After a brief history of near-field antenna measurements with and without probe correction, the theory of near-field antenna measurements is outlined beginning with ideal probes scanning on arbitrary surfaces and ending with arbitrary probes scanning on planar, cylindrical, and spherical surfaces. Probe correction is introduced for all three measurement geometries as a slight modification to the ideal probe expressions. Sampling theorems are applied to determine the required data-point spacing, and efficient computational methods along with their computer run times are discussed. The major sources of experimental error defining the accuracy of typical planar near-field measurement facilities are reviewed, and present limitations of planar, cylindrical, and spherical near-field scanning are identified.

An overview of near-field antenna measurements

The general problem concerning the interaction of a probe antenna with the near field of an arbitrary antenna is considered. The application of the Lorentz reciprocity theorem to the problem of determining antenna characteristics, including the far-field pattern, is presented. The data required to correct for the directional effects of the probe, the effect of probe correction on the measured data, and the attendant mathematical computations in rectangular systems are described. Extensions to cylindrical and spherical systems are discussed.

Basic theory of probe-compensated near-field measurements

In many cases, it is impractical or impossible to make antenna pattern measurements on a conventional far-field range; the distance to the radiating far field may be too long, it may be impractical to move the antenna from its operating environment to an antenna range, or the desired amount of pattern data may require too much time on a far-field range. For these and other reasons, it is often desirable or necessary to determine far-field antenna patterns from measurements made in the radiating near-field region; three basic techniques for accomplishing this have proven to be successful. In the first technique, the aperture phase and amplitude distributions are sampled by a scanning field probe, and then the measured distributions are transformed to the far field. In the second technique, a plane wave that is approximately uniform in amplitude is created by a feed and large reflector in the immediate vicinity of the test antenna. And in the third technique, the test antenna is focused within the radiating near-field region, patterns are measured at the reduced range, and then the antenna is refocused to infinity. Each of these techniques is discussed, and the various advantages and limitations of each technique are presented.

Determination of far-field antenna patterns from near-field measurements

A new method is developed for determining the farfield pattern of an antenna from probe compensated near-field measurements over the surface of a right circular cylinder enclosing the antenna. The method is derived by first expanding both the field radiated by the antenna and the field radiated by the measurement probe, when it is used as a transmitter, into cylindrical wave expansions. The Lorentz reciprocity theorem is then used to solve for the field radiated by the antenna from the probe output voltage. It is shown rigorously that the antenna pattern can be determined independently of the characteristics of the measurement probe provided that certain calibration data are known. A method for determining these data from the measured far field radiated by the probe is described. It is shown that the necessary numerical integration can be performed with the fast Fourier transform algorithm. Experimental results are presented to validate the theory and to demonstrate its practicality from a measurement and computational viewpoint.

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Probe compensated near-field measurements on a cylinder

Using computer simulation, several fundamental issues in planar near-field measurement are examined. The results indicate that some of the prevailing views of practices regarding the evanescent modes, the sampling and filtering of data, and the selection of the location and directivity of the probe are incomplete or misleading. In particular, the merits of using smaller low-directivity probes in conjunction with a closer probe-to-antenna distance have been found to be unduly overlooked. >

An examination of the theory and practices of planar near-field measurement

Recent experimental results on determination of antenna pattern and power gain from near-field measurements are described. Two new antenna measurement theorems were applied. Measurements were made on an electrically large horn lens, a standard-gain horn and a nominal duplicate of the measuring antenna. Some comparisons with direct far-field measurement results were made.

R C. Baird

Papers

Recent experimental results in near-field antenna measurements