A Reliable Low-cost Method for Accurate Characterization of Antennas in Time-Domain

In this paper, a time domain-based approach to practical characterization of antennas is presented. The goal is to prove that time domain-based approach, after appropriate processing, represents an accurate and more practicable alternative to the typically used (yet highly expensive) antenna characterization measurements that are performed in anechoic chamber through a Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). To this purpose, two commercial antennas, differing in operating frequency band, are considered as significant test-cases. Reflectometric measurements performed in Time Domain (TD) are subsequently transformed in Frequency Domain (FD), and compared with VNA reference measurements directly obtained in anechoic chamber. Results demonstrate that the preliminary choice of an optimal time window is the main factor leading to a substantial enhancement of the overall measurement accuracy, which is comparable to that provided by VNA measurements in anechoic chamber. This demonstrates that a good insight into the antenna characteristics can be obtained even without using highly expensive facilities.