Numerical and experimental validation of a phaseless planar near field technique

An algorithm for the determination of the radiation pattern of a radiating source from phaseless measurements over two planes is developed in detail. A rather extensive assessment of its performances with respect to positioning errors and noise uncertainties is included. Moreover, comparisons with experimental data for a low sidelobe antenna demonstrate the wide applicability of the proposed technique, which is now mature for use both at frequencies where phase information cannot be reliably detected and at lower frequencies. The full exploitation of this new concept in near field techniques will allow a drastic reduction of the cost of the whole facility, since many specification parameters can be relaxed without affecting the precision of the measurement set-up.