Calibration of a Planar Scanner for Near-Field Antenna Measurements

The main goal of the work is to increase the near field measurement accuracy of antennas characteristics by performing calibration of planar scanner. This becomes possible when using the phaseless switching method for the diagnostics of amplitude and phase scanning errors. The novelty of the proposed solution lies in the fact that the phase state changing of the channel under calibration is performed without the usage of phase shifters by digital methods only. During the research process a simulation model of the calibration process was developed. That model was shown the convergence of the algorithm for any values of phase and amplitude errors. Special software for automatic estimation of measurement errors was developed. Experimental studies of a planar scanner in an anechoic chamber were carried out. The obtained results turn it possible to reduce the amplitude and phase measurement errors in the process of moving the scanner to values corresponding to the industrial standards of high-end devices.