On the Antenna Positioning for a Faster and Better Radiation Pattern Characterization

The positioning of the antenna under test in the measurement coordinate system is a crucial part in antenna measurements. When the antenna is properly centered and oriented with respect to the measurement system, its radiation pattern can be faster and better characterized. The vector spherical harmonic expansion of the antenna pattern enables to modify by post-processing both the antenna position and orientation. This feature can be harnessed to help finding the best antenna positioning efficiently. Validations on simulated and measured near and far-field data are shown to demonstrate that the antenna pattern reconstruction can be improved.