Near-field antenna measurements

Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010

Juha Ala-Laurinaho Aalto University School of Science and Technology MilliLab/SMARAD, Department of Radio Science and Engineering Espoo, Finland

Outline
Introduction History Field regions Scanning geometries Measurement system Error sources Gain measurement Probe compensation Recent high-frequency measurements Near-field to far-field transformation
Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 2

Introduction
Near field of the antenna under test (AUT) is measured on a nearby surface and far-field characteristics are calculated numerically Due to the unideal probe the coupling between the AUT and probe is measured => effect of the probe is compensated Allows antenna diagnostics Surface deformations of AUT main dish, panel alignment Fault elements in antenna arrays Phased array element tuning Basically, two scans with different probes for determination of polarisation characteristics

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 3

History
First experimental work around 1950 Automatic antenna wave front plotter No probe correction At first, no far-field transformation First probe corrected theories 1961-1975 Theory put into practice 1965-1975 Technology transfer 1975-1985 1985 Higher frequencies Larger scanners Spherical near-field measurement theory further developed Computer processing capacity increased
Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 4

Field regions of the antenna

Reactive near-field Evanescent modes Evanescent energy couples to the probe capacitively or inductively 1-3 wavelengths from the antenna Radiating near-field (Fresnel) Near-field measurements in this zone Far-field (Fraunhofer) from the 2D2/

eikr E ( , ) r

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 5

Scanning geometries
Planar Rectangular, xy-scanner Plane polar, rotating linear-scanner Bi-polar and spiral, AUT rotator and rotating arm Cylindrical Linear scanner and AUT rotator Spherical AUT rotator for azimuth and elevation rotation Arrays can be used Linear arrays, arc arrays Near-field range can be considered as synthetic aperture version of compact range Phased array is used to create planar wave front

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 6

Planar scanning (rectangular)

Coupling equation, probe receiving and AUT transmitting
1 b ( x, y , z ) = 2

R PROBE (k x , k y ) TAUT (k x , k y )ei z eik x x e

ik y y

dk x dk y

Transmission characteristics of the AUT (distance z0)

e i z0 1 ik y TAUT (k x , k y ) = R PROBE (k x , k y ) b( x, y, z0 )e ik x x e y dxdy 2

Calculation of the radiation of the AUT

ikeikr E( r , , ) = cos TAUT (k sin cos , k sin sin ) r

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 7

Cylindrical scanning
Coupling equation, probe receiving and AUT transmitting
1 b( , , z ) = 2

m =

{R

( , ) Tm, AUT ( )}eim ei z d m , PROBE

2

Transmission characteristics of the AUT

1 1 Tm , AUT ( ) = R m , PROBE ( , 0 ) b( 0 , , z )e im e i z d dz 2 0

Radiation of the AUT

2keikr E( r , , ) = sin (i ) m Tm , AUT (k cos ) eim r m =

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 8

Spherical scanning
Coupling equation
b( r , , ) =
n =1 m = n

E E M M Tnm , AUT R n , PROBE (r )M nm ( ) + Tnm , AUT R n , PROBE (r )N nm ( ) eim

Transmission characteristics of the AUT

E E Tnm , AUT ( Rnm , PROBE (r )) 1 2 N nm = M r b(r0 , , )e im sin d d M Tnm, AUT ( Rnm , PROBE (r )) 1 0 0 M nm

Radiation of the AUT

ieikr E( r , , ) = r

n =1 m = n

E M (1) n Tnm , AUT M nm ( ) + Tnm , AUT N nm ( ) eim

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 9

Measurement environment
Compact measurement site Indoor measurements Control of temperature, humidity etc. Less facility space required than in CATRs Multiple reflections between AUT and probe antenna and its surroundings critical => high quality absorbers around probe Reflections from measurement chamber walls not as critical

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 10

Error sources
Multiple reflections between the AUT and probe Scans with different separation, smaller probe Linearity of the receiver E.g. 0.02dB/dB nonlinearity causes several tenths of dB error in gain and several dB error in -35 dB sidelobe level Calibration of receiver with precision attenuator and correction of the near-field data with calibration curve Scanner inaccuracies Especially at high frequencies Large errors in sidelobe levels Finite scan area Errors outside the solid angle

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 11

Gain measurement
Three options for absolute gain measurement 1) Direct gain measurement - basic equations of near-field theory - probe antenna is the gain standard - insertion loss between AUT and probe has to be measured - calibrated attenuator is used when the generator and load ports are connected 2) Gain comparison technique - standard antenna is measured - multiple reflections and truncation errors may be significant if the standard antenna is much smaller 3) Three-antenna method - two probes and AUT - three near-field scans required - multiple reflections can be problem
Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 12

Probe compensation
Coupling between the AUT and probe antenna is measured Probe compensation to correct the near-field data In planar geometry probe orientation is fixed during scans Probe response can be deconvolved by dividing the complex AUT angular spectrum by the complex probe angular spectrum Cross-polar components can also be taken into account Different correction equations for different measurement geometries Effect of probe compensation largest in planar geometry Use of an orthomode transducer (OMT) instead of use of two probes

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 13

Probe Antenna
Selection of probe antenna affects the spatial filtering Open-ended waveguide
Almost omnidirectional May be loaded with dielectric material

Loop antenna
Measures magnetic field

High-gain antennas, horns, dishes etc.

Provides spatial filtering for minimizing multipath errors For high quality probe correction, the probe gain should be high enough over the range of far-field angles required in the output data For high-gain antenna measurement Increases signal-to-noise ratio

Synthetic probe antenna

E.g. movement in z-direction for suppressing axial mutual coupling between AUT and probe Increases measurement time

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 14

Measurement system
Near-field measurement system consists three subsystems: 1) Computer for controlling and post-processing 2) RF-system 3) Mechanical instrumentation Measurement environment affects the measurement accuracy
E.g. reflectivity level of the anechoic chamber

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 15

Computer for Controlling and PostProcessing

1. Control of scanner movement 2. Data acquisition, synchronisation to the scanner movement 3. Post processing of the obtained data
FFT-computation for the far-field pattern Probe compensation Back projection, holographic image for antenna diagnostics

Capabilities of modern computers are sufficient for use in planar near-field measurements systems FFT computing time proportional to N*log2(N) DFT computing time proportional to N*N For 1024 samples transformation with DFT takes about 100 times longer than using FFT
Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 16

RF-Instrumentation
Vector network analyser for complex sampling of the field
Amplitude and phase

Stability
Long data collection time requires good stability Long term drifts can be corrected with tie scans

Sampling rate affects the measurement time E.g. 1.5 m antenna at 300 GHz
Scanning area 1.8 m x 1.8 m Sampling interval 0.5 mm (/2) 3600 x 3600 samples For sampling rate of 10 samples/s, acquisition time is 360 hours = 15 days

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 17

RF-Instrumentation
Dynamic range or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
The insertion loss in the AUT probe path is approximately the difference between the gains of the AUT and probe (or difference in the aperture areas) Transformation gain or process gain increases the dynamic range in far-field pattern by sqrt(N) E.g. 1000 samples increases dynamic range by 30 dB

Probe movement causes cable bending

Corrections may be required

Thermal variations cause changes in the electrical lengths of cables

Thermal control

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 18

Mechanical Instrumentation
Accuracy in z-direction is critical
Granite reference plates Tracking of the probe with laser interferometer
Active probe position compensation from tabulated data or Numerical correction in the near-field to far-field transformation, phase correction 2/

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 19

Mechanical Instrumentation
Transversal accuracy is typically not as critical as the accuracy in z-direction
Laser interferometers can be used for accurate measurement of the position Affects the side lobe levels far from main beam

Mechanical vibrations of the probe affect the measurement accuracy Alignment of the AUT with respect to the scanner affects the accuracy of the measurement of the pointing of the antenna

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 20

Alignment
AUT and the scanner system are aligned with respect to each other
Accuracy depends on the application

Alignment can be done with mirrors, lasers, mirror cubes Autocollimation with mirror cube can give an accuracy of about 0.0003 degrees Alignment of the AUT may require a rotator stage Errors in the near-field data also affect the measurement of the boresight
E.g. errors in bending cables could cause almost linear phase errors

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 21

Measurement Error Sources

18 term list error sources in planar near-field scanning by National Bureau of Standards or National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA is presented in ref. [11] Error sources can be evaluated with
Computer simulations Test on measurement system Error equations

Error components are combined to give an estimate of the total error

Error components are assumed uncorrelated with each other
Root of sum of squares (RSS) is used

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 22

Measurement Error Sources

The first four are related to the probe errors 1. Probe relative pattern
Measured pattern Calculated pattern Error equations Error equations Error equations Error equations

2. Probe polarization ratio 3. Probe gain measurement 4. Probe alignment error

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 23

Measurement Error Sources

Items 5-18 contribute to the measured spectrum 5. Normalization constant
Error equations Error equations Error equations and tests on measurement system Calculation of boresight

6. Impedance mismatch factor 7. AUT alignment error

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 24

Measurement Error Sources

8. Data-point spacing (aliasing)
Error equations and tests on measurement system a priori knowledge of the antenna Computer simulations and error equations A priori knowledge of the antenna Computer simulations and error equations Laser interferometer measurements Computer simulations and error equations Laser interferometer measurements

9. Measurement area truncation 10. Probe x- and y-position errors 11. Probe z-position errors

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 25

Measurement Error Sources

12. Multiple reflections (probe/AUT)
Tests on measurement system Scans with different separation, difference small compared to wavelength Computer simulations, error equations and tests on measurement system

13. Receiver amplitude nonlinearity

14. System phase errors due to

a) Receiver phase errors b) Flexing cables/rotary joints c) Temperature effects
Error equations and tests on measurement system

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 26

Measurement Error Sources

15. Receiver dynamic range
Test on measurement system

16. Room scattering

Test on measurement system

17. Leakage and crosstalk

Test on measurement system

18. Random errors in amplitude and phase

Computer simulations, error equations, and test on measurement system
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Example of Leakage; constant leakage signal

Uncompensated

Compensated
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Example at 310 GHz

Previous near-field scanner of Radio Laboratory Scanning area 1.5 m x 1.5 m Used for quiet-zone testing of holograms Planar wave-front Used for testing of dual reflector feed system Spherical wavefront

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 29

Example at 310 GHz

From: J. Hkli, Shaped reflector antenna design and antenna measurements at submm wavelengths, Doctoral Thesis, Helsinki University of Technology, 2006, 217 p.

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 30

Phase Retrieval
Accurate phase measurement is difficult at high frequencies Phase can be retrieved from two amplitude scans in two parallel planes Geometry of the AUT aperture gives one additional constraint SCANNING PLANES
ANTENNA UNDER TEST

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 31

Phase Retrieval
Fourier iteration method
Near-field is transformed between two planes, forward and backward propagation of plane wave components Iteration of phase, amplitude is replaced with measured amplitude Developed by UCLA, USA

Conjugate gradient method

Also amplitude iteration Developed by University of Naples, Italy

Separation of measurement planes have to be large enough

Challenging to achieve adequate accuracy at high frequencies

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 32

SWAS measurement
Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS) was measured with planar near-field scanning Off-axis Cassegrain antenna Aperture 56 cm x 68 cm Scans at 490 and 550 GHz Scanning range 80 cm x 80 cm 256 x 256 points 50 minutes scan time Scanner z-accuracy 1.2 microns

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 33

EOS MLS at 640 GHz

Earth Observing System Microwave Limb Sounder (EOS MLS) Antenna has a 1.6 meter aperture and operates at frequencies as high as 640 GHz Nearfield Systems, Inc. (NSI) manufactured a planar scanner of 2.8 m x 2.8 m for Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Scanner z-planarity was 4 microns rms

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 34

NSI Tiltable Near-field Scanner

0.9 m x 0.9 m Used up-to 950 GHz ( = 316 micrometers) RMS planarity 20 micrometers in any plane from horizontal to vertical plane Active structure correction for z-axis uses predetermined structural data

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 35

Near-field to far-field transform

Coordinate system Sampling theory Probe compensation Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) Back projection

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 36

Coordinate system
Boresight of the antenna to +z-direction Propagation vector k, k = 2 /

k = k xux + k yu y + k zuz , k2 = kx + ky + kz ,
2 2 2

k x = sin cos , k y = sin sin , k z = cos .

Direction of propagation can be defined with K = k x ux + k y u y ,

= K 2 kx 2 k y 2 .
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Sampling theory
All significant energy from AUT has to be obtained in the synthesised near-field aperture
planar geometry suitable for high-gain antennas

Nyquist sampling theorem has to be applied

sampling interval dense enough if the highest spatial frequency changes less than 180 degrees between two adjacent sample points half of the wavelength is the minimum

Aliasing will cause spurious signals in the region of interest if the sampling is not dense enough Typically used band limits

k x ,max =

, k y ,max =

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 38

Sampling interval
Sparse sampling grid can be used if limited angular range is of interest E.g. 10 degrees bandlimit in x-direction, = 10, = 0:
k max = x = 2

sin 10 =

2 sin 10

2.9

In the totally aliasing free case the band limit is

x , y
E.g.

1 + sin( )

= 10 x, y =

1 + sin10

0.85

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 39

Sampling area vs. angular range

Angular range depends on the size of sampling area L, antenna dimensions D and measurement distance d
valid = arctan
LD 2d

probe measurement plane d valid

D L
Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 40

Truncation error
All the radiated power should be go through the synthetic aperture formed during near-field scanning and thus accepted by the probe Due to the truncation of the scanning area, integrated power is lower Especially, power radiated to other directions than to main beam is lower Directivity tends to increase Errors in far side-lobe levels

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 41

Transformation of the near-field to far-field

Electromagnetic field to angular spectrum Planar rectangular raster scan as an example 1) 2-D Fourier transform of the measured complex fields - Spatial frequency spectrum or PWS (plane wave spectrum) 2) Probe compensation - Measured spatial frequency spectrum is divided by probe spatial frequency spectrum 3) AUT spatial frequency spectrum to AUT angular spectrum or = arccos( k z / k ), = arctan( k y / k x )

Elevation angle e = arcsin( k y / k ), azimuth angle a = arctan( k x / k z )

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 42

Back projection
Back projection of holography can be used for antenna diagnostics
Surface accuracy of the AUT main mirror Fault elements in an antenna array

The plane wave spectrum in the measurement plane is transferred to the aperture plane by back propagating each PWS-component Inverse FFT is used to calculate the aperture field from the PWS The phase of the aperture field can be scaled with wavenumber to obtain a surface error map Defocus and feed placement errors can be found by using e.g. least squares methods

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 43

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. D. Slater, Near-field Antenna Measurements, Artech House, Norwood, MA, 1991, 310 p. A. G. Repjar, A. C. Newell, M. H. Francis, "Accurate determination of planar near-field correction parameters for linearly polarized probes", IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 36, No. 6, June, 1988, pp. 855-868. A.D. Yaghjian, An overview of near-field antenna measurements, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 34, No. 1, January, 1986, pp. 30-45. L. I. Williams, Y. Rahmat-Samii, R. G. Yaccarino, The bi-polar planar near-field measurement technique, part I: implementation and measurement comparisons, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 42, No. 2, February, 1994, pp. 184 195. R. G. Yaccarino, Y. Rahmat-Samii, Phaseless bi-polar planar near-field measurements and diagnostics of array antennas, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 47, No. 3, March 1999, pp. 574 583. J. P. McKay, Y. Rahmat-Samii, Compact range reflector analysis using the plane wave spectrum approach with an adjustable sampling rate, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 39, No. 6, June 1991, pp. 746 753. D. Slater, A 550 GHz near-field antenna measurement system for the NASA Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite, Antenna Measurement Techniques Association Conference, October 3-7, 1994. N. Erickson, V. Tolls, Near-field measurements of the submillimeter wave astronomy satellite antenna, Proceedings of the 20th ESTEC Antenna Workshop on Millimetre Wave Antenna Technology and Antenna Measurements, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 1997, pp. 313319. P. R. Foster, D. Martin, C. Parini, A. Risnen, J. Ala-Laurinaho, T. Hirvonen, A. Lehto, T. Sehm, J. Tuovinen, F. Jensen, K. Pontoppidan: Mmwave antenna testing techniques - Phase 2, MAAS Report 304, Issue No 2, ESTEC Contract No 11641/95/NL/PB(SC), December 1996, 224 p. http://www.nearfield.com/ A.C. Newell, Error analysis techniques for planar near-field measurements, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 36, No. 6, June 1988, pp. 754-768. E. B. Joy, Near-field range qualification methodology, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol 36, No. 6, June 1988, pp. 836-844. Y. Rahmat-Samii, L. I. Williams, R. G. Yaccarino, The UCLA bi-polar planar-near-field antenna-measurement and diagnostics range, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Magzine, Vol. 37, no. 6, December 1995. R. C. Johnson, H. A. Ecker, and R. A. Moore, Compact range techniques and measurements, IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-17, no. 5, pp. 568576, Sept. 1969. R. G. Yaccarino, Y. Rahmat-Samii, A comparison of conventional and phaseless planar near-field antenna measurements: the effect of probe position errors, Proceedings of IEEE Int. Conference on Phased Array Systems and Technology, Dana Point, CA, USA, 21-25 May, 2000, pp. 525528. L. Le Coq, M. Vaaja, B. Fuchs, O. Lafond, J. Ala Laurinaho, J. Mallat, M. Himdi, A. V. Risnen, "IETR and TKK- MilliLab measurements cooperation in ACE 2 context: characterization of a Half Maxwell Fish Eye lens at 110 and 150 GHz," Proceedings of EuCAP 2009, 3rd European Conference on Antennas and Propagation, Berlin, Germany, March 23-27, 2009, pp. 2442-2446.

Dept. of Radio Science and Engineering, MilliLab/SMARAD Lectures at Brno University of Technology, April 26-28, 2010 44