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Automotive antennas are gaining importance due to their increasingly important role for autonomous driving with the development of the Internet of Vehicles. However, over‐the‐air testing on automotive antennas is difficult owing to its large volume and complex body structure. Plane wave generators can approximate uniform plane waves in the near field of the device under test, which can greatly reduce the measurement distance and thereby decreasing the cost compared with direct far‐field solutions. This letter designs three plane wave generators for three quiet zone sizes selected according to the vehicle structure at 5.9 GHz, achieving quiet zone sizes of 1.45 m ×0.23$\times 0.23$ m, 2.9m ×0.56$\times 0.56$ m, and 3.9 m ×1.27$\times 1.27$ m, respectively. Within the three quiet zones, amplitude deviations of 0.82, 0.34, and 0.34 dB and phase deviations of 9.4∘${9.4^\circ }$, 6.72∘${6.72^\circ }$ and 1.42∘${1.42^\circ }$ are realized, respectively, according to the numerical simulations. Uncertainty analysis is further implemented to investigate the robustness of the designed PWGs proposed in this letter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the description of antenna parameters related to its radiation/reception capabilities influenced by the plasma parameters in the environment surrounding the antenna, complementing the existing works on the antenna parameters (e.g., the impedance or currents). The parameters considered are the radiation zones' radiuses (inductive, Fresnel, Fraunhofer), scalloping and directivity; a method of transformation of the air/vacuum-measured radiation/reception pattern to the pattern expected for given plasmatic conditions is also considered. Three different simplified plasma conditions are taken into account (different electron densities: 1.4 × 1012 m−3, 4 × 1011 m−3 and 108 m−3), with varying antenna length (1 m, 10 m, 100 m) and signal propagation mode (classic-ionospheric, whistler and Alfvén). The findings show that the presented antenna parameters and its radiation/reception pattern are heavily dependent on the plasma conditions. These findings can be used to form additional requirements and constraints for the mechanical design of new instrumentation for space weather measurements on board spacecraft (e.g., moving the antennas away from the spacecraft in order not to alter their radiation/reception patterns or not to measure the plasma around the spacecraft) or more accurate data processing from existing space weather satellites, allowing, for example, a more precise triangulation of the signal source or its spectral power regarding the actual performance of the antennas submerged in plasma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of directive elements into a circular switched parasitic array at 868 MHz is presented. The typical usage of reflective parasitic monopoles is supplemented with additional, shorter monopole elements which are positioned closer to the central active monopole to induce directive behaviour. This allows for more degrees of freedom with the steering of the antennas beam and to increase the gain of the antenna. This leads to a greater flexibility of the system and enables power reduction of the amplifiers for enhanced battery life time. The design and configuration of a circular switched parasitic array with directive elements is shown and a prototype is built for validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Ever‐increasing bandwidth requirements from various industries drive the need for the ever‐increasing bandwidth of antennas used for testing. Broadband Double‐Ridged Guide Horn (DRGH) antennas are used extensively in antenna measurement and ElectroMagnetic Compatibility/Interference (EMC/I) testing. The current state‐of‐the‐art broadband DRGH antennas reported in the literature for use in measurement applications cover bandwidth ratios as large as 36:1 (0.5–18 GHz). This paper presents the design and realisation of a DRGH antenna with a 100:1 bandwidth ratio (0.5–50 GHz). To achieve such a wide bandwidth, the ridge gap, width and feed were optimised, and a novel coaxial‐to‐ridge waveguide launcher section based on a typical Vivaldi antenna was developed. Backward radiation was reduced using an absorber‐filled cavity. A prototype DRGH antenna was manufactured using additive manufacturing, also referred to as 3D printing. Simulated and measured results obtained in an anechoic chamber are presented.

Ever‐increasing bandwidth requirements from various industries drive the need for the ever‐increasing bandwidth of antennas used for testing. Broadband Double‐Ridged Guide Horn (DRGH) antennas are used extensively in antenna measurement and ElectroMagnetic Compatibility/Interference (EMC/I) testing. The current state‐of‐the‐art broadband DRGH antennas reported in the literature for use in measurement applications cover bandwidth ratios as large as 36:1 (0.5–18 GHz). This paper presents the design and realisation of a DRGH antenna with a 100:1 bandwidth ratio (0.5–50 GHz). To achieve such a wide bandwidth, the ridge gap, width and feed were optimised, and a novel coaxial‐to‐ridge waveguide launcher section based on a typical Vivaldi antenna was developed. Backward radiation was reduced using an absorber‐filled cavity. A prototype DRGH antenna was manufactured using additive manufacturing, also referred to as 3D printing. Simulated and measured results obtained in an anechoic chamber are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Automotive antennas are gaining importance due to their increasingly important role for autonomous driving with the development of the Internet of Vehicles. However, over‐the‐air testing on automotive antennas is difficult owing to its large volume and complex body structure. Plane wave generators can approximate uniform plane waves in the near field of the device under test, which can greatly reduce the measurement distance and thereby decreasing the cost compared with direct far‐field solutions. This letter designs three plane wave generators for three quiet zone sizes selected according to the vehicle structure at 5.9 GHz, achieving quiet zone sizes of 1.45 m ×0.23 m, 2.9m ×0.56 m, and 3.9 m ×1.27 m, respectively. Within the three quiet zones, amplitude deviations of 0.82, 0.34, and 0.34 dB and phase deviations of 9.4∘, 6.72∘ and 1.42∘ are realized, respectively, according to the numerical simulations. Uncertainty analysis is further implemented to investigate the robustness of the designed PWGs proposed in this letter.

Abstract The integration of directive elements into a circular switched parasitic array at 868 MHz is presented. The typical usage of reflective parasitic monopoles is supplemented with additional, shorter monopole elements which are positioned closer to the central active monopole to induce directive behaviour. This allows for more degrees of freedom with the steering of the antennas beam and to increase the gain of the antenna. This leads to a greater flexibility of the system and enables power reduction of the amplifiers for enhanced battery life time. The design and configuration of a circular switched parasitic array with directive elements is shown and a prototype is built for validation.

Traditional microstrip antennas have problems with heavy weight and poor gain. In order to reduce the weight of the antenna itself and improve its gain, the preforms of the 3-D woven rectangular hollow structure conformal bearing microstrip antenna (3DWRHS-CB-MA)with different heights were woven from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) filament yarns and copper wires on a common loom through reasonable design. The preform was used as the reinforcement and epoxy resin was used as the matrix, four different heights (2, 4, 6, and 8mm) of 3DWRHS-CB-MA were prepared by vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) process. Finally, the electromagnetic performance was analyzed by high-frequency structure simulator (HFSS) and experimental testing. The results showed that the frequency deviation of the 2 mm height microstrip antenna was minimal; while the 4 mm height microstrip antenna had better gain efficiency and directional diagram compared to others. The 4 mm height microstrip antenna has good radiation performance with a weight of only 35 g which shows that 3DWRHS-CB-MA are potential candidates for future intelligent textile materials and wireless communication fields. Highlights • Weaving with UHMWPE filament yarns and copper wires on common looms. • The preform was used as the reinforcement, and epoxy resin was used as the matrix. • Simulation of electromagnetic characteristics of antennas using HFSS software. • Proving the effectiveness of the electromagnetic simulation model. • Revealing the electromagnetic radiation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Since the total number of the antenna elements can be up to hundreds in a massive multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) system, subarray‐structured base station (BS) array configurations are widely adopted to achieve a good cell coverage and to reduce the required number of radio frequency chains at the same time. It is crucial for any BS product to ensure that the antenna elements perform correctly as expected. Therefore, the necessity of array diagnosis is evident, especially for large BS arrays. Furthermore, it is essential that the diagnosis can be achieved in a compact and cost‐effective setup with high measurement efficiency (i.e. only a few measurement samples are required). The principle of the diagnosis method presented in this article is to obtain the S‐parameters between the subarrays and the probe via solving linear equations. In the simulation, a BS array composed of 16 subarrays with each containing 3 elements is used to validate the diagnosis method at 3.5 GHz. An array composed of 4 subarrays with each containing 3 elements was used in the measurements to verify the diagnosis method with two different phase tuning matrices at 3 GHz. Successful diagnosis results have been achieved in both the simulations and the measurements.

Since the total number of the antenna elements can be up to hundreds in a massive multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) system, subarray‐structured base station (BS) array configurations are widely adopted to achieve a good cell coverage and to reduce the required number of radio frequency chains at the same time. It is crucial for any BS product to ensure that the antenna elements perform correctly as expected. Therefore, the necessity of array diagnosis is evident, especially for large BS arrays. Furthermore, it is essential that the diagnosis can be achieved in a compact and cost‐effective setup with high measurement efficiency (i.e. only a few measurement samples are required). The principle of the diagnosis method presented in this article is to obtain the S‐parameters between the subarrays and the probe via solving linear equations. In the simulation, a BS array composed of 16 subarrays with each containing 3 elements is used to validate the diagnosis method at 3.5 GHz. An array composed of 4 subarrays with each containing 3 elements was used in the measurements to verify the diagnosis method with two different phase tuning matrices at 3 GHz. Successful diagnosis results have been achieved in both the simulations and the measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This letter presents a comprehensive analysis of the radiation behaviour exhibited by nine distinct on‐wafer radio‐freqeuncy (RF) probes used for device characterization in the mm‐wave bands of integrated circuits and antennas. The tested probes are sourced from two different manufacturers and feature various probe pitches. All probes are intended for use with the WR‐3.4 waveguide band ranging from 220 to 330 GHz. To the best of the authors' knowledge, such a detailed examination of RF probes operating in this band with respect to their radiation behaviour has not been demonstrated before.

Abstract An effective, probe‐compensated, phaseless Near‐Field‐Far‐Field (NF–FF) transformation technique with planar spiral scanning is presented. The phase retrieval problem is solved by a quadratic inverse process, whose data are the voltage squared amplitudes of the NF samples acquired on two scanning surfaces. The available information on the antenna under test and on the scanning geometry are used to provide efficient representations for both the unknowns and the data, thus improving the accuracy and reliability of the technique. Furthermore, disconnected apertures are dealt with by adopting two different sets of prolate spheroidal wave functions to represent the aperture fields. Experimental results are reported to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A drastic reduction (about 90%) of the required NF samples, as compared to standard λ/4 measurements (λ being the wavelength), is observed. Aggregating the measurements on the two scanning surfaces, the technique uses less samples even when compared to the case of complex, λ/2 measurements performed on a single surface. Our approach exhibits an accuracy comparable to that achieved when adopting complex measurements with non‐redundant sampling or classical, λ/2 plane‐rectangular NF–FF transformations.

This letter presents a comprehensive analysis of the radiation behaviour exhibited by nine distinct on‐wafer radio‐freqeuncy (RF) probes used for device characterization in the mm‐wave bands of integrated circuits and antennas. The tested probes are sourced from two different manufacturers and feature various probe pitches. All probes are intended for use with the WR‐3.4 waveguide band ranging from 220 to 330 GHz. To the best of the authors' knowledge, such a detailed examination of RF probes operating in this band with respect to their radiation behaviour has not been demonstrated before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In millimetre wave (mmWave) frequency band, radio resource management (RRM) performance is characterised in plane wave conditions using radiated over‐the‐air test method, which is a challenging combination of protocol and radio frequency performance measurement. This article presents a novel design of multiple lens‐based compact antenna test ranges (CATRs) to simulate multiple angles of arrival from different base‐stations in RRM measurement. Only four lens‐based CATRs are proposed to create plane wave conditions at the device under test with six different angles of arrival and capable of accurately constructing the wireless propagation condition and minimising the diffraction and scattering between adjacent CATRs. The lens‐based CATR is the key element in the RRM measurement system, which is composed of a metasurface lens for phase alignment and a 2 × 2 feed array antenna for the emission of electromagnetic signals. The function and capability of the proposed lens‐based CATR is validated through simulation and measurement, that the worst‐case amplitude variation in the quiet zone region is lower than ±0.8 dB at 26 GHz, and phase variation is lower than ±7.5° in the designed quiet zone, which could be used in the fifth‐generation mmWave RRM measurement.

With the popularity of 5 G, there is an increasing request for a light, high-performance, and stable structure for wireless communication. To solve the problems of delamination cracking and its own heavy weight of the conventional microstrip antenna, this study used ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) filament tows and purple copper filament tows as raw materials to prepare 3D woven hollow structure microstrip antenna preforms on a common loom. Using the prepared preforms for reinforcement and resin as the matrix, the VARTM process was used to prepare a 3D woven hollow structure microstrip antenna with a height of 6.8 mm, a weight of 35 g, and a bulk density of 0.7 g/cm3. The combination of the electromagnetic performance test and HFSS software simulation shows that the antenna has excellent radiation performance with a gain of 7.5 dB and a measured VSWR of 1.25. The mechanical performance test results show that it can withstand a maximum compression load of 2982 N and a maximum bending load of 364 N with no obvious delamination at the fracture. It is light, thin, and load-bearing with excellent radiation performance. There will be great potential in the unmanned field and the space field in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective, probe‐compensated, phaseless Near‐Field‐Far‐Field (NF–FF) transformation technique with planar spiral scanning is presented. The phase retrieval problem is solved by a quadratic inverse process, whose data are the voltage squared amplitudes of the NF samples acquired on two scanning surfaces. The available information on the antenna under test and on the scanning geometry are used to provide efficient representations for both the unknowns and the data, thus improving the accuracy and reliability of the technique. Furthermore, disconnected apertures are dealt with by adopting two different sets of prolate spheroidal wave functions to represent the aperture fields. Experimental results are reported to assess the effectiveness of the proposed approach. A drastic reduction (about 90%) of the required NF samples, as compared to standard λ/4 measurements (λ being the wavelength), is observed. Aggregating the measurements on the two scanning surfaces, the technique uses less samples even when compared to the case of complex, λ/2 measurements performed on a single surface. Our approach exhibits an accuracy comparable to that achieved when adopting complex measurements with non‐redundant sampling or classical, λ/2 plane‐rectangular NF–FF transformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Helical antennas are a versatile class of antennas characterized by their spiral-shaped geometry, which enables them to exhibit unique radiation patterns, polarization properties, and frequency characteristics. This comprehensive review explores the design principles, theoretical foundations, and practical applications of helical antennas across various domains, including wireless communication, radar systems, satellite communication, and radio astronomy. By examining the intricacies of helical antenna design, this review aims to elucidate the significance of helical antennas in modern antenna engineering and their implications for advancing wireless communication, sensing, and imaging technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology has emerged as a promising solution for high-speed wireless communication, precise positioning, and radar imaging applications. UWB printed rectangular-based monopole antennas offer compactness, simplicity, and versatility, making them well-suited for integration into various wireless devices and systems. This comprehensive review delves into the principles, design methodologies, fabrication techniques, applications, and future directions of UWB printed rectangular-based monopole antennas, highlighting their transformative potential in advancing wireless communication and sensing technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canonical objects with known radar cross section (RCS), for example, the trihedral corner reflector (TCR), play a crucial role in the calibration of automotive radar sensors. Moreover, these canonical objects are also used in the validation of simulated RCS obtained using asymptotic methods, such as hybrid geometric optics (GO) and the physical optics (PO) based methods. However, accurate RCS prediction with asymptotic methods is highly dependent on the individual scattering mechanisms considered in a simulation, for example reflection and diffraction from the TCR surfaces and edges, respectively. Reliable measurements are therefore required to evaluate if a particular interaction mechanism can be neglected to reduce computation complexity without adversely affecting the accuracy of the predicted RCS. In this letter, the monostatic scattering characteristics of three metallic TCRs are investigated with varying geometrical sizes in the E‐band, that is, from 60 GHz to 90 GHz. The ultra‐wideband (UWB) measurements, which offer a high delay resolution, can enable the identification of the individual scattering mechanisms. Diffraction from the TCR edges is experimentally demonstrated to contribute to a non‐negligible scattered power in this frequency band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In millimetre wave (mmWave) frequency band, radio resource management (RRM) performance is characterised in plane wave conditions using radiated over‐the‐air test method, which is a challenging combination of protocol and radio frequency performance measurement. This article presents a novel design of multiple lens‐based compact antenna test ranges (CATRs) to simulate multiple angles of arrival from different base‐stations in RRM measurement. Only four lens‐based CATRs are proposed to create plane wave conditions at the device under test with six different angles of arrival and capable of accurately constructing the wireless propagation condition and minimising the diffraction and scattering between adjacent CATRs. The lens‐based CATR is the key element in the RRM measurement system, which is composed of a metasurface lens for phase alignment and a 2 × 2 feed array antenna for the emission of electromagnetic signals. The function and capability of the proposed lens‐based CATR is validated through simulation and measurement, that the worst‐case amplitude variation in the quiet zone region is lower than ±0.8 dB at 26 GHz, and phase variation is lower than ±7.5° in the designed quiet zone, which could be used in the fifth‐generation mmWave RRM measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularity of 5 G, there is an increasing request for a light, high-performance, and stable structure for wireless communication. To solve the problems of delamination cracking and its own heavy weight of the conventional microstrip antenna, this study used ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) filament tows and purple copper filament tows as raw materials to prepare 3D woven hollow structure microstrip antenna preforms on a common loom. Using the prepared preforms for reinforcement and resin as the matrix, the VARTM process was used to prepare a 3D woven hollow structure microstrip antenna with a height of 6.8 mm, a weight of 35 g, and a bulk density of 0.7 g/cm³. The combination of the electromagnetic performance test and HFSS software simulation shows that the antenna has excellent radiation performance with a gain of 7.5 dB and a measured VSWR of 1.25. The mechanical performance test results show that it can withstand a maximum compression load of 2982 N and a maximum bending load of 364 N with no obvious delamination at the fracture. It is light, thin, and load-bearing with excellent radiation performance. There will be great potential in the unmanned field and the space field in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antenna testing consists locating the potential defaults from radiated field measurements. It has been established in literature, that compressive sensing methods provide faster results in failure detection from smaller number of measurement data compared to the traditional back-propagation mechanisms. Compressive sensing (CS) methods require a priori measurement of failure-free reference array and require small number of measurements for diagnosis. However, there are conflicting reports in literature regarding the choice of appropriate CS method, and there is no sufficient comparison study to justify which one is a better choice under a very harsh condition. In this study, recovery performance test of CS methods for the diagnosis of antenna array from few near-field measured data under various signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) is presented. Specifically, we tested three prominent regularization procedures: total variation (TV), mixed l1 l2 ⁄ norm, and minimization of the l1 in solving diagnosis problems in antenna array. Linear system that relates the difference between near-field measured data from reference antenna (RA) array and array under test (AUT), and the difference that exist between coefficients of RA and the AUT, is solved by the three compressive sensing regularization methods. Numerical experiment of a 10 × 10 rectangular waveguide array under realistic noise scenario, operating at 10 GHz is used to conduct the test. Minimization l1 technique is more robust to additive data noise. It exhibits better diagnosis at 20 dB and 10 dB SNR, making it a better candidate for noisy measured data as compared to other techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical foundations of the near to far field transformation (NTFFT) techniques with spiral scannings have been properly applied to develop a non‐redundant spherical spiral NTFFT which properly accounts for a mounting of a volumetric antenna under test (AUT) in an offset configuration, due to any practical constraints. Such an NTFFT, based on the non‐redundant sampling representations of electromagnetic fields using spherical modelling of the AUT, requires the same number of near‐field (NF) spiral data when the AUT is mounted both in onset and offset configuration because this number depends only on the area of the modelling sphere centred at the AUT centre. Moreover, it employs an efficient two‐dimensional (2D) optimal sampling interpolation (OSI) formula to recover, from the spiral NF samples, the massive number of NF data required by the classical spherical NTFFT, which is related to the radius of the smallest sphere enclosing the AUT and centred at the scanning sphere centre. It is so possible to get a remarkable measurement time saving when the AUT is offset mounted. Numerical and experimental results, fully assessing the effectiveness of the developed NTFFT and the related 2D OSI algorithm, are shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation primarily promotes a ultra-high frequency radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag antenna for complex environment applications of smart card in free space and near body scenarios. It also considers other high dielectric materials such as water and metallic objects. A dual dipole antenna with T-match structure is chosen due to the advantage of providing high resilience towards change in impedance of high dielectrics, and to ensure the reception of maximum signals at the blind spots of the antenna. The proposed geometry facilitates placement of other off-the-shelf high and low-frequency antennas on the card, enabling more features, higher performance, and minimum field interaction between different frequencies. A presented RLC equivalent circuit model estimates the impact of body layers on antenna impedance. A high read range of 7.7 m in free space, 5.2 m near body and 2.8 m at the blind spots is obtained. The novelty is shown by testing the antenna near metals and water, achieving high read range without any design modifications. The proposed tag aims to provide new RFID applications that demand small size, less volume, low cost and multifunctionality over various constraints while showing good agreement with sensitivity, impedance matching and the read range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anechoic chambers are widely used to measure antenna parameters because of the free reflection conditions inside them. Recently, there has been increasing research into antennas working at frequencies from 20 to 70 GHz. General-purpose anechoic chambers are usually between 5 and 10 m in size, which leads to free-space distances longer than required at millimeter-wave frequencies and corresponding larger cables losses. Designing anechoic chambers tailored to such a frequency range would lead to minimum losses and improve measurement performance. If uncertainty is considered all the way from the design stage to operation, it will be easier to obtain highly accurate measurement outcomes. This article focuses on the issues related to uncertainty in a tailor-made millimeter-wave anechoic chamber at every step before achieving a fully functional measurement system. This includes setting the requirements for the chamber, calculating its dimensions, designing the structure, and selecting the building materials, in order finally to characterize its performance by measuring the insulation from external signals and the ripple in the quiet zone. This process has resulted in a full description of design, construction, and operation stages of an anechoic chamber from the point of view of the control on the measurement uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A virtual microwave experiment system, antenna measurement in microwave anechoic chamber, was developed by applying virtual reality technology, using Unity3D development engine, C# script language and 3ds Max modeling tool. The development of the system is based on a typical actual antenna measurement system and according to the practical experiments, simulating operation process of antenna measurement in microwave anechoic chamber and the measurement results of several conventional kinds of antennas. The system has graphical interface and vivid models. It can be generated as an executable file in Windows environment and run on PC machine. Users can acquire intuitive knowledge of composition, layout and function of microwave anechoic chamber, and can understand antenna testing system and the process of antenna testing. By interacting with the system, users can virtually measure several conventional kinds of antennas and custom antennas. It can also aid teachers ' theoretical teaching and classroom demonstration. Taking horn antenna as an example, implementation technologies of 3D simulation animation of the process of antenna testing and the main interactive functions of the system are emphatically introduced after fully stating the functions of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classic method of testing array antenna is measuring the beam pattern separately, which suffers from low efficiency. In this study, a fast measurement method used for received array antenna has been present. Firstly, the patterns of element antennas have been tested using multi-channel receiver. Then the entire pattern could be computed by weighting the information of elements. The information contains amplitude and phase, which could be obtained by theory or measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The classic method of testing array antenna is measuring the beam pattern separately, which suffers from low efficiency. In this study, a fast measurement method used for received array antenna has been present. Firstly, the patterns of element antennas have been tested using multi-channel receiver. Then the entire pattern could be computed by weighting the information of elements. The information contains amplitude and phase, which could be obtained by theory or measurement.

A method to filter out the contribution of interference sources in array diagnosis is proposed. The interference-affected near field measured on a surface is treated as a (complex-data) image. This allows to use some modern image processing algorithms. In particular, two strategies widely used in image processing are applied. The first one is the reduction of the amount of information by acquiring only the innovation part of an image, as currently happens in video processing. More specifically, a differential measurement technique is used to formulate the estimation of the array excitations as a sparse recovery problem. The second technique has been recently proposed in video denoising, where the image is split into a low-rank and high-rank part. In particular, in this paper the interference field is filtered out using sparsity as discriminant adopting a mixed minimum '1 norm and trace norm minimization algorithm. The methodology can be applied to both near and far field measurement ranges. It could be an alternative to the systematic use of anechoic chambers for antenna array testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to filter out the contribution of interference sources in array diagnosis is proposed. The interference-affected near field measured on a surface is treated as a (complex-data) image. This allows to use some modern image processing algorithms. In particular, two strategies widely used in image processing are applied. The first one is the reduction of the amount of information by acquiring only the innovation part of an image, as currently happens in video processing. More specifically, a differential measurement technique is used to formulate the estimation of the array excitations as a sparse recovery problem. The second technique has been recently proposed in video denoising, where the image is split into a low-rank and high-rank part. In particular, in this paper the interference field is filtered out using sparsity as discriminant adopting a mixed minimum ℓ 1 norm and trace norm minimization algorithm. The methodology can be applied to both near and far field measurement ranges. It could be an alternative to the systematic use of anechoic chambers for antenna array testing.

The authors present a test method for quantifying and reducing systematic errors arising from antenna proximity to lossy objects in over‐the‐air performance testing of lossy large‐form‐factor wireless devices. The method determines the extent to which antenna proximity to lossy, large‐form‐factor objects influences the measured reference power transfer function. The test may be used to pre‐characterise a given chamber set‐up in terms of a minimum distance between antennas and lossy objects. They illustrate the use of the method in a total radiated power measurement of a large, commercially available, machine‐to‐machine device, where agreement to anechoic‐chamber measurements is demonstrated to within the measurement uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements in reverberation chamber (RC) produce data that are random, and therefore they need to be processed from the statistical point‐of‐view for obtaining the desired characteristics and the accuracy. The complex channel transfer function in the RC follows complex Gaussian distribution provided that the RC is well stirred. The authors have recently presented a new uncertainty model based on the presence of an unstirred component of the transfer function, which was modelled by introducing an average Rician K‐factor. The model was validated in two RCs with translating mode‐stirring plates, being able to correctly describe the improvement in accuracy by rotating the antenna under test, and by blocking the line‐of‐sight between this and the fixed RC antenna(s). In the present study, they apply this uncertainty model to four RCs with different settings (e.g. RC volumes, number of plates or fixed RC antennas, translating and rotating mode‐stirrers etc.). For each RC, they examine the measurement uncertainty under different loading conditions. To repeat (during the different measurements) the actual mode‐stirrer positions at which the transfer function is sampled, they conduct all the measurements with stepwise (instead of continuous) mode‐stirring. The model is shown to work well for all the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A technique for array diagnosis using a small number of measured data acquired by a near-field system is proposed. The technique, inspired by some recent results in the field of compressed sensing, requires the preliminary measurement of a failure-free reference array. The linear system relating the difference between the field measured using the reference array and the field radiated by the array under test, and the difference between the coefficients of the reference and of the AUT array, is solved using a proper regularization procedure. Numerical examples confirm that the technique gives satisfactory results in terms of failure detection with a reduction in the number of data of two orders of magnitudes compared to standard back-propagation technique and of one order of magnitude compared to the number of elements of the array, provided that the number of fault elements is small. This result is relevant in practical applications, since the high cost of large array diagnosis in near-field facilities is mainly caused by the time required for the data acquisition. Accordingly, the technique is particularly suitable for routine testing of arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this Letter, a tri‐reflector compact antenna test range (CATR) with a paraboloidal main reflector and two shaped sub‐reflectors is synthesised by the kinematic and dynamic ray tracing method, while the high cross‐polarisation isolation is achieved through the proposed system geometry. Numerical simulations by general responsibility assignment software patterns demonstrate that a cross‐polarisation isolation >40 dB and a peak‐to‐peak amplitude (phase) ripple <1 dB (10°) can be achieved on the principal cuts of the designed quiet zone at 90–325 GHz. This clearly shows that the high cross‐polarisation isolation in such a tri‐reflector CATR can be achieved by the proposed antenna geometry without depolarisation control in the shaping procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A planar super‐wideband (SWB) antenna fed by an asymmetric coplanar strip is proposed, fabricated, and tested. The antenna consists of a hexagonal loop strip in which a signal strip is prolonged, curved, and shorted to a ground plane to facilitate SWB characteristics. In addition, by adding a boomerang‐shaped strip to the ground plane, the effective electrical length is increased, thereby decreasing the lowest operating frequency. The simulated results show that the proposed antenna exhibits a −10 dB reflection bandwidth from 1.18 to 49.22 GHz corresponding to a ratio bandwidth of 41.7:1. The measured results of the fabricated antenna are also represented and compared with the simulated results. The antenna gain changes from 2.05 to 10.62 dBi within the measured frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags with printed antennas are lower in cost but have lower performance than those with metal antennas. Printed antennas can replace metal ones if the performance is increased without raising cost. The performance of printed antennas can be increased if the series resistance in the antennas is lowered. The resistance is dependent on the line thickness and the resistivity of the conductive ink. Printed antennas with different line thicknesses were fabricated to investigate the effect of compaction and thickness on the resistance. The resistance of the printed antenna coils decreased by more than 40% after compaction, while the inductance and the parasitic capacitance were unchanged. RFIDs with compacted printed antennas were found to have significantly increased read range. RFIDs with thick printed antennas were fabricated and tested. These RFIDs were shown to have read ranges comparable to the RFIDs with copper wire antennas. Moreover, a geometry-independent plateau for the read range was found. The presence of a plateau is valuable for thick-line printed antenna since the plateau will enable the usage of low precision printing techniques to lower tag fabrication cost. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A comparison between different modern heuristic optimization methods applied to antenna far-field radiation pattern reconstruction from planar near-field data is presented in this paper. The antenna under test is represented by means of equivalent magnetic currents (EMC) whose components are optimized using several heuristic algorithms such as simulated annealing (SA), genetic algorithms (GA), and particle swarm optimization (PSO), as well as a traditional local optimization method, the Nelder Mead downhill simplex algorithm. Several schemes for GA (classical real-valued and binary encoding, and their hybrid versions) and PSO (global or local topologies with synchronous or asynchronous updates of the swarm) have been considered in the analysis and the pros and cons of each one are reported and discussed. A study of the performance and limitations of each algorithm using as a canonical problem a small size antenna aperture, along with results of near-field to far-field (NF-FF) transformation are also included [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With the proliferation of wireless devices in recent years, there is a growing need to test the operation and functionality of these various devices in different multipath environments, ranging from line-of-sight environment to a pure Rayleigh environment. In this paper we discuss how a reverberation chamber can be used to simulate a controllable Rician radio environment for the testing of a wireless device. We show that by varying the characteristics of the reverberation chamber and/or the antenna configurations in the chamber, any desired Rician K-factor can be obtained. Expressions for the desired K-factor as a function of the chamber and antenna characteristics will be presented. Experimental results are presented to illustrate the validity of these expressions, to show how the reverberation chamber can be used to simulate different multipath environments, and to show the realization of a controlled K-factor test facility. We present both a one-antenna and a two-antenna test configuration approach [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By supporting an L-probe coupled circular patch antenna with four metallic posts at appropriate locations, it is demonstrated that the conical and the broadside modes which are excited separately by two different sets of L-shaped probes, can be operated at the same frequency range. For a tested antenna operated at 1.85 GHz, the bandwidth (SWR<2) achieved is 24%, and the isolation between the two input ports is 28 dB. The gains of the conical and broadside modes are 4 and 8.5 dBi, respectively. With suitable switching feed networks, the antenna can be reconfigurable in radiation pattern. The antenna can also be used as a pattern diversity antenna for modern mobile communications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A tunable, electrically small, wire antenna is developed for HF/VHF ground wave transmission. A variable capacitor is serially connected to tune the resonant frequency of the antenna. The optimal position for the placement of the capacitor is evaluated by numerical simulation. The tuning range and sensitivity are also investigated. A prototype antenna is built and tested, and the measured tuning performance is compared to the simulation results. Transmission loss tests are carried out in several nonline-of-sight environments. The measured transmission loss of the tunable small antenna is found to be within 1 to 2 dB of that of a commercial whip across the tested frequency range. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The method is considered which consists of measurements of output antenna signals on a number of frequencies and Fourier transformation of data into time domain for separation of own antenna field and interference fields. The results of testing at serial facility for antenna measurements in an anechoic chamber are presented as for diagnosis of scattered fields, as for improvement of accuracy of antenna characteristics evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A report on an investigation of spherical, disc, and half-disc antennas in the frequency and time domains with the objective of developing small planar versions of the antennas. These antennas have an omni-directional impulse response in azimuth and pulse duration of 0.5-0.65 nanoseconds. In addition, the measured data show a reasonable peak received signal in a pulse communication link using two identical antennas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Differential GPS on board naval vessels has been tested in severe multipath archipelago environment against a commercial laser tracker system. The average location difference was 3 meters and two periodic error components were found. Their tune constants were 1.8 and 28 seconds and the peak amplitudes 1.5 and 1.1 meters, respectively. In addition to these, a clear dependency of location error standard deviation figures on the GPS antenna mounting distance from the sea level was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A non-perturbing, fast, low-cost probe for near-field measurements is presented in this paper. The new sensing technique's capabilities in antenna fault diagnosis and direct measurement of field intensity distribution at subwavelength distance from the sources are demonstrated by test measurement on different microwave antennas and applicators. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 38: 95–98, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.10981 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testing of satellite antennas at high millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths has some specific problems not encountered at lower frequencies. The atmospheric attenuation due to water and oxygen molecule resonances at certain frequency bands can be substantial. Therefore, conventional far-field test methods for electrically large antennas are ruled out by the required far-field distance of kilometers or even tens of kilometers. However, the compact antenna test range (CATR) makes such far-field tests possible within an indoor chamber having a controlled atmosphere. The application and ongoing development of a CATR based on a hologram as the focusing element are outlined [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this work, the influence of resistive absorbers in the vicinity of small antennas was investigated, in order to define a lower limit for the size of a small anechoic chamber for antenna calibration and radiation pattern measurements, with respect to the distance between the antenna under test (AUT) and the RF absorbers lining the walls. Furthermore, the influence of a relatively narrow transmission channel, formed by the absorbers on the side walls between the measurement antenna and the AUT was investigated. It was found by measurements that absorbers with the length of 610 mm do not have a measurable effect on the radiation characteristics of a small antenna at around 1.8 GHz, as long as they are kept more than 100 mm from the AUT, and the transmission channel formed by the absorbers between the antennas is wider than 100 mm [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]