New methods to reduce leakage errors in planar near-field measurements

This paper describes two methods to cancel the effect of two kinds of leakage signals which may be presented when an antenna is measured in a planar near-field range. One method tries to reduce leakage bias errors from the receiver¿s quadrature detector and it is based on estimating the bias constant added to every near-field data sample. Then, that constant is subtracted from the data, removing its undesired effect on the far-field pattern. The estimation is performed by back-propagating the field from the scan plane to the antenna under test plane (AUT) and averaging all the data located outside the AUT aperture. The second method is able to cancel the effect of the leakage from faulty transmission lines, connectors or rotary joints. The basis of this method is also a reconstruction process to determine the field distribution on the AUT plane. Once this distribution is known, a spatial filtering is applied to cancel the contribution due to those faulty elements. After that, a near-field-to-far-field transformation is applied, obtaining a new radiation pattern where the leakage effects have disappeared. To verify the effectiveness of both methods, several examples are presented

Electronically Reconfigurable Transmitarray at Ku Band for Microwave Applications

An electronically reconfigurable transmitarray device at 12 GHz is presented in this work. This paper highlights the functioning of this kind of device and thoroughly examines the proposed reconfigurable transmitarray. The architecture is discussed along with the design and selection of all the constituting elements and the prototypes for all of them. In order to add reconfigurability to the transmitarray structure, 360° reflective phase shifters were designed, prototyped and validated for direct application. Eventually, a demonstrative prototype for an active transmitarray with phase shifters was assembled, and radiation pattern measurements were taken in an anechoic chamber to demonstrate the capabilities of this structure

Efficient and Accurate hybrid GO-Spectral Algorithm to Design Conformal Serrated-Edge Reflectors Operating as Collimators in Millimeter Wave Compact Ranges

This paper presents a hybrid analysis algorithm, which is used at Radiation Group (UPM) to carry out the design of a conformal serrated-edge reflector for the mm-Wave compact range UPM facility. Main features of this algorithm involve its capability of handling conformal serrated rim parabolic reflectors, accuracy and computational efficiency

Antenna Measurement System at 300 GHz for the Terasense Project

The aim of this paper is to introduce the design techniques used to develop the antenna measurement system for the Terasense Project. This project, funded by the Spanish Government, involves millimetre-wave systems design. One of these systems is an antenna measurement facility. The antenna measurement system operates in a banded range of frequency. The lower frequencies deal between 75–110 GHz (WR10 operation range) and the upper frequencies are set between 220–325 GHz (WR03). Among the different possible configurations, the reflector-based compact range is chosen. The quiet zone is generated by a serrated-edge reflector, fed by a low gain horn. In this paper we will focus on the reflector design. A serrations study is carried out and quiet zone acquisition results are obtained

Passive Microstrip Transmitarray Lens for Ku Band

The aim of this paper is to introduce a novel 12 GHz radiating design based on the idea of transmitarray lens device. In this document, an overview of the functioning of this kind of devices is given and the proposed transmitarray lens is studied, with architecture discussion and selection, as well as some ideas about the design, and manufacturing. In the document, some design, manufacturing and validation of the constituting elements of the lens (radiating elements, transmission circuits and transitions) are presented, together with a complete prototype of assembled transmitarray lens. Radiation pattern measurements in anechoic chamber, as well as gain and directivity values are offered

Two design methods for radial line slot antennas with arbitrary or beam pattern

Two design procedures for Radial Line Slot Antennas (RLSAs) with circular polarization and either maximum gain or an arbitrary shaped pattern are proposed. Firstly, a method to design a RLSA with any desired pattern is presented. It is based on an optimization algorithm and some measures to ensure its fast convergence and stability need to be taken. Secondly, a fast technique to calculate the length and the position of every slot in a high gain RLSA with uniform field distribution is described. Both procedures are vali dated with the design of three antennas with different characteristics

An Efficient Hybrid GO-PWS Algorithm to Analyze Conformal Serrated-Edge Reflectors for Millimeter-Wave Compact Range

A method to analyze parabolic reflectors with arbitrary piecewise rim is presented in this communication. This kind of reflectors, when operating as collimators in compact range facilities, needs to be large in terms of wavelength. Their analysis is very inefficient, when it is carried out with fullwave/MoM techniques, and it is not very appropriate for designing with PO techniques. Also, fast GO formulations do not offer enough accuracy to reach performance results. The proposed algorithm is based on a GO-PWS hybrid scheme, using analytical as well as non-analytical formulations. On one side, an analytical treatment of the polygonal rim reflectors is carried out. On the other side, non-analytical calculi are based on efficient operations, such as M2 order 2-dimensional FFT. A combination of these two techniques in the algorithm ensures real ad-hoc design capabilities, reached through analysis speedup. The purpose of the algorithm is to obtain an optimal conformal serrated-edge reflector design through the analysis of the field quality within the quiet zone that it is able to generate in its forward half space

Signal to noise ratio maximization in quiet zone acquisitions for range assessment at sub-millimeter wavelengths

This paper proposes a quiet zone probing approach which deals with low dynamic range quiet zone acquisitions. Lack of dynamic range is a feature of millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelength technologies. It is consequence of the gradually smaller power generated by the instrumentation, that follows a f^α law with frequency, being α≥1 variable depending on the signal source’s technology. The proposed approach is based on an optimal data reduction scenario which redounds in a maximum signal to noise ratio increase for the signal pattern, with minimum information losses. After theoretical formulation, practical applications of the technique are proposed

Global dimension in engineering education : promoting global learning in Spanish universities

La iniciativa ‘Dimensión Global en los Estudios Tecnológicos’ (GDEE) es una red que pretende mejorar el conocimiento, la comprensión crítica y los valores actitudinales de los estudiantes y de los postgraduados de las universidades científicotecnológicas en relación al Desarrollo Humano Sostenible (DHS). El objetivo es promover la integración del DHS como tema transversal en el currículo, mediante la mejora de las competencias de los profesores y a través de su participación y la de los estudiantes en iniciativas relacionadas con el DHS. La iniciativa empezó como un proyecto de colaboración entre un consorcio de universidades europeas y ONGs financiado por EuropeAid. Esta contribución presenta y discute la experiencia europea GDEE, profundizando las barreras y oportunidades encontradas, centrándose especialmente en la replicabilidad potencial de esta iniciativa. Estos resultados se complementan con la caracterización y el análisis comparativo del perfil académico de una comunidad de profesores implicados en actividades promovidas por GDEE.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Methods for noise reduction in far-field patterns obtained from cylindrical near-field antenna measurements

Two different methods to reduce the noise power in the far-field pattern of an antenna as measured in cylindrical near-field (CNF) are proposed. Both methods are based on the same principle: the data recorded in the CNF measurement, assumed to be corrupted by white Gaussian and space-stationary noise, are transformed into a new domain where it is possible to filter out a portion of noise. Those filtered data are then used to calculate a far-field pattern with less noise power than that one obtained from the measured data without applying any filtering. Statistical analyses are carried out to deduce the expressions of the signal-to-noise ratio improvement achieved with each method. Although the idea of the two alternatives is the same, there are important differences between them. The first one applies a modal filtering, requires an oversampling and improves the far-field pattern in all directions. The second method employs a spatial filtering on the antenna plane, does not require oversampling and the far-field pattern is only improved in the forward hemisphere. Several examples are presented using both simulated and measured near-field data to verify the effectiveness of the methods