Physically Consistent Evaluation of Commonly Used Near-Field Models

TL;DR

This paper introduces a physically consistent near-field model for multi-antenna wireless communication and evaluates the accuracy of common simplified models, revealing their limitations in predicting sidelobes and frequency effects.

Contribution

The paper presents a new physically consistent near-field model and systematically assesses the validity of existing simplified models in realistic scenarios.

Findings

Common models suffice for basic beamfocusing.

Existing models poorly predict sidelobes.

Frequency dependence is not accurately captured by common models.

Abstract

Near-field multi-antenna wireless communication has attracted growing research interest in recent years. Despite this development, most of the current literature on antennas and reflecting structures relies on simplified models, whose validity for real systems remains unclear. In this paper, we introduce a physically consistent near-field model, which we use to evaluate commonly used models. Our results indicate that common models are sufficient for basic beamfocusing, but fail to accurately predict the sidelobes and frequency dependence of reflecting structures.