Synthesis of multi-element antennas using a measurement test bench

The computation of accurate weightings for a reconfigurable antenna remains a challenging task when the number of elements is moderate. In fact, the infinite periodic formalisms lead to inaccurate results for the element close to the edges. Moreover, in case of failure or dispersion on the performances of a reconfigurable element (e.g. phase shifter), it may be difficult to isolate the origin of a dysfunction. In this contribution, we propose an analysis and synthesis process including electromagnetic simulation, analytical synthesis and measurements data to optimize the performances of reconfigurable antennas. A simple test prototype has been used to validate the performances and to show the interest of this approach that can be extended to a wide category of multi-elements antennas.