Extension of the Mathematical Absorber Reflection Suppression Technique to the Planar Near-Field Geometry
Authors: Stuart Gregson, Allen Newell, Greg Hindman, Michael Carey
Publication: AMTA 2010
Copyright Owner: NSI-MI Technologies
Obtaining a quantitative accuracy qualification is one of the primary concerns for any measurement technique. This is especially true for the case of near-field antenna measurements as these techniques consist of a significant degree of mathematical analysis. When undertaking this sort of examination, room scattering is typically found to be one of the most significant contributors to the overall error budget. Previously, a technique named Mathematical Absorber Reflection Suppression (MARS) has been used with considerable success in quantifying and subsequently suppressing range multi-path effects in first spherical and then, cylindrical near-field antenna measurement systems. This paper details a recent advance that, for the first time, enables the MARS technique to be successfully deployed to correct data taken using planar near-field antenna measurement systems. This paper provides an overview of the measurement and novel data transformation and post-processing chain. Preliminary results of computational electromagnetic simulation and actual range measurements are presented and discussed that illustrate the success of the technique.