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A time domain near-field far-field transformation technique based on a non redundant plane-polar sampling representation of the field is presented. The method allows to obtain the far-field with a minimum number of samples and/or a reduction of the scanning area. Various computational schemes are presented.
In this paper, a near-field time domain radiation measurement is described, similar to the traditional frequency domain near-field radiation measurement. This time domain measurement approach borrows many of the principles developed in the frequency domain and is ideally suited for the measurement of broadband devices. The goal of determining the radiated far-fields of an antenna is accomplished by the transformation of near-field data collected over a planar sampling surface. The near-fields are generated with an antenna excited by a short duration transient pulse. In particular, the near-fields of an aperture antenna are collected using a digital sampling oscilloscope. The bandwidth of the excitation pulse is approximately 10 GHz.
Some precautions necessary for accurate RCS measurements using a short model range are discussed. Sources of error in these measurements such as non ideal range geometry, misalignment of the target and inappropriate time domain gating are discussed. A simple technique to estimate possible errors in RCS measurements due to factors such as bistatic angle due to finite separation of source and receive horns and finite length of the measurement range, is presented. The range of RCS values that can be measured within defined error bonds is identified.
The Naval Command, Control and Ocean Surveillance Center RDT&E Division (NRaD) has been using a 500 MHz Linear Frequency Modulated (LFM) radar to collect measurements of flying aircraft. These data have been used to generate high resolution Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radar (ISAR) images of the targets [l]. Digital Signal Processing (DSP) hardware had been added to the radar and algorithms have been implemented to perform ISAR processing on the data in real time. A VME bus architecture has been developed to provide a scaleable, flexible platform to test and develop real-time processing software. Algorithms have been developed from a system model, and processing software has been implemented to perform pulse compression, motion compensation, polar reformatting, image formation, and target motion estimation.
In order to measure the performance of microwave absorbing materials a broadband free- space measurement system constructed in INTA. The is a kind of N RL Arch that gives us the possibility of measurements in d ifferent configurations. It comprises a set of dielect ric loaded rectangular waveguide antennas, coaxial vector analyzer, sample support and a computer. A TRL calibration technique in the plate near field is developed taking advantage of the calibration functions implemented in the network analyzer and the time domain gating. We introduce the use of typical RCS calibration standards as the calibration reflect standards. It gives us the possibility of performing the near field free space calibration in the same way that it is usually done in waveguide, but for directions di fferent to the normal. This calibration allows us to check the edge diffraction behaviour of the samples in the measurement and is thought to be adecuated for thin materials.
The utility of high resolution ISAR data in the devel opment and maintenance of low observable (LO) and conventional aircraft and the identification and charac terization of threat aircraft is well established. However, the task of ISAR image RCS interpretation is difficult. Often imaging effects introduced by rotating blades and jet engine modulation (JEM) can compound the already difficult interpretation task. It is easy for these effects to be obscured, ignored, or erroneously misinterpreted in ISAR down-range versus cross-range (Doppler) imag ery and range compressed versus time domain data. This paper presents cases of amplitude and phase modulated ISAR data collected from two airborne targets; a propel ler driven airplane and a helicopter, using a linear FM waveform radar. This will be supplemented with mathe matical models describing the modulation phenomenon and the resultant imaging effects
With the recent use of dual-polarized transmission and reception on communications links, the capability to perform accurate polarization measurements is an important requirement of test-range systems. Satellite antennas are commonly measured in the clean, protected environment of compact and near-field ranges, and a circularly polarized feed/field probe is a primary factor in establishing their polarization properties. The feeds also provide excellent source-horn systems for tapered anechoic chambers, where their circular symmetry and decoupling of the fields from the absorber walls improve the often troublesome polarization characteristics of tapered chambers. Circularly polarized feeds are generally composed of four primary waveguide components: the orthomode transducer, quarter-wave polarizer, scalar ring horn, and circular waveguide step transformer. Linearly polarized feeds omit the quarter-wave polarizer. This paper discusses the design and performance of high-polarization-purity source feeds for evaluating the polarization properties of antennas under test. Circularly polarized feeds have been constructed which operate over 10- to 20-percent bandwidths from 1.5 to 70 GHz. Gain values are generally in the area of 12 to 18 dBi, with cross-polarization isolation in excess of 40 dB. Representative measured data are presented.
Prony's method has been found useful in extracting the time domain response over extended time using data samples of limited time span. This paper describes results of studies underway to apply Prony's method to extracting the RCS time and frequency response from limited measured and computed data. The technique has been applied to characterize the RCS response of structures with inherent multiple resonances, e.g., a dielectric cube constructed using high-permittivity dielectric material. Implications of the technique to gated antenna and RCS measurements are discussed.
A complete description is given of the unique radar cross-section (RCS) measurement facility built at the Houston Advanced Research Center in The Woodlands, TX. The uniqueness of this chamber comes from its ability to independently move the transmit and receive antennas, which can each be moved to any position within their respective ranges of motion to a resolution of about 0.05 degrees. The transmit antenna is fixed in azimuth, but can be moved in elevation: the receive antenna is free to move in both azimuth and elevation. Additionally, the target can be rotated in azimuth by means of an azimuth positioner. Analysis has been performed to determine the impact of chamber effects on measurement accuracy. The most notable chamber effect comes from the two large aluminum truss structures, which are the mounting supports for the transmit and receive antennas. Fortunately, the scattering from these structures can be readily separated from the desired target return through the use of range (time) gating. Time domain results are presented showing the effects of these structures.
MUSIC and ESPIRIT are two popular eigen analysis based super-resolution estimation techniques. The use of these techniques in scattering analysis is of interest in this paper. A comparative performance evaluation of these techniques is reported based on the time domain study of the RSC of various targets.
Calibrated measured results are presented that characterize the performance of a rhombic shaped TEM parallel plate horn antenna to transmit and receive ultra-wide bandwidth (UWB) waveforms, the standard narrow band antenna parameters, such as gain, are inadequate in characterizing the antenna. In this paper, the antenna is viewed as a transducer in which the transmitting and receiving antenna can be fully described by complex transfer functions. These functions provide a more natural means of characterizing an antenna for UWB applications. The time domain transmit and receive transfer functions of our test antenna are presented in a contour map as a function of angle for the two principal planes, and the responses are correlated to physical attributes. In addition, the waveform dispersion and the total received energy for a bandwidth limited impulse excitation are used to characterize its use for UWB synthetic aperture radar (SAR) applications.
Generally, the radiating properties of passive antennas can be measured with CW test signals in either transmit or receive mode with identical results. For a variety of practical reasons, outdoor antenna ranges have traditionally been configured to receive on the antenna under test. A growing class of active antennas, however, are non-reciprocal as systems and must be tested independently in both transmit mode and in receive mode. Often, broadband (non-CW) test signals must be utilized in the testing of these systems. In this paper, antenna range configurations are compared and practical instrumentation techniques for measurement of broadband signals on the antenna range are discussed. A Rome Laboratory pulse antenna measurement receiver, designed to obtain complex time domain profiles of transmitted waveforms as a function of angle, will also be described.
The paper describes the high frequency measurements of the fields diffracted at the edges of an obstacle. The measurements are performed in an ordinary room, by using the time-domain filtering and frequency smoothing options of a vector network analyzer. The field distribution on a cylindrical arc is measured without the obstacle, and with the metallic obstacle present. The measurement approach in both cases proves to be rather different: without the obstacle, a modified calibration method should be used together with frequency smoothing, while in the presence of the obstacle, the same calibration set needs to be used in conjunction with time domain filtering. In the latter case, however, the use of frequency smoothing is not allowed. The results of the two measurements sessions can be condensed into one parametric curve expressing the additional attenuation of the radio signal, which is caused by the presence of the object on the propagation path. Practical and theoretical curves are compared for several object dimensions, and very good agreement is obtained in all cases.
General guidelines for using software gating are presented. Examples which demonstrate both proper and improper use of gating are presented. The effects of RAM materials on the time domain signature and the selection of the gate parameters are discussed. A brief review of the general theory of high resolution RCS measurements is presented.
Recently, the theory and computer programs on the Periodic Moment Method (PMM) for scattering from both singly and doubly periodic arrays of lossy dielectric bodies have been developed. The purpose is to design microwave wedge and pyramid absorber for low reflectivity so that one can improve measurements and/or reduce the size of the anechoic chamber. With PMM, the reflection and transmission coefficients of periodically distributed bodies illuminated by a plane wave have been accurately calculated on the Cray Y-MP supercomputer at the Ohio Supercomputer Center. Through these studies, some wedge and pyramid absorber configurations have been designed, fabricated and tested in the OSU/ESL Anechoic Chamber. Very good agreement between calculations and measurements has been obtained. In the 1990 AMTA meeting, several wedge absorber designs and results for the TM case and normal incidence were presented. In this paper, the measured and calculated frequency responses of some experimental wedge designs, as well as an 8” and 18” commercial wedge and pyramid absorber panels will be reported for both TM and TE polarizations. Time domain responses will also be shown for both measurements and calculations.
A code based n Geometric Optics, but applicable to diffuse surface scattering, it is evaluated for prediction of downrange high range resolution (HRR) plots of signatures generated in a compact range. A description of the technique is given, including physical justification, underlying assumptions, and flexibility of implementation. Data collected at the Hughes Compact Range will be presented in support of the analysis. Usefulness of this code in generating tradeoffs for compact range designs is demonstrated. Variations in the performance of the compact ranges are shown as a function of various range design parameters, including horn performance, chamber length, and target/wall interaction. Results are analyzed and presented in space and time domains.
Accurate scattering and antenna measurements require excellent plane wave purity in the target zone; however all measurement systems are contaminated by various stray signals which result in measurement errors. In this paper, a technique of evaluating the stray signal sources in a compact range using a diagonal plat plate as a test target is presented. The scattering cross section of the diagonal flat plate as a function of frequency and angle of rotation is first measured. Then the time domain response for each projection angle is processed to obtain a two dimensional ISAR image of the plate as well as the stray signals. From the stray signal images, the location and relative strength of the stray signals can be determined. Experimental results from the OSU/ESL Compact Range Facility are presented to demonstrate this stray signal imaging technique.
Based on the complexity of the scattering mechanisms associated with a real-world target, it is obvious that measurement diagnostic tools are extremely helpful. On technique that has found great success in this regard is the conventional ISAR or down range/cross range image. However, the results are basically two-dimensional, which limits the usefulness of the data in that most real-world targets have significant three-dimensional features. A very efficient class of 3D image algorithms has been developed which are based on various time domain look angles relative to the target [1]. It has been shown that one can use multiple feed antennas in a compact range to collect this data and then process it directly to obtain a 3D image of the target. This can be done very rapidly, say every 10 seconds, using an approximate solution, or in 10 minutes using a 3D ISAR approach. The system design and techniques used to implement this system are presented in this paper.
Transient signature representation of scattered fields and their interpretation have become common in downrange and crossrange scattering center identification. A review of the basic concepts for one dimensional transient analysis is presented. The topics included are the frequency-time domain dual representation, general characteristics of transient signatures and temporal mechanism extraction.
Comparative measurements have been made in a compact range to determine the performance improvements that can be achieved when adding a hardware gate to a CW-based measurement system. Starting with conventional stepped frequency CW measurements made in the time domain mode, high resolution downrange data was collected to determine the background levels of the compact range. This was followed by comparative measurements under the same conditions adding a narrow pulsed hardware gate to reject inter-horn coupling and high returns from the compact reflector. A second mode of comparison was examined by collecting aspect data with a specific range gate fixed about the target. Software gated measurements required more points to insure alias free operation, while the hardware gated measurements allowed fewer points which reduced measurement time without sacrificing any accuracy. Finally, imaging measurements were made with both software and hardware gating to compare the measurement time and accuracy