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Boeing is currently pursuing certification of their 9-77 indoor compact range facility as a voluntary industrial participant in the ongoing DoD/NIST RCS certification demonstration program. In support of that process, V EI has applied a novel statistical method for analysis to VHF measurements of a canonical target from the Boeing 9-77 range. The dominant error sources in the range were identified and categorized according to their dependence on frequency, aspect angle, and the target under test. Range characterization data were collected on canonical targets and then used to estimate the statistical parameters of each of the errors. Finally, these were incorporated into expressions for the combined RCS measurement uncertainty for a test body whose RCS exhibits many of the characteristics of modern, high-value targets. The results clearly demonstrate the importance of accounting for the target-dependence of the errors and the bias they introduce into the overall uncertainty.
This paper describes how ANSI standard Z-540 [l,2,3] was applied in a DoD demonstration project to organize radar cross section (RCS) range documentation for the Air Force Research Laboratory Advanced Compact Range (ACR) and Patu:xent River Atlantic Test Range (ATR) Dynamic RCS measurement facility. Both parts of this paper represent a follow-up report on the DoD demonstration program introduced at AMTA 97 [4]. In June 2000, the DoD Range Commanders Council Signature Measurement and Standards Group (RCC/SMSG) certified that these two facilities met the ANSI-Z-540 documentation standards established by the DoD demonstration project. Since AFRL plans to require mandatory ANSI-Z-540 compliance for DoD contractors performing RCS measurements with AFRL after January 1, 2004, the review process described in this paper will be the likely model for industrial compliance. After a brief review of the ANSI-Z-540 standard, Part 1 of this paper will outline the certification review process and discuss the outcomes, results, and lessons learned from the DoD demonstration program from the perspective of the AFRL range and volunteer range reviewers.
This paper describes how ANSI/NCSL standard Z- 540 [1, 2] was applied in a DoD demonstration project to organize radar cross section (RCS) range documentation for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Advanced Compact Range (ACR) and the Naval Ai:r Warfare Center - Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) Atlantic Test Range (ATR) Dynamic RCS measurement facility. Both parts of this paper represent a follow-up report on the DoD demonstration program introduced at AMTA 97 [3]. In June 2000, the DoD Range Commanders Council Signature Measurement and Standards Group (RCC/SMSG) certified that these two facilities met the ANSI/NCSL Z-540 documentation standards established by the DoD demonstration project. Since AFRL plans to require mandatory ANSI/NCSL Z- 540 compliance for DoD contractors performing RCS measurements with AFRL after January 1, 2004, the review process described in this paper will be the likely model for industrial compliance. Part I of this paper contained a brief summary of the ANSI/NCSL Z-540 standard, outlined the certification review process and discussed the outcomes, results, and lessons learned from the DoD demonstration program from the perspective of the AFRL range and volunteer range reviewers. Part II will discuss the review process as it applied to ATR, as well as the outcomes, results, and lessons learned.
The design of a compact range facility in the National University of Singapore is presented. The range is designed for antenna and RCS measurements from L band to Ka-band and for test objects up to about 2 metres in size. The reflector in the range is parabolic in shape with a focal length of 3.5 metres. The instrumentation is standard measurement equipment with some purpose-built controllers for the positioners and the scanner.
Allgon Systems AB has put a new compact antenna test range into operation in July 2000. The investment was triggered by Allgon's planned move to a new building. An indoor facility was preferred for fast and efficient operation. The present primary application is the measurements of base station antennas. The compact range is constructed using a single reflector with serrated edges. A sophisticated feed carrousel enables automatic changing of 3 feed systems. The size of the quiet zone is 3 meters. The initial frequency range is from 800 to 6000 MHz. However, the reflector accuracy allows future extensions to 40 GHz and higher. The cha mber size is 21 x 12 x 10.5 m (L x W x H). Absorber layout comprises 24, 36 and 48 inch absorbers. An overhead crane spans the entire facility. The positioner system is configured as roll over azimuth with a lower elevation over azimuth for pick-u p and small elevation angle measurements. Different sizes of masts and roll positioners are available, depending on the AUT. Instrumentation is based on a HP 8753. Software is based on the FR-959 Plus. Antenna measurement results show the performance of the facility.
GE Aircraft Engines (GEAE) in Cincinnati, Ohio recently built a compact range facility to operate from 800 MHz to 18 GHz. The design process included visits to other :recently completed facilities so that industry best practices could be incorporated into the design of the state-of-the-art facility. The facility includes a 30 x 30-x 65-ft. chamber, corner fed blended rolled edge reflector, Chebyshev Multilevel absorbers, a 12-ft. diameter tu rntable, and rail mounted gantry crane for target mounting, Facility design, chamber, reflector, absorber, target handling and fire protection systems are discussed.
Quiet zone field probe data of a recently built compact range system is presented. The com pact range uses an optimally designed blended rolled edge reflector to operate from 800 MHz to 18 GHz. The absorber on the walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber is also designed and placed for optimal performance. It is shown that the range is free of any significant stray signals over the whole frequency band.
This paper presents the electromagnetic effects of low level non-random error on a compact range reflector surface. Physical optics computational analyses are presented illustrating the effect. Furthermore, actual case study results from the new GE/NT Compact Range Facility are also shown in which a non-random error of 3 mil RMS was discovered. Finally, a process is presented in which the non-random nature of the error was analyzed and removed from the surface. Before and after field probe measu rements illustrate the dramatic effect of such error.
An important source of error in a compact range antenna pattern measurement is the deviation of the quiet-zone field from the perfectly fiat amplitude and phase of a plane wave field. Although some guidelines and rules of thumb exist that relate the quiet-zone field to the error in the measured antenna patterns, the error or perturbation is dependent on the particular type of antenna that is being measured. For example, the non-ideal quiet zone field will produce very different errors for a small horn than for a large phased array. A realistic error budget or uncertainty analysis of the compact-range measurement requires knowledge of the antenna pattern uncertainty as a function of the quiet-zone field and the particular antenna of interest. A simulation method is derived using reciprocity that allows one to quantify the perturbations induced in a given antenna pattern when the quite-zone field distribution is known. This is particularly useful, since one typically has a fair estimate of the antenna pattern and has measured data of the quiet-zone field. The simulation is tested by modelling the antenna as a collection of elemental current sources and simulating the quiet-zone field as generated by elemental current sources. Using this simple simulation model, a closed-form near-field antenna pattern may be calculated for comparison with the more general computer simulation derived from reciprocity.
Many aircraft radome structures are designed to operate simultaneously over multiple RF bands and incident polarizations. Critical parameters must be measured over the electrical apertures of the radome and across each operating band. Automated measurement techniques are required to efficiently collect the large volume of test data required. A modular broadband feed assembly has been developed to allow the simultaneous collection of multi-band, multi-polarization data on a compact range without the need to mechanically change feeds. The feed assembly utilizes a sinuous antenna as the radiating element and is capable of operation from 2-18 GHz with electronically selectable polarization states. Feed design criteria as they relate to compact range antenna and radome measurements are discussed. Of primary importance are reflector illumination pattern, linear polarization cross-polarization level, and circular polarization axial ratio. Polarization switching requirements for a specific test application are defined and the physical implementation of the integrated feed assembly is described. Measured feed and quiet zone performance data is presented for this application. The polarization switching configuration can be readily modified to support other applications.
Nowadays, highly accurate antenna pattern and RCS measurements are performed in compensated compact range test facilities, which fulfil the stringent space requirements for measurements up to 500 GHz and more. As the suppression of diffracted fields from the reflectors mainly determine the quiet zone field performance, the reflector edge treatment is an important design parameter for this type of test facilities. Within the present paper a novel serration design wm be shown. The analyses as well as measurement results exhibit a clear improvement of the quiet zone field performance when compared to previous solutions. The new serration design was implemented and proved with the CCR 20/17 of Astrium GmbH at the Munich University of Applied Sciences.
Compact ranges have found wide use in the pa rametric characterization of high performance radomes such as those found on modern military aircraft. A properly designed compact range facility provides a stable, repeatable test environment suitable for the measurement of small variations in antenna boresight position (beam deflection), antenna pattern distortion, and transmission loss. Radomes have increased in complexity from small structures housing a single antenna to multi-band, multi-system structures large enough to stand inside. Similarly, compact range reflectors have increased in commercial units available today provide quiet zone extents of 12 feet or larger. This paper describes the system design and performance of a compact range test facility designed to test a C-130 Combat Talon II nose radome measuring 7 feet in length and diameter. The facility was constructed at Robins AFB, GA, and is in operation. A description of the facility and its major subsystems is given. Sizing of the chamber and layout of equipment is described. Chamber electromagnetic design considerations are discussed. Electromagnetic design was complicated by the physical size of the structure required to mount the radome, by the fact that multiple antennas and gimbals are present inside the radome during testing, and by the need to use a broad band feed to eliminate mechanical feed changes. Absorber layout and control of spurious reflections is discussed. Electromagnetic performance data is presented.
TRW, working with several subcontractors, is building a Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) in one of its existing buildings. This range will replace the function of a two mile long far-field range. Lehman Chambers Corp. provided the CATR Anechoic Chamber with Cuming Corp. Microwave Absorber. Mission Research Corp. provided the CATR Rolled Edge Reflector and feeds. M.I. Technologies is configuring TRW supplied positioners with new translators for AUT positioning. The system will operate with both the M.I. Technologies 3000 System software and TRW software. We will be using an existing S/A 1795 receiver for the RF portion of the system with HP sources. Completion of the range is scheduled by the beginning of the 4th quarter 2000. This paper will provide an overview of the system design and constraints. Individual portions of the CATR will be described in detail including decisions made to reduce the overall cost of the system and fit into an existing budget.
The requirement to calibrate and test large active pulsed planar array RADAR antennas, such as the one developed for the advanced synthetic aperture radar (ASAR), places certain requirements on the measurement facility and analysis software that are perhaps not encountered in other areas of application. This paper gives a brief overview of ASAR and an introduction to some of the difficulties encountered during the test and measurement campaign. Results are presented that compare measurement with theoretical prediction. Good agreement has been obtained for both far and near field data.
Near-field ground-to-ground imaging systems are widely used to discover damage that could degrade the radar signature of low observable vehicles. However, these systems cannot presently assess the impact of this damage on the far-field signature of these vehicles. We describe progress made on a method to accurately project the near-field data from these to the far field. Near-field data for the algorithm development is provided by the hybrid finite element/integral equation RCS computer code SWITCH. The near-field data is processed to extract the near-field scattering centers using imaging. The imaging algorithm used differs from the usual far-field imaging formulation in that it incorporates some near-field physics. The processing algorithm, which incorporates a modified version of the CLEAN technique, verifies that the scattering centers that were extracted reproduce the original data when illuminated in the near-field. These near-field scattering centers are then illuminated by a plane wave to produce far-field data. This procedure was tested using VHF band scattering data for a full size treated planform. The near field data was projected to the far-field and then compared to data from a far-field SWITCH computation.
Microwave holography is a popular method for diagnosis and alignment of phased array antennas. Holography, commonly known in the near-field measurement community as "back transformation", is a method that allows computation of the primary (aperture) fields from the secondary (far-zone) fields. This technique requires the far-zone fields to be known over a complete hemisphere and adequately sampled on a regular spaced grid in K-space. The holography technique, while known to be mathematically valid, is subject to errors just as all measurements are. Surprisingly, very little work has been done to quantify the accuracy of the procedure in the presence of known measurement errors. It is unreasonable to think that the amplitude and phase of the array elements can be trimmed to better than the uncertainty of the back-transformed amplitude and phase. This makes it difficult for an antenna engineer to determine the achievable resolution in the measurement and calibration of a phased array antenna. This study reports the results of an empirical characterization of known errors in the holography process. A numerical model of the near-field measurement and holography process has been developed and many test cases examined in an effort to isolate and characterize individual errors commonly found in planar microwave holography. From this work, an error budget can be developed for the measurement of a specific antenna.
This paper addresses the sensitivity of the cylindrical near-field technique to some of the critical alignment parameters. Measured data is presented to demonstrate the effect of errors in the radial distance parameter and probe alignment errors. Far-field measurements taken on a planar near-field range are used as reference. The results presented here form the first qualitative data demonstrating the impact of alignment errors on a cylindrical near-field measurement. A preliminary conclusion is that the radial distance accuracy requirement may not be as crucial as was stated in the past. This paper also shows how the NSI data acquisition system allows one to conduct such parametric studies in an automated way.
This paper describes error analysis and measurement techniques that have been developed specifically for cylindrical near-field measurements. A combination of analysis and computer simulation is used to show the comparison between planar and cylindrical probe correction. Error estimates are derived for both the pattern and probe polarization terms. The analysis is also extended to estimate the effect of position errors. The cylindrical measurement geometry is very useful for evaluating the effect of room scattering from very wide angles since scans can cover 360 degrees in azimuth. Using a broad beam AUT and scanning over a large y-range provides almost full spherical coverage. Comparison with planar measurements with similar accuracy is presented.
In this paper, a versatile indoor antenna measu rement facility in Nokia Resea rch Center is presented Two measurement systems have been implemented into a rectangular, shielded anechoic chamber having dimensions of 10 m * 7 m * 7 m. The first configuration is an in-house developed 3D radiation pattern measurement system that uses a rotating elevation arm. The primary application of this system is characterization of terminal antennas including the effect of a test person or a human body phantom. The elevation arm can be easily removed and the chamber then used as a conventional 5-m far-field range. This configuration is applied mainly for directive antennas. The facility has been found out to be very useful in research and development of wireless com munications antennas. The 3D spherical scanning system opens up a much wider perspective than before on how the human body interacts with different kinds of terminal antennas and what are the radiation and receiving performance characteristics under realistic usage conditions.
A novel, combined far-field and cylindrical near-field tapered anechoic chamber was designed for RACAL Antennas (UK). Advanced ElectroMagnetics Inc. (AEMI) and ORBIT/FR-Europe collaborated in the design and the facility was completed in April 2000. The far-field tapered chamber performance was verified by Shielding Integrity Services. The tapered chamber far field facility performance after construction is compared with the original design predictions at several cellular band frequencies. Near-field measurements, in the rectangular section, compare well with outdoor measurements. There is discussion of the installation of the shielded facility and the absorbers intended for engineers interested in the cellular antenna test and measu rement arena.