VECTOR NETWORK ANALYZER &ITS APPLICATION FOR RCS MEASUREMENT AT MICROWAVE FREQUENCY RANGE(3 TO 8 GHZ)

STEALTH TECHNOLOGY:
It is a sub disiciple of military tactics which cover a range of techniques used with aircrafts, submarines, ships & missiles to make them less visible to radar,infrared sonar & other detection methods. It is a technology used in radar cross section reduction. Its attempt is to greatly reduce the distance at which a person or vechile can be detected.

Stealth aircraft:

EM waves are made by the viberations of electric & magnetic waves. These fields are perpendicular to one another in the direction of the wave is travelling. The energy carried by an EM wave is proportional to the frequency of the wave. The wavelength & frequency of the wave are connected via the speed of light. C=f , where c= speed of light , f= frequency & = wavelength.

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM: EM waves are split into different categories based on their frequency. Visible light ranges from violet to red. Violet light has a wavelength of 400 nm. Red light has a wavelength of 700 nm. Any wavelength between these extremes can be seen by humans.

Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with frequency ranging between 300 MHz (0.3 GHz) & 300 GHz. MICROWAVE SOURCES: VACCUM TUBES: These operate on the ballistic motion of electrons in a vaccum under controlling action of electric & magnetic fields. TUNNEL DIODE, GUNN DIODE & IMPATT: These are low power microwave sources.

MICROWAVE WAVEGUIDE: The waveguide is a linear structure that conveys electromagnetic waves between its end points. These are metallic transmission lines that are used at microwave frequencies.

TE MODES (Transverse electric) TM MODES (Transverse magnetic) TEM MODES (Transverse electromagnetic)

Microwave frequency bands Letter Designation Frequency range L band 1 to 2 GHz S band 2 to 4 GHz C band 4 to 8 GHz X band 8 to 12 GHz Ku band 12 to 18 GHz K band 18 to 26.5 GHz Ka band 26.5 to 40 GHz Q band 33 to 50 GHz U band 40 to 60 GHz

Radar uses microwave radiation to detect the range, speed, & other characteristics of remote objects. Development of radar was accelerated during World War 2 due to its great military utility. Now it is widely used for a no. of applications such as: Air traffic control Weather forecasting Navigation of ships Speed limit enforcement

What is a network?
A network is a group of interconnected components. An electrical network is a group of electrical components such as resistors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage & current sources.

NETWORK ANALYZER:
It is an instrument which measures the network parameters of electrical networks. PRINCIPLE OF NETWORK ANALYZER:

Scalar Network Analyzer: It measures the amplitude properties only. Vector Network Analyzer: It measures both amplitude phase properties. A VNA may also be called as Gain Phase Meter or an Automatic Network Analyzer.

ZVA40 vector network analyzer from Rohde & Schwarz

The basic architecture involves a signal generator, a test set, & one or more receivers. SIGNAL GENERATER: It provides a signal to the VNA. High performance network analyzers have two built in sources. TEST SET: The test set takes the signal generater output & routes it to the device under test, & it routes the signal to be measured to the receivers. It often splits off a reference channel for the incident wave. The test set may also contain directional couplers to measure reflected waves. RECEIVER: A network analyzer have one or more receivers connected to its test ports. The reference test port is usually labeled as R & the primary test ports as A, B, & C. For a VNA, the receiver measures both the magnitude & phase of the signal. It needs a reference channel R to measure phase so a VNA needs atleast two receivers.

It involves measurement of known standards & using those standards to compensate for systematic errors. After making these measurements, it can compute some correction values to produce an expected answer. NETWORK ANALYSIS TERMINOLOGY: S PAPAMETERS: The scattering parameters describes the electrical properties of networks. They are mostly used for networks operating at radio & microwave frequencies. 2 PORT S PARAMETER:

The relationship between the incident & reflected waves is:

If port 2 is terminated in a load identical to the system impedance (z) then b will be totally absorbed making a=0. Similarly if port 1 terminated in system impedance , then a becomes 0. S= Input port voltage reflection coefficient, S= Output port reflection coefficient s= Reverse voltage gain, S= Forward voltage gain

A) COMPLEX LINEAR GAIN: The complex linear gain G is given by: G = S B) SCALAR LINEAR GAIN: It is given by:
G=S C) SCALAR LOGARITHMIC GAIN: The scalar logarithmic gain ( decibels or dB) expression is given by: g= 20 logS dB. D) INSERTION LOSS: I.L.=-20 logS E) INPUT RETURN LOSS: RL=20 logS dB. F) OUTPUT RETURN LOSS: G) REVERSE GAIN & REVERSE ISOLATION:

H) VOLTAGE STANDING WAVE RATIO: It is the ratio of the standing wave maximum voltage to the standing wave minimum voltage. At the input port the VSWR is given by :

At the output port the VSWR is given by:

Measuring both magnitude & phase are important for several reasons. Both measurements are required to fully characterize a linear network for distortion free transmission. In computer aided engineering techniques, programs requires magnitude & phase data for accurate models. Time domain characterization requires magnitude & phase information to obtain inverse fourier transform.

RADAR CROSS SECTION

Definition Radar cross section(RCS) is a measurement of how detectable an object is with radar. A larger RCS indicates that an object is more easily detected. An object reflects a limited amount of radar energy. A number of different factors determine how much electromagnetic energy returns to the source such as: material of which the target is made. absolute size of the target.

 relative size of the target. the incident angle. reflected angle. distance between emitter-targetreceiver.

Typical RCS diagram

Factors that affect RCS

1. Size
The larger an object, the stronger its Radar reflection and thus the greater its RCS. Materials such as metal are strongly radar reflective and tend to produce strong signals. Some materials are: wood & cloth, plastic & fiberglass, chaff etc. This consisted of small metallic balls. Radar energy is converteted.td to heat rather than being reflected.

2.Material

3.Radar absorbent paint

4.Shape, directivity and orientation.

5.Smooth surfaces

The surfaces of the F-117A are designed to be flat & very angled. The edges are sharp to prevent there being rounded surface. The plane will have stronger signal from the side than front called orientation.

The relief of the surface could contain indentations that act as corner reflectors which would increase RCS from many orientations. This could arise from open bomb-bays, engine intakes, ordnance pylons, joints between constructed sections etc. Also, it can be impractical to coat these surfaces with radarabsorbent materials.

Measurement of RCS
Measurement of a targets RCS is performed at a radar reflectivity range or scattering range. The range includes outdoor type.

Near Field And Far Field Measurement 1. Near Field

These techniques have been developed to increase accuracy, throughput, lower costs, and provide antenna diagnostics. The most commonly used techniques are: Planer Spherical Cylindrical

The reactive near field region is the region close to the antenna and up to about 11 away from any radiating surfaces. Near Field test system measures the energy in the radiating near-field region & converts those measurements by a Fourier transform into the far-field result.

2. Far Field
This technique is used for determining the amplitude and phase characteristics of an AUT. Low gain antennas operating below 1GHz, and

where partial radiation characteristics are required, are candidates for far- field measurements.

Far Field Distance Determination

R > 2D2 / D=aperture of antenna under test =measured wavelength

RANGE CONSIDERATIONS
The aim in designing a Far-Field range is to simulate the operating environment of the test antenna as closely as possible. Far-field measurements can be performed on indoor and outdoor ranges. The selection of range is depended on: Availability, access & cost of real estate. Weather. Budget. Security considerations. Test frequency n aperture size. Antenna handling requirements.

Calculations
Quantitatively, RCS is calculated in threedimension: Where = RCS , = incident power density measured at target, Ss = scattered power density. In electromagnetic analysis Where Es & Ei are far-field scattered & incident electric field intensities respectively. We use computer to predict what the RCS will look like before fabricating an actual object.

Si

METHODS OF RCS REDUCTION

(A)Purpose shaping
In this, the shape of the targets reflecting surfaces is designed such that they reflect energy from the source. The aim is usually to create cone of silence about the targets direction of motion. Due to the energy reflection, this method is defeated by using Passive(multi-static) radars.

(B) Active cancellation

With this, the target generates a radar signal equal in intensity but opposite in phase to the predicted

reflection of an incident radar signal.

(C) Passive cancellation

It refers to RCS reduction by introducing a secondary scattering to cancel with the reflection of primary target.
(D) Radar absorbent material With RAM, it can be used in the original construction, or as an addition to highly reflective surfaces. There are three types of RAM.

RESULTS OF RCS MEASUREMENT

1) SPHERE

Fig 1: Comparison of theoretical and experimental RCS of sphere (dia: 25.25 cm)

RCS COMPARISON BETWEEN SPHERES OF DIFFERENT DIAMETER

Fig 2: Response of RCS v/s frequency of spheres of different diameter

METAL PLATE

Fig 3: Comparison of theoretical and experimental RCS of metal plate (15 cm x 15 cm)

RCS COMPARISON BETWEEN METAL PLATES OF DIFFERENT DIMENSIONS

Fig 4: Response of RCS v/s frequency of metal plate of different dimensions

CYLINDER
Cylinder length=15 cm and Diameter= 2.4 cm.

Fig 5: Comparison of theoretical and experimental RCS of cylinder(dia: 2.4cm; length 15 cm)

CONCLUSION
We have studied Vector Network Analyzer and Its application for measurement of Radar Cross Section (RCS). The RCS of different objects like sphere, metal plate and cylinder were measured. RCS measurements of various targets like sphere, metal plate and cylinder were carried out in Anechoic Chamber facility. It has been observed that for sphere RCS is constant over frequency while it increases with frequency for metal plate and cylinders.