CASE
STUDY

Using MVG Multi-probe Technologyto Tackle Complex Antenna
Characterization for a Satellite
Feed Antenna

I appreciate
the seamless processof viewing radiation patterns
and boresight gain diagramson the screen of the MVG
lab computer. I can almost
immediately compare themto previous measurements that
I did in MVG, effortlessly seeing
and evaluating the progressof our feed antenna.”
Dr. Ioannis Petropoulos,
RF design and analysis engineer
at HPS-GmbH

INTRODUCTION
The market for data and intelligence to feed machine-learning and artificial
intelligence (ML/AI) solutions has been aggressively expanding for years. Therea wide range of potential applications for data that can be captured from open
spaces, and a greater market for the intelligence that can be gleaned from thisvital data. This is especially true for electronic emissions used for wirelesscommunication and sensing applications around the globe.
In a bid to gather such data, a client approached HPS-GmbH, an industrial spacesubsystems specialist, to develop an antenna system for a satellite that can capture
terrestrial emissions over a very wide bandwidth for a satellite-based remote sensing
application. This is a similar challenge to characterizing a ground station antennaused to monitor satellites, with the exception that the client requested an antennathat can cover 2 GHz to 12 GHz.
Fortunately, HPS-GmbH’s experts were referred to, and first sought the aid of MVG’s
testing solutions with an MVG multi-probe antenna test chamber and sophisticatedantenna measurement software at hand. The measurement speed and accuracy of
the MVG multi-probe antenna measurement system enabled HPS-GmbH’s engineers
to acquire the necessary antenna characterization data to confirm their models andproceed with their design in a fraction of the time and complexity the process hadtaken them in the past. As a result of the efficiency and precision of MVG’s antenna
measurement systems, HPS-GmbH experts had the confidence to move forwardwith a design ahead of their projected schedule without any delays.

HPS-GMBH TAKES ON A COMPLEXWIDEBAND FEED ANTENNACHARACTERIZATION CHALLENGE
HPS-GmbH is the premier space subsystems specialist with over 2 decadesof experience serving the industrial space community around the globe. Thisorganization is skilled in developing turn-key subsystems for satellites orspacecraft, mainly large deployable reflectors, subsystem integrals, and individual
elements of systems be it the mechanical, thermal, or electrical parts. The
experience and solid track record HPS-GmbH has developed over the years, isprecisely why their client sought HPS-GmbH’s expertise in designing a reflector
antenna solution for a satellite-based remote sensing application.
The biggest challenge associated with developing this antenna was to precisely
capture the antenna performance and optimize the electrical parameters over a
10 GHz bandwidth from 2 GHz to 12 GHz. Having highly accurate measurement
results over the entire frequency range is crucial in achieving a model that can berepresentative of the antenna’s behavior in a simulation environment. “We needed
this characterization data, so that we could proceed with a high level of confidence.”
Francesco Leone, an RF antenna engineer with HPS-GmbH shared, “This wasa mid-stage effort to help compare our antenna model with real testing (i.e. weneeded to determine the uncertainty of our antenna probe model).” Without anaccurate model, the design process would be relegated to a matter of interactive
testing of prototypes that could take months or years to optimize and at great cost.
HPS-GmbH needed an accurate model of the antenna feed to aid in the design ofthe reflector structure, and ultimately, the complete reflector antenna design.

The challenge of characterizing an antenna over such a wide bandwidth arises
due to the nature of the limitations of measurement hardware in most antenna
measurement systems. Most antenna measurement systems rely on a single
measurement antenna that is highly directive and presents well known antenna
behavior. To achieve this with legacy measurement antenna design, it was generally
necessary to limit the bandwidth of the measurement antenna to 1 or 2 octaves.
This means that to capture the performance of a 2 GHz to 12 GHz antenna, would
require testing the feed over a 2-4 GHz, 4-8 GHz, and 8-12 GHz range, all withdifferent test setups. Not only would requiring three different test setups result insome additional error and challenges with merging the data from each antenna
measurement setup, but this approach would also require an extensive amount ofchamber measurement time and convergence testing.

HPS-GMBH EXPERIENCES THE MVG
ADVANTAGE
In the search for a more ideal antenna measurement solution, HPS-GmbH experts
followed a lead from a friend with previous ties to MVG, who strongly recommended
MVG’s measurement technology for this challenge. After following through with therecommendation, Leone shared, “I was aware of MVG’s existence, but I wasn’t
aware of how quickly MVG’s antenna measurement technology could achieve suchhighly accurate testing.”
The MVG location in Italy that assisted HPS-GmbH is dedicated to antenna
testing, center, and design and development of reference antennas and measurement probes. Regularly performing tests in the MVG StarLab 50 GHz, a 650 MHz to50 GHz multi-probe spherical and cylindrical near-field antenna measurement
system to validate their own antennas, Andrea Faruolo, MVG Italy Sales Manager,explained, “We use an MVG StarLab 50 GHz for our own validation process. It iseasy to see the advantage of using this system for our measurement services, asthe results are generated very rapidly,almost in real-time.”
Dr. Ioannis Petropoulos, an RF design and analysis engineer on thisendeavor, added, “I appreciate the seamless process of viewing radiation patterns
and boresight gain diagrams on the screen of the MVG lab computer. I canalmost immediately compare them to previous measurements that I did inMVG, effortlessly seeing and evaluating the progress of our feed antenna.
Additionally, the MVG personnel is well trained and flexible, providing us withexperimental data in different forms, ie. Grasp format, Excel format, depending on
our requests.”“The main selling point is
MVG’s electronic scanning andvery wide frequency range
with multi-probe technology.”
Francesco Leone,RF Engineer

After approaching MVG and experiencing its antenna test technology andmeasurement service, Leone explained, “Initially, we were curious about MVG andthe StarLab 50 GHz, wanting to understand the principles and mechanisms of theMVG technology. All of the people there were very attentive and explained all of thefunctionalities. After the testing process was successfully concluded, theHPS-GmbH engineers received their data and confirmations on the accuracy ofthe data. “We also ran additional checks, and that even went super smoothly andvery rapidly,” Leone detailed, “I was quite surprised; I couldn’t believe that it wentso smoothly.” The results provided from the testing were more than adequate tovalidate HPS-GmbH’s model. “The main selling point is MVG’s electronic
scanning and very wide frequency range with multi-probe technology.” Leone further
elaborated, “For us, it doesn’t matter if it is mid-stage or final stage; those two selling
points would be our main considerations comparing this facility to any others.”

HPS-GMBH NEXT STEPS & THE FUTURE
OF THE SATELLITE-BASED REMOTESENSING ANTENNA© MICROWAVE VISION 2023 - V01 - Graphic design: www.ateliermaupoux.com © photos: all rights reserved.

“The next steps are to test the entire reflector antenna,” Leone provided, “Insteadof using the MVG Starlab 50 GHz, however, due to size constraints we will likely
use one of the MVG SG chambers.” The reflector antenna is much larger than thestand-alone feed, but a larger MVG chamber is able to accommodate the complete
design and provide highly accurate measurements over the entire range in the same
way as a smaller chamber. “The benefits of going with MVG in the future would be
the same reason we sought out MVG for the mid-stage antenna development of
the probe,” Leone shared,” We are looking for a huge reduction in measurement
time and a quick turn around of the antenna measurement results along withqualitative confirmation and cross check verification in a matter of a few days.
I only see this possible with MVG’s service and would likely have a very different
experience at another facility.”

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