A multi-probe technology for fast spherical near field scanning of automotive antennas is presented, together with the major building blocks for such facilities. Examples of existing test ranges based on this technology are shown. Software tools for post processing of the acquired data are introduced, as well as typical reference antennas used for validation of test range performance. The current trends of wireless communications, such as diversity and MIMO antenna systems, and the resulting implications for automotive antenna testing are also discussed.
The spherical near-field antenna measurement system StarLab has evolved to cover the entire frequency band from 800MHz to 18GHz [1, 2, 3]. The system is based on patented probe array technology and the Advanced Modulated Scattering Technique (A-MST) [4, 5]. The StarLab system offers the speed advantages of a probe array, while the mechanical rotation in elevation allows for unlimited angular resolution over the full 3D sphere. By adding a linear scanner, the StarLab system can be converted to a compact cylindrical near field measurement system, as shown in Figure 1. This system is particularly wellsuited for measurements of base stationsand other sectorial type array antennas. This paper describes the innovative design aspects of the StarLab portable antenna measurement system, with emphasis on the cylindrical near-field measurement capabilities. The system validation testing has been performed using the inverse source technique [9-11] and with comparative measurement campaigns, including both multiprobe and other traditional (single probe) measurement facilities.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.