A System for Testing Multiple Parameters of Active Aperture Antenna Subarrays

Authors: A. Renee Koster, Rebecca R. Kaffezakis, and Tom Thomas
Publication: AMTA 1997
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies

When a phased array antenna consists of a number of complex subarrays, efficient and accurate testing of the subarrays is essential for overall project success. This paper presents a flexible system for testing various parameters of a subarray of an active aperture phased array antenna including S-parameters, noise figure, spurs, oscillations, and peak and average power. Testing is done for both CW and a variety of pulsed signals. A system block diagram is presented and system architecture explained. Timing diagrams are included for testing multiple states (which correspond to antenna beams), channels, and frequencies. Measured verification results are presented.

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