Improved Rotating-Element Electric-Field Vector Method for Fast Far-Field Phased Array Calibration

We present a fast far-field phased array calibration/beamforming method. An improved version of the rotating-element electric-field vector (REV) method, which is used to calibrate array antennas by measuring the power received at a far-field point while varying the phase of each element, is proposed. Two major improvements were made. First, a simpler algorithm was used to determine the calibration value of the conventional REV method, without disconnecting an antenna element during the calibration process. Second, a solution for a specific case was added for a more accurate categorization to use the correct formula. This improved rotating-element electric-field vector (IREV) is experimentally verified. Curve fitting and sinusoidal regression were used to reduce the number of measurements required for fast calibration/beamforming. Arrays of a 1x6 phased array system comprising a 4-bit phase shifter and a 6-bit variable-gain attenuator (VGA) were calibrated using only measurements of the far-field received power. Calibrations were performed when the horn and array antennas were perfectly aligned with each other and when the latter was tilted at an angle of 12 degrees relative to the former.