurements carried out using an antenna measurement receiver as well as with the theory     

Improved method for evaluating antenna performance in mobile environment with consideration of polarization and phase

The paper presents an improved method for evaluating antenna performance in a multipath propagation environment. It demonstrates, theoretically and experimentally, that by using polarization and phase terms of the incident field and the antenna system in the evaluation of the antenna effective gain (AEG), the AEG can be evaluated more efficiently as compared with the conventional method. First, a theoretical expression of the received power is given by using the open-circuit voltage at the antenna terminals, in which both the polarization and the phase of the incident field and antenna gain patterns are explicitly used. Secondly, a newly developed system for the measurement of field parameters, such as polarization and phase as well as amplitude, is introduced. Thirdly, incident field parameters measured in urban and suburban areas of Tokyo are described. It was confirmed that major incident waves were counted in up to five or six directions at a mobile terminal and their polarizations and phases were different depending on the direction of incidence. Also, measurement of the antenna gain patterns of the latest personal digital cellular handset at a talk position finds the dependence of the AEG on polarization and phase, which were significantly varied by the body effect. Finally, the AEG is evaluated based on the method introduced here, and its usefulness is compared with that of the conventional method.     

基于软件无线电架构的智能天线幅相校准

针对天线阵对多通道幅度和相位一致性的要求,在基于软件无线电(Software Defined Radio,SDR)架构的智能天线基础上提出了射频通道幅相测算和板级幅相测算相结合方案,具备幅相慢变特性的射频通道采用离线参数法,而板上多通道采用在线测算法,并采用星座旋转算法实现了相位校准.最后通过现场可编程门阵列(Field Programmable Gate Array,FPGA)模块仿真验证了该校准方法的正确性,并分析了系统误差来源及规避方法,为多通道系统幅相校准提供了工程化应用基础.     

抑制共模噪声的SIW 平衡馈电差分缝隙天线阵*

提出一种利用差分天线在共模激励和差模激励下方向图不同来抑制共模噪声的方法,并基于该理论 设计了6×6 平衡馈电差分SIW 缝隙天线阵进行验证。该天线由6个宽边纵向SIW 缝隙天线子阵列组成。辐射缝隙 被设计为只在差模激励下辐射,达到抑制共模信号的目的。每个天线子阵采用平衡差分馈电方式,使用两个1分6 梳状功分器将6个子阵同时激励。整个天线使用标准PCB 工艺加工,为了测试共模和差模激励,分别设计了带有 180°相移的功分器和T型功分器用来生成差模和共模信号。在差模激励下,天线的最大增益为20.2dBi,S11幅值小 于-10dB 带宽为7.2%(39.6 ~43.8GHz),在共模激励下天线的最大增益为10.1dBi,在整个工作频段内S11幅值大于 -7dB。仿真和实验结果验证了该结构的SIW 缝隙天线对差模信号能够有效地辐射而对共模信号进行抑制。     

Field probe for measuring both amplitude and phase of antenna radiation patterns

Small probe antennas are often used for measuring the amplitude and phase of antenna radiation patterns. Phase measurements are complicated by the need for an accurate r.f. phase reference to be conveyed to or from the mobile probe. The letter describes a scheme for simplifying such measurements by the use of a probe unit which backscatters incident energy after subjecting it to a single sideband frequency translation. The scheme has application to both compact ranges and to the measurement of profile errors in reflector antennas by phase measurements within the aperture plane.     

A new method for correcting phase errors caused by flexing ofcables in antenna measurements

A simple method for correcting phase errors due to flexing of cables in an antenna measurement setup is introduced. The method that makes it possible to measure the phase error in the cable is described, and the error is removed numerically from the antenna measurement results. The method has been verified with experimental measurements at 10 GHz. The measurements show that the accuracy of the phase correction is limited by the accuracy of the phase measurement device in the system     

Fast Measurement Technique for Phased Array Calibration

A novel measurement method is proposed in order to measure the active electric fields of the individual antenna elements in a phased array antenna. Fast and accurate measurements can be realized by the proposed method because the electric fields of multiple elements can be obtained simultaneously and no phase measurements are required. Hence, it can be easily applied to the on-board diagnostics and re-calibration in the operating phased array antenna systems. In the first step with this method, the phases of multiple antenna elements are successively shifted with the specified phase intervals while the array power variations are measured. Next, the measured power variation is expanded into a Fourier series and the terms are rearranged to put them into the form of the rotating element electric field vector (REV) method. Finally, the REV solution is used to identify the electric fields of the individual elements. Additionally, a theoretical study is carried out on the accuracy of the proposed measurement method. Simple, closed-form equations have been successfully derived for the measurement errors and the calibration accuracy is theoretically estimated. The proposed measurement method is validated with experimental results and the measurement accuracy is compared with the theoretical prediction.      

New method of measuring phase characteristics of antenna using Doppler frequency measurement technique

This paper reports on a new method of measuring the phase characteristics of an antenna using the Doppler frequency measurement technique. With this method, the antenna being tested is rotated at a rate of f/sub sp/ around an axis through its geometrical center, and the phase characteristics of the antenna are calculated from the harmonic components of f/sub sp/ during time variations in the Doppler frequency of radio waves emitted from the antenna. Using this, we obtained three-dimensional phase characteristics of a patch antenna with a root-mean-square error of about 0.5/spl deg/, and confirmed its efficacy through experimental results.     

A simple wafer-level measurement technique for predicting oxidereliability

A new wafer-level measurement technique, the differential gate antenna analysis, has been developed to detect weaknesses in sub-micrometer oxide. This simple technique involves the use of dual antenna structures with different gate oxide areas but the same antenna area ratio. The critical parameter is the difference in their failure levels. It is shown that such a differential measurement of antenna failures correlates with product failure during accelerated life testing. The differential antenna structures are thus proven useful for real-time wafer-level monitoring of oxide reliability     

GPS synchronized power system phase angle measurements

Before a major new 500 kV transmission line was placed in service between Oregon and the San Francisco, California area, a series of high-voltage short circuit tests were performed on the transmission system. The short circuit faults produced a brief ‘delta function’ shock to the regional power system. This paper discusses the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) synchronized equipment for the measurement and analysis of key power system quantities. Before the testing, the authors installed two GPS synchronized phasor measurement units (PMUs). The PMUs use GPS to globally synchronize the measurement of the state vector of the power system, the complex voltages of substation busses. Complex voltage means the magnitude and the relative phase angles of substation voltages. GPS provides the global time reference marker for phase angle measurement. One electrical degree of the 60 Hz waveform equals about 46 μs. Across short transmission lines (less than 50 km), measurements may need to be made to 0.1 electrical degree, which translates to clock synchronizations of roughly 5 μs. The PMUs recorded the dynamic response of the power system phase angles when the northern California power grid was excited by the artificial short circuits. Power system planning engineers perform detailed computer generated simulations of the dynamic response of the power system to naturally occurring short circuits, e.g. faults caused by lightning. The computer simulations use models of transmission lines, transformers, circuit breakers, and other high voltage components. This work will compare computer simulations of the same event with field measurements.     

Active Integrated Antenna Design Using a Contact-Less, Proximity Coupled, Differentially Fed Technique

A novel contact-less, differential feeding technique suitable for integrated active antenna design is demonstrated. This technique utilizes an odd mode signal to generate fringing fields on either side of a microstrip gap under the antenna. This allows electromagnetic energy to be efficiently coupled from the transmission lines to the radiating antenna. In a balanced integrated antenna amplifier configuration, the proposed non-contact feeding method removes the need for any balun or power combining network. Hence in theory, a compact RF front-end design with lower losses can be realized. This feeding method has been successfully applied to the design of simple passive microstrip patch antennas and active integrated antennas (AIA). Simulated and measured results are also included to validate the proposed feeding concept and antenna designs. The performance of the proposed differential feeding technique on a simple microstrip patch antenna has been systematically studied. The study suggests that the proposed proximity method is broadband in nature, allowing antennas operating at different resonant frequencies to be swapped without the need to change the feed dimensions and without degrading the matching performance     

超宽带天线极化特性对相位干涉仪测角精度的影响

在超宽带相位干涉仪体制测角系统的使用过程中发现,该体制对天线极化特性敏感,严重影响测角精度,尤其在低频段表现明显.文章对一种超宽带Vivaldi天线的极化特性进行了建模,从理论上分析了天线极化特性对来波信号极化测量的影响,其导致相位干涉仪测角系统精度降低.最后,试验测试证明了天线交叉极化特性对相位干涉仪测角精度的负面影响,并提出一种通过修正接收天线极化特性提高测角精度的途径,试验结果表明其可以显著提高测角精度.     

幅相误差对阵列天线相位中心的影响分析

为精确预测阵列天线相位中心的特性, 研究了阵列口径的幅相误差对阵列天线相位中心的影响.对阵列天线相位中心的求解方法进行了简要论述, 得出了阵列天线相位中心的计算方法; 采用该方法对一个算例阵列进行仿真计算, 分别引入均匀分布和正态分布的幅相误差, 计算得出不同类型幅相误差造成的天线相位中心变化.分析计算结果可以得出, 幅相误差对阵列天线相位中心可造成显著影响, 并且该影响与幅相误差分布类型和误差限有关.该研究结论可用于指导高精度阵列天线的设计.     

卫星通信中的一种小参量跳频BPSK/DPSK相位估计算法

军事卫星通信系统中很多情况下采用跳频通信,这就导致PSK的相干检测比较困难,通常使用增加参考符号来对接收信号的相位进行估计.因此很多系统采用差分相位调制,比如DPSK调制方式就不需要相位信息,但DPSK比PSK的功率效率要低.本文提出一种新的相位估计算法,该算法利用小数据量的参考信号对相位调制信号的相干检测来提高功率效率,而且在同一编码块(同一跳)中实现相位估计.本文在3种通信信道环境下进行模拟试验(蒙特卡罗仿真),最后以输出的误码率来验证算法的先进性.     

Accuracy considerations in the measurement of the power gain of a large microwave antenna

Accuracy considerations in the measurement of the power gain of a large microwave antenna are discussed. The analysis indicates that, using the power gain comparison method with a standard antenna of nominally 40-dB gain, a large antenna with a power gain of nominally 60 dB could be calibrated to within an error of 0.17 dB (3sigma). The power gain of the standard antenna is considered to be determined via the generalized three-antenna extrapolation method. Individual sources of errors in both the generalized three-antenna extrapolation method and the power gain comparison method are discussed.     

用于GPS天线相位中心检测的时间同步自动旋转装置

根据测地型高精度GPS天线相位中心检测的需要,本文研制了一种时间同步自动旋转装置,利用机械结构设计提高被测天线旋转的回转精度和指向精度,使用GPS授时芯片实现被测天线按GPS时序高频率自动旋转,从方法上提高了检测结果的准确性。该装置结构稳定、自动化程度高,天线相位中心检测精度可达亚毫米级,已在实际外业检测中取得良好的应用效果。     

Design of dual-reflector antennas with arbitrary phase and amplitude distributions

A synthesis method based on geometrical optics for designing a dual-reflector antenna system with an arbitrary phase and amplitude distribution in the aperture of the second reflector is presented. The first reflector may be illuminated by a pattern with an arbitrarily curved phase front. A pair of first-order ordinary nonlinear differential equations of the formdy/dx=f(x, y)are developed for the system. Questions concerning uniqueness, existence and bounds for the solutions can be answered. Calculations and numerical results for the design of a uniform amplitude and phase dual-reflector system are presented.     

具有稳定相位中心的三馈点圆极化微带天线

介绍了一种具有稳定相位中心的圆极化微带天线。理论分析证明:采用幅度相等,相位相差120°的三馈电方式,圆形微带天线能获得圆极化辐射特性。中心对称的三馈点设计,天线可获得很高的相位中心稳定度。仿真结果显示:此天线相位中心的稳定度小于1mm.测试结果表明:在2.18～2.66GHz频带内该天线轴比小于3dB,相对带宽19.83%。     

采用天线组阵辅助的连线干涉测量载波相位解模糊

针对航天器初始轨道精度无法满足连线干涉测量（CEI）载波相位解模糊需求的问题,提出了一种采用短基线天线阵辅助的解模糊方法。从理论上分析了载波相位模糊产生的原因以及不同方向角、不同基线长度条件下解模糊对轨道预报精度的最低要求,对具有代表性的1 km短基线天线阵在主站测距加两基线方向角（Rlm）体制下的定位精度进行了仿真,结果表明,方向角越大,该方法的无模糊基线长度扩展能力越强。最后给出了达到最优测角精度的基线长度设置和解模糊流程。     

Optical phase difference measurement and correction using AlGaAs integrated guided-wave components

A Y-junction interferometer phase measurement technique that is independent of the power or power ratio in the input arms has been developed. The technique is intended for use in the basic module of a proposed integrated optical system for use at GaAs wavelengths that produces a flat-phase output wavefront. A proof-of-concept AlGaAs guided-wave Mach-Zehnder interferometer was used to demonstrate measurement and correction of a phase difference between the arms using this phase measurement technique. Results have been obtained for the cases of successive steps in the phase difference between the interferometer arms, of random phase differences, and of a power imbalance of up to 30% between the arms.<>