1999 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.

IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Volume 47 Number 3, March 1999

Table of Contents for this issue

Complete paper in PDF format

Near-Field Alignment of Phased-Array Antennas

Willard T. Patton, Life Fellow, IEEE, and Leonard H. Yorinks, Member, IEEE

Page 584.

Abstract:

This paper describes the algorithms and equipment used to apply near-field scanning techniques to the phase alignment of phased-array antennas. This procedure achieves a level of precision not previously available. The electronic scanning property of the antenna is used to bring different sections of the antenna spectrum within range of the near-field scanning process. These partial spectra are then merged to define the entire spectrum of the antenna. This process provides the resolution needed to determine the excitation at individual elements by the inverse Fourier transformation operation. The process described here has been used in the production of a very large number of phased-array antennas currently in service.

References

  1. D. K. Alexander and R. P. Gray, Jr., "Computer-aided fault determination for an advanced phased array antenna," in Proc. Antenna Applicat. Symp., Urbana, IL, Sept. 1979.
  2. D. Kerns, "Plane-wave scattering-matrix theory of antennas and antenna-antenna interactions," Nat. Bureau Standards Monograph, vol. 162, June 1981.
  3. P. L. Ransom and R. Mitra, "A method of locating defective elements in large phased arrays," Phased Array Antennas.Dedham, MA: Artech House, 1972.
  4. W. T. Patton, "Phased array alignment with planar near-field data," in Proc. Antenna Applicat. Symp., Urbana, IL, Sept. 1981.
  5. --, "Method of determining excitation of individual elements of a phased array antenna from near-field data," U.S. Patent 4453164, June 1984.
  6. S. A. Schelkunoff, "A mathematical theory of linear arrays," Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 22, pp. 80-107, Jan. 1943.
  7. L. H. Yorinks, "Edge effects in low-sidelobe phased array antennas," in Dig. IEEE Antennas Propagat. Symp., Vancouver, Canada, June 1985, pp. 225-228.
  8. R. C. Wittmann, A. C. Newell, C. F. Stubenrauch et al., "Simulation of the merged spectrum technique for aligning planar phased-array antennas, part 1," NISTIR 3981, Oct. 1992.
  9. P. Hannan, "The element gain paradox for a phased-array antenna," IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol. AP-12, pp. 423-424, July 1964.
  10. M. H. Francis, "A comparisonof k-correction and Taylor series correction for probe-position errors in planar nesar-field scanning," in Proc. Antenna Measurement Tech. Assoc., Williamsburg, VA, Nov. 1995, pp. 341-347.
  11. P. K. Agrawal, "A method to compensate for probe positioning errors in an antenna near field test facility," in Antenna Propagat. Soc. Symp. Dig., Albuquerque, NM, May 1982, vol. 1, pp. 218-221.
  12. L. H. Yorinks and W. T. Patton, "A near field antenna range for ultra-low sidelobe antennas," in Military Microwave Conf. Rec., London, U.K., Oct. 1984.