Antenna measurement

Antenna measurement techniques refers to the testing of antennas to ensure that the antenna meets specifications or simply to characterize it. Typical parameters of antennas are gain, radiation pattern, beamwidth, polarization, and impedance. The antenna pattern is the response of the antenna to a plane wave incident from a given direction or the relative power density of the wave transmitted by the antenna in a given direction. For a reciprocal antenna, these two patterns are identical. A multitude of antenna pattern measurement techniques have been developed. The first technique developed was the farfield range, where the antenna under test (AUT) is placed in the far-field of a range antenna. Due to the size required to create a far-field range for large antennas, near-field techniques were developed, which allow the measurement of the field on a surface close to the antenna (typically 3 to 10 times its wavelength). This measurement is then predicted to be the same at infinity. A third common method is the compact range, which uses a reflector to create a field near the AUT that looks approximately like a plane-wave. Contents

1 Far-Field Range (FF) 2 Near-Field Range (NF) o 2.1 Planar Near-Field Range 2.1.1 Rectangular planar scanning 2.1.2 Polar planar scanning 2.1.3 Bi-polar planar scanning o 2.2 Cylindrical near-field range o 2.3 Spherical near-field range 3 Free-Space Ranges o 3.1 Compact Range o 3.2 Elevated Range o 3.3 Slant Range 4 Antenna Parameters o 4.1 Radiation pattern o 4.2 Efficiency o 4.3 Bandwidth o 4.4 Directivity o 4.5 Gain

Far-Field Range (FF) The far-field range was the original antenna measurement technique, and consists of placing the AUT a long distance away from the instrumentation antenna. Generally, the far-field distance or Fraunhofer distance, d, is considered to be

, where D is the antenna diameter and is the wavelength of the radio wave. Separating the AUT and the instrumentation antenna by this distance reduces the phase variation across the AUT enough to obtain a reasonably good antenna pattern. IEEE suggests the use of their antenna measurement standard, document number IEEE-Std-1491979 for far-field ranges and measurement set-up for various techniques including groundbounce type ranges. Near-Field Range (NF) Planar Near-Field Range Planar near-field measurements are conducted by scanning a small probe antenna over a planar surface. These measurements are then transformed to the far-field by use of a Fourier transform, or more specifically by applying a method known as stationary phase[1] to the Laplace transform . Three basic types of planar scans exist in near field measurements. Rectangular planar scanning The probe moves in the Cartesian coordinate system and its linear movement creates a regular rectangular sampling grid with a maximum near-field sample spacing of x = y = /2. Polar planar scanning More complicated solution to the rectangular scanning method is the plane polar scanning method.

Bi-polar planar scanning The bi-polar technique is very similar to the plane polar configuration.

Cylindrical near-field range Cylindrical near-field ranges measure the electric field on a cylindrical surface close to the AUT. Cylindrical harmonics are used transform these measurements to the far-field.

Spherical near-field range Spherical near-field ranges measure the electric field on a spherical surface close to the AUT. Spherical harmonics are used transform these measurements to the far-field Free-Space Ranges

Compact Range A Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) is a facility which is used to provide convenient testing of antenna systems at frequencies where obtaining far-field spacing to the AUT would be infeasible using traditional free space methods. The CATR uses a source antenna which radiates a spherical wavefront and one or more secondary reflectors to collimate the radiated spherical wavefront into a planar wavefront within the desired test zone. One typical embodiment uses a horn feed antenna and a parabolic reflector to accomplish this. The CATR is used for microwave and millimeter wave frequencies where the 2 D2/ far-field distance is large, such as with high-gain reflector antennas. The size of the range that is required can be much less than the size required for a full-size far-field anechoic chamber, although the cost of fabrication of the specially-designed CATR reflector can be expensive due to the need to ensure precision of the reflecting surface (typically less than /100 RMS surface accuracy) and to

specially treat the edge of the reflector to avoid diffracted waves which can interfere with the desired beam pattern. [edit] Elevated Range A means of reducing reflection from waves bouncing off the ground. Slant Range A means of eliminating symmetrical wave reflection. Antenna Parameters Except for polarization, the SWR is the most easily measured of the parameters above. Impedance can be measured with specialized equipment, as it relates to the complex SWR. Measuring radiation pattern requires a sophisticated setup including significant clear space (enough to put the sensor into the antenna's far field, or an anechoic chamber designed for antenna measurements), careful study of experiment geometry, and specialized measurement equipment that rotates the antenna during the measurements. Radiation pattern The radiation pattern is a graphical depiction of the relative field strength transmitted from or received by the antenna. As antennas radiate in space often several curves are necessary to describe the antenna. If the radiation of the antenna is symmetrical about an axis (as is the case in dipole, helical and some parabolic antennas) a unique graph is sufficient. Each antenna supplier/user has different standards as well as plotting formats. An antenna radiation pattern allows to easily see sidelobes and backlobes. Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages. Radiation pattern of an antenna can be defined as the locus of all points where the emitted power per unit surface is the same. The radiated power per unit surface is proportional to the squared electrical field of the electromagnetic wave. The radiation pattern is the locus of points with the same electrical field. In this representation, the reference is usually the best angle of emission. It is also possible to depict the directive gain of the antenna as a function of the direction. Often the gain is given in decibels. The graphs can be drawn using cartesian (rectangular) coordinates or a polar plot. This last one is useful to measure the beamwidth, which is, by convention, the angle at the -3dB points around the max gain. The shape of curves can be very different in cartesian or polar coordinates and with the choice of the limits of the logarithmic scale. The four drawings below are the radiation patterns of a same half-wave antenna.

Radiation pattern of a half-wave dipole antenna. Linear scale.

Gain of a half-wave dipole. The scale is in dBi.

Gain of a half-wave dipole. Cartesian representation.

3D Radiation pattern of a half-wave dipole antenna.

Efficiency "Efficiency" is the ratio of power actually radiated to the power put into the antenna terminals. A dummy load may have an SWR of 1:1 but an efficiency of 0, as it absorbs all power and radiates heat but not RF energy, showing that SWR alone is not an effective measure of an antenna's efficiency. Radiation in an antenna is caused by radiation resistance which can only be measured as part of total resistance including loss resistance. Loss resistance usually results in heat generation rather than radiation, and reduces efficiency. Mathematically, efficiency is calculated as radiation resistance divided by total resistance. Bandwidth IEEE defines bandwidth as "The range of frequencies within which the performance of the antenna, with respect to some characteristic, conforms to a specified standard." [2] In other words, bandwidth depends on the overall effectiveness of the antenna through a range of frequencies, so all of these parameters must be understood to fully characterize the bandwidth capabilities of an antenna. This definition may serve as a practical definition, however, in practice, bandwidth is typically determined by measuring a characteristic such as SWR or radiated power over the frequency range of interest. For example, the SWR bandwidth is

typically determined by measuring the frequency range where the SWR is less than 2:1. Directivity Antenna directivity is the ratio of maximum radiation intensity (power per unit surface)radiated by the antenna in the maximum direction divided by the intensity radiated by a lossless isotropic antenna with the same input power. For example, an antenna which has a radiated pattern of a hemisphere(1/2 sphere) has a directivity of 2. Directivity is a dimensionless ratio and may be expressed numerically or in dB. Directivity is determined without respect to antenna efficiency and differs from gain where antenna efficiency is considered. Directivity is a theoretical quantity based on the lossless case and will always be greater than gain. Gain Gain as a parameter measures the directionality of a given antenna. An antenna with a low gain emits radiation in all directions equally, whereas a high-gain antenna will preferentially radiate in particular directions. Specifically, the Gain, Directive gain or Power gain of an antenna is defined as the ratio of the intensity (power per unit surface) radiated by the antenna in a given direction at an arbitrary distance divided by the intensity radiated at the same distance by an hypothetical isotropic antenna:

We write "hypothetical" because a perfect isotropic antenna cannot exist in reality (the electric and magnetic field would not satisfy Maxwell's equations for electromagnetic fields). Gain is a dimensionless number (without units). The gain of an antenna is a passive phenomenon - power is not added by the antenna, but simply redistributed to provide more radiated power in a certain direction than would be transmitted by an isotropic antenna. If an antenna has a greater than one gain in some directions, it must have a less than one gain in other directions since energy is conserved by the antenna. An antenna designer must take into account the application for the antenna when determining the gain. Highgain antennas have the advantage of longer range and better signal quality, but must be aimed carefully in a particular direction. Low-gain antennas have shorter range, but the orientation of the antenna is inconsequential. For example, a dish antenna on a spacecraft is a high-gain device (must be pointed at the planet to be effective), while a typical WiFi antenna in a laptop computer is low-gain (as long as the base station is within range, the antenna can be in an any orientation in space). As an example, consider an antenna that radiates an electromagnetic wave whose electrical field has an amplitude at a distance . This amplitude is given by: where:

is the current fed to the antenna and is a constant characteristic of each antenna.

For a large distance . The radiated wave can be considered locally as a plane wave. The intensity of an electromagnetic plane wave is:

where vacuum impedance. and

is a universal constant called

If the resistive part of the series impedance of the antenna is , the power fed to the antenna is . The intensity of an isotropic antenna is the power so fed divided by the surface of the sphere of radius : The directive gain is:

For the commonly utilized half-wave dipole, the particular formulation works out to the following, including its decibel equivalency, expressed as dBi (decibels referenced to isotropic radiator):

(In most cases 73.13, is adequate) (Likewise, 1.64 and 2.15 dBi are usually the cited values) Sometimes, the half-wave dipole is taken as a reference instead of the isotropic radiator. The gain is then given in dBd (decibels over dipole): 0 dBd = 2.15 dBi