Gain Reconstruction in Plane Wave Generator Under Different Synthesized Test Zone Quality Conditions

Paper in proceeding, 2026

In this paper, we examine the accuracy of gain reconstruction in a plane wave generator-based antenna measurement system through simulations conducted under varying test zone conditions. We use both a single element of an antenna array and a full antenna array as our devices under test, allowing us to illustrate cases with different sizes and aperture efficiencies. We demonstrate that using the root mean square metric for the test zone characterization enables easier error propagation analysis compared to the peak-to-peak variation of amplitude in the test zone, a method widely recognized by the IEEE and 3GPP. The peak-to-peak variation metric may overconstrain requirements on the quality of the test zone when testing high-gain array-like base-station antennas.