Realtime 3D Radiation Pattern Measurement: Experimental Demonstration

Traditional methods for measuring radiation patterns rely on point-by-point scanning, necessitating large anechoic chambers, robotic arms, and precise positioning systems. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a novel real-time 3D radiation pattern measurement technique based on passive spatial sampling and hardware compressive sensing. By leveraging rich scattering media and a passive sampling surface, the proposed method enables the rapid reconstruction of spatial and spectral information in a single-shot measurement, significantly reducing acquisition time. We validate our approach by characterizing a standard gain horn antenna and a synthetic phased array setup, comparing the results with simulated reference data. The experimental results show strong agreement with theoretical expectations, achieving accurate radiation pattern reconstruction in under one second. This advancement represents a major step toward real-time, cost-effective, and compact electromagnetic source characterization without the need for specialized chambers or mechanical scanning.