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The development* of a real time electronic system to accurately measure the pattern of high gain, ultralow sidelobe level antennas in the presence of multipath scatterers is described. Antenna test ranges and anechoic chambers contain objects that scatter the signal from the transmitting antenna into the main beam of a receiving antenna under test (AUT), thereby creating a multipath channel. Large measurement errors of low sidelobes can result. The fabrication of a feasibility demonstration model Antimultipath System (AMPS) is complete. This AMPS uses a 10 MHz wide phase-shift-keyed spread spectrum modulated signal to illuminate the rotating AUT to tag each multipath by its delay. The novel receive section of the AMPS sorts out each multipath component by its delay and adaptively synthesizes a composite cancellation waveform (using delay, amplitude, and phase estimates of the scattered components) which is subtracted from the total signal received by the AUT. After subtraction the resultant is the desired direct path signal which produced the free space pattern of the AUT. Laboratory and antenna range test results are presented and show the promise of measuring sidelobe levels 60 dB below the main beam.
Gain calibration of circular horns and radiation pattern integration applying patterns in two principle planes only is accurate and does not require large computational or measurement effort. This technique is thus more practical than the integration over the entire angular domain, required in case of rectangular horns. However, for many types of AUT’s, additional errors may occur due to the differences in aperture size of the AUT and standard gain horn. The AUT will in many cases have physically larger aperture dimensions. Consequently, unknown test-zone field variations across this aperture can result in additional errors in gain determination. The new method uses a flat plate as a reference target. An RCS measurement of the flat plate is used to derive test-zone field characteristics over the same physical area as the AUT. Combined with the accurate gain calibration described above, field information is available over the entire area of interest and the accuracy in gain determination is increased. In this paper, experimental results and practical considerations of the method will be presented.
Residual reflection characteristics should be evaluated for antenna radiation pattern measurements. Authors propose a method for detecting positions of reflection sources by applying the modified far-field antenna radiation pattern measurement scheme described in [1]. In this method, an “accurate” radiation pattern of antenna under test (AUT) and measurement error patterns due to residual reflected waves are separated by changing a range distance and processing Fourier transformation. Also, the positions of reflected sources can be detected from beam directions of patterns due to reflections at each distance. Experiment results confirm that this method is effective for detecting the positions of reflection sources.
Planar near-field antenna measurements have developed into a mature science. Nonetheless, unique difficulties arise when measuring some modern antennas, such as high gain satellite antenna systems. In a typical planar near-field measurement, the antenna under test (AUT) has a collimated beam in the near-field which is perpendicular to the scan plane (i.e. the AUT boresight is parallel to the normal of the scan plane). On the other hand, the scan plane is positioned close to the AUT to maximize the valid angular range in the far-zone patterns. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to place the AUT very close to the scan plane and keep the near-field beam perpendicular to the scan plane. An investigation of the benefits and pitfalls of a planar near-field measurement where the AUT beam is not perpendicular to the scan plane is presented. The measurements of antennas tilted 45 degrees with respect to the scan plane normal are used as examples. With this atypical arrangement, some of the usual errors in a near-field measurement are emphasized. Procedures to identify and reduce these errors will be presented.
This paper reports on a ground penetrating radar (GPR) antenna with an electronically steered beam, currently being developed at South Dakota Tech. The increased power and directivity that result from beam-steered operation have potential utility in deep/lossy GPR environments. The antenna is a transmitting array of up to eight bow-tie dipoles, each driven by a narrow pulse generator connected directly to the dipole. The beam is steered in real time by controlling the timing of the individual element transmitters using digitally-programmed pulse delay units. Reception is through a conventional GPR receiver using a single bow-tie antenna. Modeling the air-ground interface as a lossy half-space, numerical results indicate that, under certain conditions, time-domain beam-forming is possible in such an environment. Antenna patterns and standard antenna measurement parameters, such as beamwidth and directivity, are presented in support of this finding.
A slot spiral antenna and it associated feed are presented for conformal mounting on a variety of land, air, and sea vehicle. The inherent broadband behavior and good pattern coverage of the spiral antenna is exploited for the integration of multiple frequencies, and thus multiple transmitting and receiving apertures, into one compact, planar antenna. The feasibility of the broadband slot spiral antenna relies on the use of an equally broadband, balances, planar, and non-intrusive feed structure. The design of the slot spiral, its feeding structure, and the reflecting cavity are discussed with emphasis on the experimental validation and construction of the antenna.
This paper describes the application of the plane-to-plane (PTP) iterative Fourier processing technique to infrared (IR) thermographic images of microwave fields for the purpose of determining the near-field and far-field patterns of radiating antennas. The PTP technique allows recovery of the phase by combining magnitude-only measurements made on two planes, both in the radiating near field of the antenna under test. We describe the PTP technique and show excellent comparisons between the predicted results and results from measured IR thermograms of the field of a 36 element patch array antenna operating at 4 GHz.
An examination of mutual coupling effects in a linear phased array is presented. The approach derives mutual coupling coefficients from array element patterns measured in the Fresnel region, at R/D=3. The technique allows edge diffraction effects and mutual coupling effects to be identified and separated. The results are compared with conventional mutual coupling measurements and mutual coupling coefficients determined by numerical integration. The technique is used for far-field pattern reconstruction, and for pattern optimization which corrects mutual coupling effects to the maximum extend possible.
Nowadays, the standard facility for accurate satellite antenna testing is the Compensated Compact Range (CCR). In order to increase measurement accuracy several techniques can be applied, which are based on antenna pattern comparison. The theory of these techniques together with experimental results have been described in several papers in the past [1][2][3]. This paper presents how pattern comparison techniques are applied for space programs and is another step to official qualification of the Advanced Antenna Pattern Comparison (AAPC) method at Dornier Satellitensysteme (DSS).
This paper presents several enhancement tools that were developed to improve the Georgia Tech Spherical Far-Field/ Near-Field Antenna Measurement Range. Measurement amplitude and phase drift was quantified by sampling an antenna measurement signal over long time intervals while leaving the AUT rotation positioners fixed. A return-to-point drift correction tool was implemented to correct for the long-term drift component for spherical surface measurements. Temperature sensitive components of the receiver were moved from an area with severe temperature variations to a temperature stable area to reduce the phase variation. A software tool was developed to display a histogram of the variation in repeated spherical scan measurements. Histogram vales show that drift correction improves the repeatability of an antenna pattern measurement. The shapes of the histograms have been helpful in identifying random and deterministic variations.
The use of global positioning satellite (GPS) signals for automotive navigation and this on-vehicle GPS antennas has become more common recently. As the number of users increases the cost of the highly integrated receiver is predicted to come down to less than $50. It is possible to measure the antenna patterns of GPS antennas as installed on vehicles, but it is important to make sure that the parameters measured are valid for the GPS environment. In this case, sky coverage and polarization are more important than the directive pattern, for example. This paper shows a method of comparing a number of antennas by using the actual GPS satellite signals as test signals.
New windows which allow the user to select the level of sidelobe suppression near the DFT resolution limit are reported. By a parametric study, we identify the truncated Lorentzian and Gaussian functions as better choices compared with the popular Hann windows.
Both Near-field Antenna Measurement Technology and Beam Waveguide Antenna techology have been in existence for some time. This paper describes a measurement combining both of these technologies. During an internal study of beam waveguide implementation, a near-field antenna measurement was made of a development model. The model and techniques of measurement are described herein.
At high frequencies, the scattered fields from a radar target can be modeled as a sum of contri butions from a finite number of scattering centers. We use a parametric model based on the Geometric Theory of Diffraction (GTD) to estimate the location and type of scattering centers present in a frequency domain data set. The parameters of the model are estimated using a modified MUSIC algorithm that incorporates the GTD model. A new spatial smoothing algorithm is also introduced.
The imaging of radar targets is typically accom plished by measuring the radar cross section (RCS) of the target as a function of frequency and az imuth angle. We measure a third dimension of the RCS by tilting the target and collecting data for conical cuts of the RCS pattern. This third dimension of data provides the ability to estimate the three-dimensional location of scattering centers on the target. Three algorithms are developed in order to process the three-dimensional RCS data.
RCS data measured under near-field conditions is corrected to the far-field. The algorithm uses the HUYGEN's principle approach. The processing technique is describes and validates using anechoic chamber data and simulations taken on flat plate target at a distance from the radar R << 2D2/A, where D is the target cross range extend and A the wavelength. Good agreement with the theoretically predicted far-field RCS patterns is obtained.
This paper describes an adaptive array that was designed to improve the carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) delivered to base station radios by 6 dB in U.S. 800 MHz analog cellular networks. The C/I performance of this kind of system is difficult to verify, because it cannot be characterized in terms of traditional antenna specifications such as beamwidth and directivity. This paper describes a simple C/I measurement strategy in which the antenna under test and a collocated reference antenna are placed into simultaneous operation in an actual cellular network. Relative C/I performance can then be deduced from a statistical analysis of the antenna outputs. This method is particularly well-suited to software radio based systems, because no special test equipment is required to gather the necessary data.
In this paper, we present a new technique for measuring the input impedance of balanced antenna systems. The process uses standard two-port scattering parameters for balanced antennas, feeding each of the balanced input ports as the port of a two-port. The scattering-parameters will be related to the designed input impedance which may be obtained by post-processing the data. In addition, the scattering-parameters may be used to check for the assumed balance of the system. Both experimental and simulated results will be presented to validate the technique.
The amplitude of a point target observed in an ISAR image is equal to their free space RCS when effective sidelobe windowing is used. Likewise, its location in the image is identical to its actual location. The interpretation of observed amplitude and dimension of area targets is not as easy. The ISAR image of a rectangular flat plate formed by rotating it around its longer axis is significantly different from an ISAR image of the same plate rotated about its shorter axis. Both the amplitude and the size of the plate's image are different. In this paper, the theory of physical optics is reviewed in conjunction with the principles of ISAR processing to explain these differences.
ERIM is currently investigating several near-field to far-field transfonnations (NFFFfs) for predicting the far-field RCS of targets from monostatic near-field measurements. Each of the techniques uses approximate tions and/or supporting information to overcome the need for the bistatic near-field data which is required to rigorously transfonn a target's scattered field from the near zone to the far zone. Our focus has been on spheri cal near-field scanning, since this type of collection geometry is most compatible with existing RCS ranges. One particular NFFFT is based on the reflectivity approximation commonly used in ISAR imaging to model the target scattering. This image-based NFFFT is the most computationally efficient technique under con sideration, because, despite its theoretical underpinnings, it does not explicitly require image fonnation as part of its implementation. This paper presents an efficient discrete implementation of the image-based NFFFT, along with numerically-simulated examples of its perfonnance. The advantages and limitations of the technique will be discussed. A simplified version which applies to high aspect ratio (length-to-height) targets and requires only a single great circle (waterline) data in the near field is also summarized.