A Fast Near-Field Spherical Testing Technique Utilizing Compressed Sensing Method for UAVMounted Antennas

Traditional spherical near-field testing (SNFT) for electrically large antennas are hindered by slow sampling rates and prolonged testing times. To address these issues, we propose a sparse sampling method based on compressed sensing, employing the two-step iterative shrinkage/thresholding (TwIST) algorithm. This method reconstructs the far-field pattern from a limited set of near-field data, overcoming the Nyquist sampling constraint and reducing data acquisition costs. We demonstrate the feasibility of this approach through simulations of a 4 × 4 antenna array mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). This focus on UAV-mounted antennas underscores the method's potential to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of aerial antenna systems.