System and method for near-field testing of a phased array antenna

A method, comprising:

• steering a test beam to a beam position in a near-field of a phased array antenna;
• disposing a probe at a fixed position in the near-field of the phased array antenna;
• phase shifting the test beam supplied to each element of an array of antenna elements of the phased array antenna to apply a spherical phase taper across the array to generate a spherical wave front focused at the probe and to equalize path length phase from each element of the array to the probe;
• receiving at least a portion of the test beam at the probe;
• measuring received power of the test beam;
• scaling received power of the test beam;
• and
• mapping scaled received power of the test beam to pointing angle for the phased array antenna relative to the fixed position of the probe in the near-field to represent a far-field antenna pattern for the phased array antenna.

A beam forming network for near-field testing of a phased array antenna, the beam forming network comprising:

• a plurality of phase shifters coupled to a signal generator, each configured to:
• receive a test beam from the signal generator,
• apply a corresponding phase shift to the test beam, and
• supply the test beam to an element of an array of antenna elements of the phased array antenna;
• and
• a microcontroller coupled to the plurality of phase shifters for controlling the corresponding phase shift of each element of the array, the microcontroller configured to:
• adjust the corresponding phase shift of each element to steer the test beam to a position in the near-field of the phased array antenna when radiated by the array,
• adjust the corresponding phase shift of each element to apply a spherical phase taper across the array to generate a spherical wave front focused at a probe disposed in the near-field of the phased array antenna and to equalize path length phase from each element of the array to the probe when the test beam is radiated by the array.