Near-field far-field transformation exploiting the benefits of plane wave expansion and diagonal translation operators

Nowadays, near-field antenna measurements combined with a near-field far-field transformation are a common antenna measurement approach. Among the well known methods employing spherical multipole-expansions, various other techniques are available. In this paper, a new near- field far-field transformation algorithm based on plane wave expansion is presented. In contrast to existing algorithms, the new approach exploits the benefits of diagonalised translation operators. Compared to other plane wave techniques, like holographic projections which are suitable for highly directive antennas, the new approach is applicable for almost arbitrary radiating structures. The major advantage of the presented method is a low computational effort with respect to the coupling matrix elements owing to the use of diagonalised translation operators.