Far-field pattern accuracy improvement in planar near-field measurement using infinitesimal dipole modeling

Abstract

This paper discusses the challenges in accurately measuring the far-field performance of array antennas, which have become more complex and larger due to recent trends in increasing the number of elements and the antenna size. The far-field measurement method, which is a general method for measuring a radiation pattern in a far-field, is difficult to be utilized at a high frequency due to limitations in physical chamber size and difficulty in diagnosing an antenna. In order to improve these problems, a near-field measurement method is used as an alternative. Even though using a near-field measurement, the accuracy of the derived far-field pattern is reduced at low elevation angles due to zero-padding of data outside the measurement area. The integration of the near-field measurement with the source reconstruction is a promising approach to enhance the measurement limits of the far-field pattern analysis. This paper aims to extend the previous work to accurately predict the far-field radiation pattern, especially in the low elevation angles. The verification of the proposed method is performed for a standard gain horn and 4 by 4 patch array antennas, with and without beam steering.