On the Feasibility of Antenna Pattern Measurement Using Arbitrarily Polarized/Orientated Probe in Reverberation Chamber

This paper discusses the feasibility of evaluating antenna patterns employing arbitrary polarization probes within a reverberation chamber (RC). Antenna pattern measurements in the RC have been demonstrated experimentally in previous works. On the contrast to the conventional anechoic chamber measurement, the RC-based measurement system not only avoids the use of expensive absorbing materials but also significantly relaxes the probe antenna’s requirements. Nevertheless, the latter has not been discussed explicitly in the previous study. In this work, we elaborate this advantage and demonstrate the feasibility of using arbitrary polarized and/or orientated probe for antenna pattern tests in the RC. A circularly polarized (CP) antenna under test is used as an example. Notably, compared to the conventional testing technique for CP antenna patterns, the RC method prevents the necessity for conducting two sets of orthogonalization measurements with a polarized antenna or use special CP probe. Furthermore, the probe can have arbitrary orientation and, therefore, greatly relieve the mechanical mounting accuracy of the antennas. The efficacy of the RC-based method is substantiated through simulation utilizing probes with diverse polarization characteristics.