Method for testing beam scanning characteristics of passive array antenna

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for testing beam scanning characteristics of a passive array antenna, relates to the technical field of radar and antenna testing, and solves the problem of how to realize rapid and efficient testing of the beam scanning characteristics of an electrically large-size passive array antenna. The method is based on a planar near-field test system, a digital array radarbeam forming technology is applied to passive array antenna test, and a multi-channel switch and a vector network analyzer are used for replacing an active channel and a digital receiver of a digitalarray radar. A planar near-field scanning frame, a multi-channel switch and a vector network analyzer are used for cooperatively controlling a probe, sequential control and acquisition are matched, near-field amplitude and phase data of each antenna unit are obtained through one-time planar near-field scanning, and scanning beam near-field data are calculated through a digital beam synthesis method. Beam scanning characteristics of the passive array antenna are obtained through near-far field transformation; any beam scanning characteristic of the passive array antenna under different workingfrequencies can be obtained through one-time planar near-field scanning, and the test efficiency is improved by times.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of radar and antenna testing, in particular to a testing method for beam scanning characteristics of a passive array antenna. Background technique [0002] Phased array radar is widely used in various fields such as national defense, aviation, aerospace, etc. Passive array antenna is an important single unit of phased array radar, and its performance evaluation, especially the test and evaluation of beam scanning characteristics is a difficult point. At present, the following three methods are mainly used to evaluate: the first method is to evaluate the beam scanning characteristics of the passive array antenna by simulation calculation; Realize the beam scanning, and then evaluate the scanning characteristics of the full-array antenna through multiple iterations; the third method is to customize the power division network and phase matching cables to realize the testing of the beam scanning characteristics ...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

At present, the following three methods are mainly used to evaluate: the first method is to evaluate the beam scanning characteristics of the passive array antenna by simulation calculation; Realize the beam scanning, and then evaluate the scanning characteristics of the full-array antenna through multiple iterations; the third method is to customize the power division network and phase matching cables to realize the testing of the beam scanning characteristics of the passive array antenna. Configure a set of cables for the phase distribution of the phase distribution, and conduct a planar near-field scanning test to obtain the far-field pattern. This method is acceptable for one-dimensional beam scanning tests with a small number of units. Hundreds of thousands, to realize the test of beam scanning characteristics, especially two-dimensional beam scanning, there are many shortcomings in the current three methods: method 1 is purely theoretical calculation, and there will be deviations from the effect after project implementation; method 2 requires Before the antenna is officially put into production, a set of small active antenna sub-arrays is first developed, which requires a long development period and high cost; method 3 needs to design and customize multi-level power distribution networks and phase matching cables according to different operating frequencies. Beams need to replace a set of matching cables and perform a planar near-field scan, which takes a long time, the test efficiency is low, and the test beams are limited

[0004] The above document uses a probe array that can adapt to the position mirror image of the base station array antenna unit to realize rapid calibration and testing of multiple antenna units at the same time, which is suitable for the short-range amplitude phase calibration test of the base station array antenna and the test of communication network parameters The technical solution does not solve the problem of how to realize the fast and efficient testing of the beam scanning characteristics of the electrically large-sized passive array antenna

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