An Effective Near-Field Measurement Using Multicarrier Modulation Signal

The near-field measurement (NFM) is an effective method to obtain the far-field radiation pattern of an antenna from the measured phase and amplitude of the electromagnetic field over an arbitrary surface in the radiating near-field. Meanwhile, a simpler and faster NFM method is required since a large number of antenna elements will be incorporated or even integrated in massive MIMO base stations in the 5th generation mobile communication systems and beyond. In this study, we propose an efficient NFM method using a multicarrier modulation signal, enabling easy measurement of the radiation pattern and its frequency characteristics without a physical connection to the target antenna. In addition, we measure the radiation pattern of a horn antenna and its frequency characteristics by applying the proposed NFM method and confirm availability in comparison with the conventional NFM methods.