Reflector Antennas Characterization and Diagnostics using a Single Set of Far-Field Phaseless Data and Crosswords-like Processing

We introduce and discuss a new approach to the phase retrieval (PR) of fields radiated by continuous aperture sources having circular support, which is of interest in many applications, including the detection of shape deformations on reflector antennas. The approach is based on a decomposition of the actual 2-D problem into a number of 1-D PR problems along diameters and concentric rings of the visible part of the spectrum. In particular, the 1-D problems are effectively solved by using the spectral factorization method, while discrimination arguments at the crossing points allow completing the retrieval of the 2-D complex field. The proposed procedure just requires a single set of far-field amplitudes (but for an additional bit of information) and takes advantage from up-to-now unexplored field properties. The developed technique is assessed in the case of reflector aperture fields.