Self-calibration for the multiple channel phase array system based on near-field weighting

Traditional in-field self-calibration techniques for some multiple channel systems, whose volume and weights are limited, are inefficient. A more simple calibration technique, employing only one assistant source in near-field and one transceiver channel, is investigated and it´s unnecessary to conduct complex feed circuits behind the antennas. Furthermore, the calibration method in the principle of minimum channel errors with the near-field weighting (NFW) is proposed. It´s a method in channel level for the compensation of errors between sub-arrays based on the proved fact that the channel errors have a stronger impact on the beam pattern than the random element errors. The channel errors could be obtained just by one time of measurement. A series of analysis and simulated results demonstrate that the proposed method is efficient in practice.