▲S7601A antenna measurement tool set (Photo courtesy of Keysight)

Increasing demand for rapid over-the-air testing for phased array performance calibration and verification.
Improved pointing accuracy and side lobe suppression to reduce interference effects.

Keysight Technologies (hereafter, Keysight) introduces a solution that supports the control and calibration of phased array antennas, electronically steering the beam to the correct position and improving overall reliability.

Satellite designers developing active electronically scanned arrays (AESAs) for satellite communications announced the launch of a new phased array antenna control and calibration solution, an over-the-air (OTA) calibration and characterization solution that enables them to rapidly test designs during the early verification phase.

Modern satellite networks operate at higher frequencies and use active phased array antenna systems, which drive the ubiquitous connectivity and sensing requirements of next-generation satellite communications.

Testing such highly integrated systems is a complex and time-consuming task, and designers and manufacturers require rapid over-the-air (OTA) testing to quickly and efficiently calibrate and verify the performance of phased arrays.

Keysight offers flexible measurement solutions that improve pointing accuracy and sidelobe suppression to reduce interference effects on phased array antennas by optimizing the frequency, gain, and phase response of active antenna array elements.It meets these needs.

The phased array antenna control and calibration solution can measure the gain and phase of a single phased array element under test with high accuracy in an indirect long-range test environment with a dedicated phased array calibration algorithm.

Combining these algorithms with the rapid synchronization capabilities of radio frequency (RF) test equipment, antenna positioning systems, and phased array control hardware can reduce phased array calibration times to minutes.

It also includes various verification tests such as fast gain and phase calibration, effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP), beam scan angle vs. radiation pattern, beam scan and range loss, cross-polarization isolation, gain compression, gain-to-noise temperature ratio (G/T), and modulation distortion (error vector magnitude).

Additionally, the integrated solution features a single, user-friendly software interface that controls the antenna under test, Keysight's high-performance test equipment, Keysight's compact antenna test range positioner, and temperature control unit.

Existing test chambers can also be further optimized for functionality by adding the PNA-X vector network analyzer and phased array antenna control and calibration solution.

Phased Array Antenna Control and Calibration solutions are part of Keysight's Antenna Measurement Toolset, providing engineers with a comprehensive set of antenna measurement tools, including options for performing various non-signaling antenna measurements such as frequency response, polar coordinates, or full spherical antenna patterns, and associated post-processing software for 2D and 3D graphical representations.

“Phased arrays are a key technology for modern SatCom systems, providing significant capabilities over parabolic dishes,” said Gregg Bell, general manager of Analog Devices’ aerospace and defense RF products business.“We are excited to work with a partner who can drive innovation and significantly reduce the development and iteration costs of phased array antenna solutions,” he said.

“The rapid adoption of phased array antenna technology in commercial and military satellite communications is driving demand for automated test tools that can quickly and accurately calibrate systems to complete missions,” said Greg Patschke, general manager of Keysight’s Aerospace/Defense and Government Solutions group. “Keysight’s new phased array antenna control and calibration solution can reduce the laborious and lengthy process of calibrating complex active phased array antennas in a laboratory environment from hours or days to just minutes.”