Patch antenna directivity analysis using an equi-area method

The widespread exploitation of mobile cellular phones and use of wireless devices such as PDAs, in-vehicle Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, and the future deployment of mobile satellite digital audio and video has developed a re-energized interest in efficient and accurate measurement techniques for antennas. This paper demonstrates directivity analysis of a patch antenna using a new fast, rotation-invariant spherical near-field antenna measurement technique. The method is based on an equi-area surface partitioning algorithm. The paper evaluates the sampling technique’s performance when compared with a normal spherical near-field measurement technique using equal angle sampling.