NSI Announces New Planar NF Chamber

NSI recently commissioned a NSI-300V-12x12 12’ x 12’ (3.7m x 3.7m) planar near-field scanner as part of our in-house test facilities. Use of 36” pyramidal absorber on the back wall of the chamber permits high quality measurements down to L-band. This system includes an NSI Panther-based RF subsystem that can take measurements over the 2 to 50 GHz range, and supports both pulse measurement capability and multi-port AUT PIN switching for measurement speeds up to 2 million points per second. A spacious control room located next to the test chamber includes an AUT assembly area with granite alignment surface, large screen monitors, independent workstations and high speed internet access. NSI offers this new facility as well as our spherical near-field range for customer testing. Please contact the NSI sales department for information on renting either of these ranges or to request a quotation for antenna testing services.

Improved Panther 9000 Performance

NSI recently announced improved performance for the Panther 9000 receiver. The Panther receiver is now capable of collecting multi-port data at 2 Million (2,000,000) measurements per second [mps]; this is over 6x faster than the prior speed of 300,000 mps, making it the fastest receiver available for antenna measurement applications. Receiver sensitivity and dynamic range have also been improved by 10 dB. Additional information and specifications for the Panther 9000 receiver can be found on our website at:
http://www.nearfield.com/Sales/datasheets/NSI-RF-9000.htm.  Contact the NSI sales department for a demonstration of the new Panther capabilities.

NSI-800F-10 Far-field Upgrade Paths

NSI introduced the low cost, single axis NSI-800F-10 far-field antenna test system in 2001 aimed at the cost sensitive customer who wanted only the essential components to construct a far-field antenna test system. Based on the popularity of this system, NSI has developed several upgrade paths for this system to a multi-axis far-field or spherical near-field tests system as shown below:

Upgrade Path #1: Starting with the NSI-800F-10 single axis far-field test system, the addition of the NSI-SC-5607 base, NSI-SC-5650-1 and NSI-SC-5631 polarization rotator provides one with a fully automated single axis far-field test system with source polarization rotation capability. Adding the NSI-SC-5606 second axis upgrade capability raises this system to a full phi/theta dual axis far-field test system, designated as the NSI-800F-30 system and includes control hardware (interfacing to NSI and Agilent RF sub-systems), software, RF cables, rotary joints and absorber for covering the positioners. Adding the NSI-SW-5305 spherical near-field software package turns this far-field system into a fully functional dual-use far-field/near-field test system upgradeable for use up to 40 GHz.

Upgrade Path #2: Starting with the NSI-800F-10 single axis far-field test system, the addition of the NSI-SC-5607 base, NSI-SC-5650-1 and NSI-RF-5440 polarization switch provides a fully automated single axis far-field test system with source polarization switching. Adding the NSI-RF-5606-3DZ second axis upgrade capability upgrades this system to a full phi/theta dual axis far-field test system suitable for testing of cellular handsets. This system includes control hardware (interfacing to NSI and Agilent RF sub-systems), software, RF cables and rotary joints. Adding the NSI-SW-CTIA-XX OTA software package turns this far-field system into a fully functional OTA test system that will interface to common Agilent, Anritsu & R&S base station simulators.

Upgrade Path #3: Starting with the NSI-800F-10 single axis far-field test system, the addition of the NSI-SC-5607 base, NSI-SP-1018 dielectric mount and NSI-SC-5609 swing arm provides one with a fully automated dual-axis far-field test system with source polarization rotation capability. This system is a theta/phi far-field test system that includes control hardware (interfacing to NSI and Agilent RF sub-systems), software, RF cables, rotary joints and absorber for covering the positioners. Adding the NSI-SW-5305 spherical near-field software package turns this far-field system into a fully functional dual-use far-field/near-field test system designated as the NSI-700S-90 system. Adding the NSI-SW-CTIA-XX OTA software package turns this system into a fully functional far-field/near-field OTA test system that will interface to common Agilent, Anritsu & R&S base station simulators. This system is designated as the NSI-700S-90 OTA  test system.

NSI Hosts Near-field Short Course

NSI held its fifth annual short course at our Torrance, CA facility on March 3-6, 2009. The course featured an in-depth review of the theoretical and practical aspects of near-field antenna testing and included presentations on much of the unique technology employed within the NSI product line. NSI equipment was used during the presentations for live demonstration purposes and enabled attendees to discuss their experiences with other users and NSI's highly experienced engineers. Fifteen attendees from across the globe attended this year’s course making this one of our most popular courses to date and contributing enormously to the success of this unique event. Course feedback was very positive with all attendees praising both the content and quality of the presentations! 

If you missed this year's course, make sure to reserve your place for NSI's next Near-field Course to be held 2 - 5 March 2010.  Additional information can be found on our website at NSI Short Course 2010.

NSI Short Course 2009

Daniel Janse van Rensburg conducting a live demonstration

Antem/URSI 2009

NSI exhibited at the 13’th International Symposium on Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics and the Canadian Radio Sciences Meeting (ANTEM/URSI 2009) in Banff, AB, Canada from 15 – 18 Feb, 2009. This event represents the most significant conference for antenna engineers in Canada. There were 90 technical papers presented and the total attendee count was approximately 120. The conference was hosted by the University of Calgary at the Banff Centre in the heart of Banff National Park, Canada’s most famous and oldest park. Daniel Janse van Rensburg from NSI attended and also served on the student paper evaluation panel.

NSI Exhibits at AMTA Europe/EuCap

NSI had a very successful showing at the third European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP) which was held 23 - 27 March 2009 in Berlin. http://www.eucap2009.org/. 

Daniel Janse van Rensburg and Greg Hindman presented the paper: "Sub-millimeter Wave Planar Near-field Antenna Testing". Stuart Gregson (co-authored with Clive Parini and John Dupuy of Queen Mary, University of London) presented the paper: "Measured Wide Angle Antenna Performance". Gerhard Wahrmann and Zuzana Wood from emV GmbH assisted with the NSI booth and customer meetings. NSI conducted software demonstrations of new NSI2000 features using the compact NSI-700S-20 Spherical Near-field scanner.

NSI Attends MTT-S IMS 2009

NSI exhibited at the 2009 International Microwave Symposium sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) in Boston from 7–12 June, 2009. This year the conference attracted more than 9,000 participants, from engineers, researchers, designers, academics and executives in the microwave and RF industry. The conference took place at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center with over 550 companies represented.

Larry Cohen and Jesus Aguilar, Regional Sales Managers, supported the event and ran live antenna measurement demonstrations with NSI's NSI-700S-20 spherical near-field measurement system. The system was configured with an Agilent PNA-X vector network analyzer and two broadband ridged guide probes taking multi-frequency data on the fly making full spherical measurements at various frequencies from  4 to 40 GHz.

NSI will also be exhibiting at next year’s IMS2010 that will be held  23-28 May, 2010 at the Anaheim Convention Center in CA, so make plans to visit us.

NSI Attends APS 2009

The 2009 IEEE International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation and the 2009 USNC/URSI National Radio Science meeting was held jointly on June 1-5, 2009, at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in North Charleston, SC. The symposium and meeting are co-sponsored by the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S) and the U.S. National Committee of the International Union of Radio Science (USNC/URSI) Commissions A, B, C, D, E, F and K.  Technical sessions, workshops, and short courses were coordinated between the two groups to provide a comprehensive and well-balanced program.  This meeting is intended to provide an international forum for the exchange of information on state-of-the-art research in antennas, propagation, electromagnetic engineering, and radio science.Approximately 1300 attendees participated in this year’s event. 

NSI was an exhibitor for this event and demonstrated an NSI-700S-20 spherical near-field system with an Agilent E8363C PNA Vector Network Analyzer.  This system is capable of measuring small, low and medium gain antennas up to 40 GHz.

Learn More About Near-field Antenna Measurements

If you've wondered about near-field measurements and whether they can improve your antenna measurements, see NSI's Near-field 101 page for a short tutorial on near-field measurements.