Test and measurement planning for active antennas

Active Antennas are becoming more and more popular. Antennas that efficiently control amplitude and phase distribution as well as polarization have become standard in large phased arrays. Industry trends of low-cost sensors and increased computing power from field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) have made it possible to manipulate antenna apertures in real-time. Add the ability to provide pulsed RF, digital beam forming and/or polarization diversity and the antenna aperture becomes an antenna system controlling a highly customizable electromagnetic surface. In order to test antenna systems with this type of capability, special consideration for testing must be made during system design time. Understanding some of the latest active antenna techniques available today is invaluable to saving time, money and protecting proprietary information.