A Measurement System for the Complex Far-Field of Physically Large Antenna Arrays Under Noisy Conditions Utilizing the Equivalent Electric Current Method

Abstract

Abstract-Precipitation in the form of snow or rain could severely degrade the performance of large antenna arrays, in particular if knowledge about the beam shape and pointing direction in absolute numbers is necessary. In this paper, a method of estimating the far-field of each individual antenna element using the equivalent electric current approach is presented. Both a least squares estimator and a Kalman filter was used to solve the resulting system of equation and their performance was compared. Simulation results shows that the estimated far-field for one antenna element is very accurate if there is no noise on the signal. During noisier conditions the Kalman filter gives less noisy results while the systematic errors are slightly larger compared to the least squares estimator.

A Measurement System for the Position and Phase Errors of the Elements in an Antenna Array Subject to Mutual Coupling

“…This is particularly the case in applications where knowledge about the gain and beam pointing direction is needed in absolute numbers, such as in multistatic radar systems. In the absence of coupling, the complex far-field radiation pattern can be estimated using the equivalent electric current method [1]. In many cases the mutual coupling between elements will distort the behavior of the individual elements.…”

“…(ii) The performance of the antenna elements might also degrade due to snowfall [8]. The measurement system presented in [1] is one means of mitigating these effects.…”

The Partial Elements Equivalent Circuit Method: The State of the Art

“…Since then, there has been a growing interest in the PEEC method which has been applied to a large variety of different fields including power electronics [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], power systems [21], [22], antennas [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29], [30], radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) [31], [32] and RF interferences [33], lightning [34], [35], [36], filters [37], [38], on-chip interconnects [39], frequency selective surfaces [40], [41], [42], Litz wires [43], [44], [45], [46], neuromorphic chip crossbar array [47], flexible electronics [48], [49], high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables [50], decoupling capacitors [51], wireless power transfer [52], [53], [54], and return network in composoite aircraft [55], just to name a few. The list of applications and contributors increases continuously due to recent improvements.…”