A new method of analysis of the near and far fields of paraboloidal reflectors

An analytical technique for predicting accurately the near (electric and magnetic) fields as well as the far fields of a reflector antenna with a pencil beam is presented. The technique proposed involves the near-field geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) analysis of reflector antennas developed earlier and spherical vector mode functions. The proposed technique does not place any restriction on the range of polar angles or radial distances of the observation point. It is demonstrated that the technique proposed can predict the fields radiated by the reflector with greater accuracy by comparing the calculated results with the available measured results. A few important applications of the analysis proposed are also highlighted.     

Effect of support strut diffraction on reflector surface profile assessment

The phase-imaging properties of microwave holographic processing are used to provide an inward-looking reconstruction of support strut diffraction and its effect on reflector surface profile assessment. Measured near-field data are employed to illustrate the contribution made by the support strut geometry to the apparent profile error for a 2.5 m reflector antenna operating at 10 GHz. The relative significance of real profile errors and those deriving from strut effects are studied by using a diffraction model. It is concluded that certain configurations of support struts can give rise to significant modification of the effective profile error distribution.     

On the characterization of a reflector impulse radiating antenna (IRA): full-wave analysis and measured results

There is a growing demand for impulse radiating antennas (IRAs) to receive and transmit short pulses. The basic concepts of IRA are reviewed and the far-field pattern versus frequency of an ideal IRA is characterized based on the fundamental properties of IRA. It is shown that the transmitted pulse is ideally in the form of a time derivative of the input pulse. The physical optics simulation results show that the far-field characteristics of a parabolic reflector are very close to an ideal IRA if it is fed properly. The reflector IRA was constructed, analyzed and measured at UCLA. The near-field and far-field characteristics of the reflector IRA are studied using both the method of moments (MoM) full-wave simulations and the frequency domain measurements. In this paper, the radiation mechanism of the reflector IRA is studied using a detailed current distribution on the parabolic reflector and the feeding structure at different frequencies. Applying either the calculated current distribution on the reflector IRA or the measured near-field results, it is seen that the aperture field intensity of the parabolic reflector is not the same in the two principle planes and as a result the beam-widths in the two principle planes are different. The far-field patterns of the antenna are measured and the calculated far-field patterns support the measured results. The calculated current distribution results provide a guideline on how to properly change the feeding structure to achieve a more uniform aperture field and increase the antenna radiation efficiency.     

The SNFGTD method and its accuracy

The spherical near-field geometrical theory of diffraction (SNFGTD) method is an extended aperture method by which the near field from an antenna is computed on a spherical surface enclosing the antenna using the geometrical theory of diffraction. The far field is subsequently found by means of a spherical near-field to far-field transformation based on a spherical wave expansion of the near field. Due to the properties of the SNF-transformation, the total far field may be obtained as a sum of transformed contributions which facilitates analysis of collimated beams. It is demonstrated that the method possesses some advantages Over traditional methods of pattern prediction, but also that the accuracy of the method is determined by the quasioptical methods used to calculate the near field.     

Application of spherical near-field measurements to microwaveholographic diagnosis of antennas

Microwave diagnosis of antennas is considered as a viable tool for the determination of reflector surface distortions and location of defective radiating elements of array antennas. A hybrid technique based on the combination of the spherical near-field measurements and holographic metrology reconstruction is presented. The measured spherical near-field data are first used to construct the far-field amplitude and phase patterns of the antenna on specified regularized u-v coordinates. These data are then utilized in the surface profile reconstruction of the holographic technique using a fast-Fourier-transform (FFT)/iterative approach. Results of an experiment using a 156-cm reflector antenna measured at 11.3 GHz are presented for both the original antenna and the antenna with four attached bumps. Several contour and gray-scaled plots are presented for the reconstructed surface profiles of the measured antennas. The recovery effectiveness of the attached bumps has been demonstrated. The hybrid procedure presented is used to assess the achieved accuracy of the holographic reconstruction technique because of its ability to determine very accurate far-field amplitude and phase data from the spherical near-field measurements     

Radiation pattern of a test reflector antenna from near-fieldmeasurements over focal region of a coupled lens or offsetreflector

A novel scheme has been investigated by which the radiation pattern of a test reflector antenna is determined by rescaling a plot of the electric field distribution in the focal plane of a large lens or in the offset focal plane of a large offset reflector placed in front of the transmitting antenna under test. The major advantage of the technique is that it permits a direct plot of the desired radiation pattern from near-field amplitude data without requiring any phase measurements. The test method is simpler and the test data more accurate than for pervious test methods     

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     

Analysis of near-field Cassegrain reflector: plane wave versuselement-by-element approach

A near-field Cassegrain reflector (NFCR) is an effective way to magnify a small phased array into a much larger aperture antenna for limited scan applications. Traditionally the pattern wave approach, i.e. the field from the feed array incident on the subreflector is approximated by a truncated collimated beam with planar phase and tapered amplitude distribution. This approach simplifies the computation tremendously, but fails to provide design information about the most critical component of the whole antenna system, namely, the feed array. With the help of today's computers, it is now feasible to calculate the pattern of a NFCR by a more exact element-by-element approach. Each element in the feed array is considered individually and the diffraction pattern from the subreflector is calculated by the geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD). The field contributions from all elements are superimposed at the curved main reflector surface, and a physical optics integration is performed to obtain the secondary pattern     

FFT applications to plane-polar near-field antenna measurements

The four-point bivariate Lagrange interpolation algorithm was applied to near-field antenna data measured in a plane-polar facility. The results were sufficiently accurate to permit the use of the FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithm to calculate the far-field patterns of the antenna. Good agreement was obtained between the far-field patterns as calculated by the Jacobi-Bessel and the FFT algorithms. The significant advantage in using the FFT is in the calculation of the principal plane cuts, which may be made very quickly. Also, the application of the FFT algorithm directly to the near-field data was used to perform surface holographic diagnosis of a reflector antenna. The effects due to the focusing of the emergent beam from the reflector, as well as the effects of the information in the wide-angle regions, are shown. The use of the plane-polar near-field antenna test range has therefore been expanded to include these useful FFT applications     

G/T maximization of a paraboloidal reflector fed by a dipole-diskantenna with ring by using the multiple-reflection approach and themoment method

A 1.8-m paraboloidal reflector fed by a dipole-disk antenna with a beamforming ring is optimized for high G/T at L-band by using the moment method (MM) and the multiple reflection (MR) approach. The MR approach is based on using MM to calculate the radiation and scattering patterns of the feed, using physical optics plus uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (UTD) to include the reflector, and in addition to include the mutual interaction (multiple reflections) between the reflector and the feed by using the expression for the sum of an infinite geometric series. The MR approach is shown to be equally accurate as a MM solution of the complete antenna with reflector, provided the reflector is in the far field of the feed, and the MR approach is much faster. As a result of the calculations using the MR approach, design curves are presented showing how the G/T varies as a function of antenna geometry, size, and elevation angle, all for a given noise profile of the surrounding sky and ground. The computed radiation patterns and G/Ts are compared with measurements for several elevation angles and surrounding terrain     

由极平面近场测量确定天线远区辐射场

文章讨论了极平面近场测量确定天线远区辐射场的基本公式，采用Ｊａｃｏｂｉ－Ｂｅｓｓｅｌｓ级数展开方法求解电磁流模系数。通过对１．２ｍ反射面天线极平面近场扫描的实测结果与远场测量结果的比较，证明了该方法的有效性。     

Reflector antenna radiation pattern analysis by equivalent edge currents

Equivalent edge currents, derived from the edge diffraction theory for a half-plane, are used to obtain the radiation patterns of a parabeloidal reflector antenna when illuminated by a source at the focus. Cylindrical wave diffraction coefficients are used. The method avoids infinities at caustics and shadow boundaries thus giving solutions which are finite everywhere. A slope-wave equivalent current correction term is applied when the illumination is tapered towards the edge of the reflector. Comparisons are given with the physical optics approach and experimental results.     

Inflection point caustic problems and solutions for high-gaindual-shaped reflectors

The singular nature of the UTD (uniform geometrical theory of diffraction) subreflector scattered field at the vicinity of the main reflector edge (for a high-grain antenna design) is investigated. It is shown that the singularity in the UTD edge-diffracted and slope-diffracted fields is due to the reflection distance parameter approaching infinity in the transition functions. While the GO (geometrical optics) and UTD edge-diffracted fields exhibit singularities of the same order, the edge slope-diffracted field singularity is more significant and is substantial for greater subreflector edge tapers. The diffraction analysis of such a subreflector in the vicinity of the main reflector edge has been carried out efficiently and accurately by a stationary phase evaluation of the φ-integral, whereas the &thetas;-integral is carried out numerically. Computational results from UTD and PO (physical optics) analysis of a 34-m ground station dual-shaped reflector confirm the analytical formulations for both circularly symmetric and offset asymmetric subreflectors. It is concluded that the proposed PO_&thetas;GO_φ technique can be used to study the spillover or noise temperature characteristics of a high-grain reflector antenna efficiently and accurately     

Numerical beam alignment procedure for planar near-field phaseretrieval

The authors demonstrate mathematically that the direction of an antenna beam (antenna pointing) can be determined by the centre-of-gravity of its beam intensity. The technique is validated using measurements on a 1.118 m 94 GHz Cassegrain reflector and is seen as pivotal in the future application of the phase retrieval technique for near-field/far-field prediction     

用FDTD和物理光学混合法分析毫米波抛物面天线

抛物面天线通常的分析方法是几何光学法和物理光学法,对于电大尺寸的抛物面天线这两种方法都可以得到较好的结果,对于电小尺寸馈源的抛物面天线,馈源方向图不仅取决于辐射器本身的辐射特性,其馈电结构对馈源方向图也有较大的影响,在此情况下,用上述方法得到的结果与实验结果之间有较大的误差.利用FDTD可以把整个馈电结构纳入计算域中,得到辐射器完整的近区场,由等效原理可求出抛物面上电流分布,从而用物理光学方法计算抛物面天线远区场.本文用这种混合方法分析计算了毫米波波导裂缝作为辐射器的抛物面天线,计算结果和测试结果相当吻合,证明了方法的有效性.     

Simplified Calculation of Antenna Patterns, with Application to Radome Problems

Generally, the calculation of antenna far-field patterns from known near-field distributions is tedious and may require the use of a large computer. The calculations are simplified for certain types of antennas having separable near fields. This simplifying assumption is found to yield satisfactory results with pyramidal horns and parabolic reflector antennas. Calculations are further simplified by approximating a complex line integral with two real summations. Measured and calculated far-field patterns are included to indicate the accuracy of the calculations. Results are presented for horns and parabolic antennas and for a horn covered with a hollow dielectric wedge. The method is applicable to both E-plane and H-plane pattern calculations. The main lobe of a far-field pattern is calculated in less than one hour on a desk calculating machine by the simplified method. In radome work an important feature is that it permits rapid evaluation of the far-field distortion associated with any given near-field distortion in any given small region in the near field.     

用PTD分析双弯曲反射面天线形变和穿孔的辐射特性

该文根据模型反射面天线的爆炸实验测试结果建立了反射面天线形变的数学模型,应用物理光学(P0)法和物理绕射(PTD)理论计钟:了一种赋形反射面天线形变后的辐射特性,同时还计算了反射面天线表面被爆炸破片穿孔后的辐射特性,结果表明,由于反射面的局部形变,直接导致辐射方向图的恶化,并且随着形变部分面积的增大,水平面的副瓣抬高很大,穿孔也会使水平面的副瓣抬高。     

2 GHz electromagnetic crystal reflector antenna

The radiation pattern of a monopole antenna with a small electromagnetic crystal (EMXT) reflector was investigated. High frequency structure simulations predict a considerable amount of near-field shielding with undisturbed antenna impedance matching when a perfect magnetic conductor reflector is positioned near the monopole. The pattern distortion created by the reflector gradually decreases, reaching a minimum in the far field. Experimental results show the monopole with an EMXT reflector, /spl lambda//sub 0//4/spl times//spl lambda//sub 0//2 in size, produces a radiation pattern with a front-to-back ratio of 10.8 and 5.7 dB in the near and far fields, respectively.     

Field correlation diffraction theory of the symmetrical cassegrainian antenna

The received field as focused by the parabolic main reflector of a Cassegrainian antenna at the surface of an arbitrary profile subreflector is calculated by a spherical wave expansion. This facilitates the application of the field correlation principle and leads to an expression for aperture efficiency taking into account diffraction effects. A comparison is made with numerical results previously published or obtained by other methods. The potential advantage of the technique is the speed of computation and the capability for synthesis as well as analysis of reflector shapes.     

An antenna for dual-wavelength radiometry at 21 and 32 GHz

Accurate multiwavelength remote sensing of the atmosphere requires antennas with the same beamwidth at the various frequencies of operation. A single offset antenna with a corrugated feed which meets this criterion at 20.6 and 31.65 GHz is described. The planar near-field (PNF) scanning facility at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was utilized to measure the near-field patterns of the overall antenna for various feed positions, and with an apodizer placed on the reflector. Comparison of the far-field patterns, calculated using PNF methods, yielded the optimum configuration. In addition, the facility was used as a far-field range to measure the radiation pattern of the feed. The antenna is presently installed at Stapleton International Airport, Denver, CO, in a dual-channel radiometric system which continuously remotely senses water vapor and liquid, and it is performing satisfactorily.