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Total Radiated Power (TRP) and Total Isotropic Sensitivity (TIS) are the two metrics most commonly used to characterize the over the air (OTA) performance of a handheld wireless device. The minimum range length for these measurements has usually been determined using the far-field criteria of R>2D2/.. Since the devices are relatively small (<30cm) and the frequencies relatively low (<2GHz), the range length required to meet the far-field criteria is less than 120 cm. However, wireless devices are being designed that operate at the higher frequencies of the IEEE 802.11 standards, and many of these devices are no longer small handheld devices but rather notebook computers, appliances or even vehicles. Applying the far-field criteria to testing such devices can generate requirements for large and expensive chambers. This paper demonstrates through both numerical simulations and actual measurements that accurate TRP and TIS measurements can be made at range lengths significantly shorter than those indicated by R>2D2/..
This paper presents a miniature conformal GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) antenna array with integrated low-profile feed that provides continuous upper hemisphere coverage with good axial ratio. The four element array is comprised of two-arm wire spirals with substrate dielectric loading and termination resistors. The array has a total size of 3.5” x 3.5” and is approximately 0.8” thick. The antenna array can be used to receive signals from all GNSS satellites in various bands. The antenna has a similar footprint as a FRPA-3 (Fixed Reception Pattern Antenna – 3), and thus can easily replace the existing FRPA-3. One can obtain improved performance with the new antenna in that the signals from any GNSS satellite can be received. In addition, the array can be used to null interfering signals by adaptively weighting the signals received by various antenna elements. We have analyzed the performance of the antenna using HFSS, and are in the process of building the antenna. Next, the performance of the antenna will be verified experimentally.
Till recently, the testing of installed aircraft radars antennas and radomes required the dismantle of the units from the aircraft in order to measure theirs electromagnetic properties inside a classical anechoic chamber. Such operations were difficult, particularly time consuming and did not fully characterize the antenna within its operational environment. For these reasons, ELTA issued a request for an “in situ” spherical near-field test system that could be used for “on board testing of radars” located inside the nose of an aircraft. SATIMO responded with a solution based on its own proprietary rapid probe array technology already employed extensively worldwide for antenna testing. The facility was recently delivered to ELTA and “in-situ” measurement of a radar antenna and radome were performed (fig.1&2). This new generation of test system performs multi-beam, multi port and multi-frequency dual polarized complex measurements at a step of 3-degree in azimuth and elevation over a full hemisphere in a few minutes. It is fully autonomous and mobile so it can be used indifferently indoor or outdoor. Continuous wave or pulsed electromagnetic measurements are obtained thanks to an advanced software which allows the user to control the main radar parameters. Diagnostic of faulty elements in the radar is also possible through a special automated measurement mode. The antenna test system has been completed and validated through a detailed acceptance test plan including inter comparison with a traditional planar near field test range. This paper presents the general design consideration and a summary of the results of the extensive verification tests.
Antenna miniaturization has already been demonstrated using equal inductive and capacitive loading to improve antenna impedance at high frequencies, before and after loading. Inductive loading was introduced by coiling the antenna arms to form an inductor like coil, whereas the capacitive loading was achieved using dielectric material. However, this approach can only be applied to miniaturize wire antennas. Here, an alternative miniaturization technique is introduced, using low-loss ferrite composites. The inductive and capacitive loading is now provided by the permeability and permittivity of the ferrite composite, respectively. Of course, the ferrite should possess equal permeability and permittivity (i.e. e’r = µ’r) and must be of low loss for large bandwidths. The basic concept of this approach is to match the impedance of the material to that of free-space, and thus minimize reflections caused by impedance mismatches. In this paper a miniaturized spiral antenna is presented, using the above technique. The challenges of fabricating such a unique ferrite material will also be discussed. .
Comparisons of the far-field results from two different ranges are a useful complement to the detailed 18 term uncertainty analysis procedure. Such comparisons can verify that the individual estimates of uncertainty for each range are reliable or indicate whether they are either too conservative or too optimistic. Such a comparison has recently been completed using planar and spherical near-field ranges at Nearfield Systems Inc. The test antenna was a mechanically and electrically stable slotted waveguide array with relatively low side lobes and cross polarization and a gain of approximately 35 dBi. The accuracies of both ranges were improved by testing for, and where appropriate, applying small corrections to the measured data for some of the individual 18 terms. The corrections reduce, but do not eliminate the errors for the selected terms and do not change the basic near-to-far field transformations or probe correction processes. The corrections considered were for bias error leakage, multiple reflections, rotary joint variations and spherical range alignment. Room scattering for the spherical measurements was evaluated using the MARS processing developed by NSI. The final results showed a peak equivalent error signal level in the side lobe region of approximately -60 dB for both main and cross component patterns for angles of up to 80 degrees off-axis.
In low profile applications, a perfect electrical conductor (PEC) ground plane closely placed behind the radiating element significantly degrades antenna performance when its electrical height is less than ./15. Existing approaches such as lossless electromagnetic band gap (EBG) structures and artificial magnetic conductors (AMC) tend to operate over a small bandwidth. Herewith, we introduce two alternative ultra wide bandwidth (UWB) approaches by coating the ground plane with a magneto–dielectric (or ferrite) layers. The first approach employs a layer of high ratio to generate in-phase reflection similar to that caused by a perfect magnetic conductor (PMC). The second approach adapts a lossy layer having similar and values. Radiation enhancements achieved via these ground planes treatments will be demonstrated by simulated and measured results. Design guidelines based on our parametric study will be also given.
Now-a-days, far-field ranges are being used to measure antenna radiation patterns. Two main types of ranges used are used for these measurements: direct and indirect illumination. In either case, the accuracy of the measurement is dependent upon the quality of the range quiet-zone fields. In direct illumination, phase and amplitude taper cause discrepancies in the fields. For indirect illumination, only amplitude taper must be accounted for. Additionally, stray signals and cross-polarization will further distort the quiet-zone fields and lead to measurement errors. This new methodology starts with the measured antenna data and a priori knowledge of the incident fields and estimates an Effective Aperture Distribution (EAD). The EAD compensates for these sources of error and can be used to predict the far-field radiation pattern of the antenna under test. Analytical results are presented for taper and stray signal analysis.
The goal of this research is to develop an unconstrained reconfigurable programmable array antenna. The concept is to build patch arrays using individual controllable pixels. The aperture of the system is made up of a large array of small (1/10 .min) pixels. Each pixel is a small piston made up of a metal top, a dielectric shaft, and a metal base. The pistons can be moved up and down under computer control. When all pistons are in the down position, a ground plane is created. When a line of pixels is raised into the up position, a microstrip transmission line (a metal line over a dielectric substrate) is created. A patch antenna is created when multiple pixels are raised into the up position to form a larger rectangle or other shape. In the final design, a set of feed lines and antennas can be created in any pattern within 1 millisecond. Under computer control, it is possible to change the beam direction, the beamwidth, the polarization, and the frequency of operation of the array. Design details, theoretical models, and the behavior of test fixtures and configurations will be discussed during this presentation.
As new antenna designs reach higher frequencies and smaller sizes, traditional large scale antenna chamber systems become ill-suited for measurement. External mixing, room-sized chambers, and expensive test equipment add large costs and burden to antenna measurement systems. A smaller, more cost effective system is proposed. Using the bipolar planar scanning technique developed at UCLA, a portable and movable millimeter-wave antenna chamber is currently under development. The chamber is being designed to fit on the end of a standard optical table and enjoys the space-saving and accuracy inherent to the bipolar planar configuration. Simple construction of the chamber will allow relatively easy assembly and disassembly and allow movement of the chamber from one table to another, if needed. Antenna of diameters up to 40cm can be accommodated and scan planes of up to ~160cm can be measured. Millimeter-wave frequencies from around 30GHz to 67GHz can be measured. Antennas measured will use planar near-field to far-field techniques. In particular, the post-process will follow the OSI/FFT method and will incorporate the phase retrieval techniques developed for the bipolar configuration. These phase-less measurements will allow the use of scalar millimeter-wave test equipment with much lower cost than comparable vector test equipment.
The polarization extraction in the phaseless near-field measurement is investigated. Sensing the antenna polarization based on the implementation of phase-retrieval methods like IFT (Iterative Fourier Technique) will not result to a unique solution. It is shown how a single extra point measurement can provide the complete vectorial representation of the field in a two-component representation. This means for the first time by the application of phaseless methods, one not only can get an understanding of the dominant polarization of the antenna in terms of linearity, ellipticity or circularity but also the true representation of the co- and cross polarized components in the far-field based on any definition (like Ludwig’s definitions). The applicability of the method is shown through a near-field measurement of a right-hand elliptically polarized antenna array in UCLA bi-polar near-field facility.
A full time domain characterization bench is realized in the CEA-LETI-Minatec anechoic chamber, to automatically derivate UWB antennas transfer function from waveform acquired by a fast sampling oscilloscope. Time domain measurement technique brings several advantages: faster and simpler measurements, out of band antenna behavior, intrinsic time windowing… Several time domain performance criteria are processed. A comparative method takes into account distortion due to the pulse generator and the test bench. Two different bands 0.3-2 GHz and 2-12 GHz are available. The comparison between frequency and time domain measurements shows excellent results (less than 0.3 dB on gain and 1° on phase) on the 2-12 GHz frequency band. Limitations of the proposed method are also addressed. The dynamic range is better than 35 dB thanks to averaging. Minimum bandwidth limit is evaluated to measure wideband and narrow band antennas.
The next generation of antennas will benefit from advanced instrumentation receivers capable of providing simultaneous analog and digital IF inputs, better TR pulse synchronization and high resolution pulse profiling. One such receiver uses a synergistic combination of a tightly coupled FPGA based beam controller, high performance analog digitizers, multiple FPGA based digital signal processors and a new mathematical programming environment. The FPGA signal processor provides direct digital downconversion, high resolution pulse processing and dynamically reconfigurable time and frequency gated matched filter signal integration. The signal processing functions are fully scriptable, providing spectral analysis, various other types of transform analysis, instantaneous demodulation, pulse characterization, noise estimation and more. Advanced mathematical tools combined with novel user interface technologies provide multiple intuitive views into the test setup, error analysis and measurement environment.
The dynamic range of a measurement system is typically evaluated in the frequency domain. However, for radar-cross-section (RCS) measurements, time processing of the frequency-domain data is often utilized to determine the temporal or spatial (down-range) location of responses. Dynamic range in the time domain is thus of considerable importance in determining what range of responses can be resolved and identified. While the coherent integration inherent in the pulse-compression process can increase the time-domain dynamic range beyond that of the frequency-domain, non-linearity in the measurement system leads to signal-dependent noise which, in turn, limits the time-domain dynamic range to a much smaller value. Thus, specification and characterization of time-domain dynamic range is critical for understanding the linearity requirements and the time-domain capability of the measurement system. This paper reviews design considerations, error sources, and measurement methods relevant to optimizing dynamic range in the time domain. Examples of time-domain measurements are included.
Conventional compact ranges use a reflector antenna’s near field to produce the plane wave illumination needed to measure a second antenna under test (AUT). The quasi-compact range described here uses a conventional reflector antenna at a greater range separation than conventional compact ranges, but still within the reflector’s near field. Its illumination allows the antenna evaluations at smaller range separations than the AUT’s far-field distance and allows modification of a current far-field range with a reflector range antenna to measure larger test articles than normally acceptable. This approach preserves many advantages of a standard compact range including reduced multipath and high measurement sensitivity that result from the collimated near field of the illuminating reflector antenna. Additionally, a conventional reflector antenna is used without requiring edge treatments. Experience with a four-foot prime focus parabola operating at 18 GHz illustrates this technique. The measured quiet zone fields compare favorably with calculated values using the GRASP codes. Likewise, measurements of a 20”-diameter offset reflector antenna compare favorably with GRASP results.
Adaptive antenna has both the amplitude and phase (as weights) which can be adapted optimally to get required multi path arrival estimation or directed beam forming. We had earlier tried to find out errors in adaptive arrays (ULA) and further try to investigate mutual coupling effect in closely spaced antenna elements in rectangular / planar arrangement. It is always desired to place antenna elements closer in order to reduce grating lobes when the main lobe is electrically tilted. In real life when an adaptive array is subjected to multi path and mutual coupling it is necessary to counteract with suitable modeling so as to make it usable for wireless communication. We attempt to study / investigate the mechanism for mutual coupling between antenna elements. In adaptive antenna arrays, mutual coupling can deteriorate the algorithms which try to deal with the direction of arrival (DOA) and beam forming. There is also a need to reduce the size of the antenna aperture and element itself, without degrading the performance and bandwidth of the element. We have simulated in Matlab our planar adaptive array algorithm which mitigates errors and reduces effects of mutual coupling. It was found that Tschebyscheff polynomial distribution was one of the optimum arrangements for antenna synthesis. When aperture length has to be fixed and new antenna elements are introduced we try to find way to deal with this by spacing nulls on unit circle according to Tschebyscheff pattern. We also try to touch issues in implementing the array on FPGA. Key words: ULA, DBF, Tschebyscheff, FPGA.
The purpose of this paper is to report on the application of Chebyshev absorbers in the design of a multi use anechoic chamber. The requirement was for a chamber which allowed for evaluation of various wireless devices to be evaluated in a multi use chamber. The purpose of the chamber is to support multiple programs and allow for the evaluation of both complete handsets as well as individual components of the wireless devices. Due to the dual purpose applications that were to be evaluated in this chamber neither a standard” antenna range” nor a “classic wireless” chamber fit the bill. In order to optimize the use of this chamber a unique design was developed which incorporates the best of both classical chamber designs. To improve the low frequency response of the chamber a Chebyshev pattern was designed for chamber termination wall. Due to the short length of the chamber in comparison to the target length a Chebyshev pattern was designed for the specular patches on the sidewalls, floor and ceiling to improve the “off angle” performance of the chamber.
Method of moments (MoM) codes have become have become increasingly capable and accurate for predicting the radiation and scattering from structures with dimensions up to several tens of wavelengths. In particular, for simple structures like canonical shapes or antenna / RCS test fixtures, especially those with material treatments, the primary source of disagreement between measurements and predictions is often due to differences between the “as-designed” and “as-built” material parameters rather than to the underlying MoM code itself. This paper describes an algorithm that uses a MoM model combined with backscatter measurements to estimate the “as-built” materials parameters for the case where the treatments can be modeled using an equivalent boundary condition. The algorithm is a variant of the network model technique described in [1]-[3]. The paper presents a brief formulation of the network model materials characterization algorithm, along with numerical simulations of its performance for a simple canonical RCS shape using the CARLOS-3D™ MoM code [4]. The convergence properties of the algorithm are also discussed.
The use of characteristic modes or eigenmodes in arbi-trary electromagnetic geometries for a variety of ap-plications has a long history ([7], [8], [9]). This work introduces a means for numerically computing these modes over frequency in a Finite Element Boundary Integral (FE-BI) prediction code framework for arbi-trary patch antenna geometries. Manipulation of modes using material texturing is demonstrated as an effective means for adjusting lossless patch antenna performance. Mode visualization aids in understand-ing material texture requirements for a particular wideband optimization condition.
Antenna measurement data is collected over a surface as a function of position relative to the antenna. The data collection coordinate system directly affects how data is mapped to the surface: planar, cylindrical, spherical or other types. Far-field measurements are usually mapped or converted to spherical surfaces from which directivity, polarization and patterns are calculated and projected. Often the collected coordinate system is not the same as the final-mapped system, requiring special formulas for proper conversion. In addition, projecting this data in two and three-dimensional polar or rectangular plots presents other problems in interpreting data. This paper presents many of the most commonly encountered coordinate system formulas and shows how their mapping directly affects the interpretation of pattern and polarization data in an easily recognizable way.
In the framework of the Antenna Centre of Excellence (ACE) of the European Union, a specific action is devoted to the development of a mapping database of international antenna measurement facilities, with the aim to share them for performing accurate antenna validations. During the ACE-2 activity (2006-2007), two kinds of measurement services have been developed and included in the mapping database. They are intended to give the opportunity for registered users to contact a list of selected institutes (Unified Request Form service) and to perform the benchmarking of their own measurement facilities (Benchmarking service). Both services are accessible through the Virtual Centre of Excellence (VCE) homepage (www.antennasvce.org) at the Measurement Facilities link.