Revision of the Antenna Measurement Standard IEEE Std 149

IEEE Standard 149, Standard Test Procedures for Antennas, was last revised in 1979 [1]. Over the years, the standard was reaffirmed without any change and its validity for antenna measurements was re-established without a proper revision to account for state-of-the-art facilities and measurement practices. To initiate the revision of this standard, a project authorization request (PAR) was approved by the IEEE Standards Association and a working group (WG) was formed. After several years revising and updating different clauses, the revision tasking is nearing completion. In this paper, we describe and comment on the changes to the document.

I. Introduction

The main and most significant change to IEEE Std. 149 is the conversion of the standard to a recommended practice document. Following discussions within the working group (WG) and to account for the wide range of existing antenna measurement facilities, it was more appropriate to provide recommendations (i.e., use of "should") for good measurement practices and describe the variety of available techniques and technologies rather than to impose mandatory requirements (i.e., use of "shall"). It is expected that the resulting document will prove very useful, both for those designing and evaluating antenna test facilities, and for those performing the actual antenna measurements. The revised document retains the IEEE Std. 149 identifier but is now entitled "Recommended Practice for Antenna Measurements".