State of the art spherical near-field antenna test systems for full vehicle testing

A multi-probe technology for fast spherical near field scanning of automotive antennas is presented, together with the major building blocks for such facilities. Examples of existing test ranges based on this technology are shown. Software tools for post processing of the acquired data are introduced, as well as typical reference antennas used for validation of test range performance. The current trends of wireless communications, such as diversity and MIMO antenna systems, and the resulting implications for automotive antenna testing are also discussed.