Antenna Array Designer

Design, visualize, and analyze arrays

Description

The Array Designer app lets you design, visualize, and analyze arrays in the Antenna Toolbox™ library interactively.

Using this app, you can:

Show different array configurations and layouts defining element spacing.
Compare different array types and responses.
Pick array configuration to meet specific peek gain, directivity, desired coverage, pattern, port parameters.
Change the spacing between the elements and see the effect on the performance of the array.
Visualize the effect of mutual coupling at the port and in the far-field.
Optimize arrays for various analysis results under given constraints using SADEA or Surrogate optimization methods.
Note
- To use Parallel Computing for SADEA optimizer, you need the Parallel Computing Toolbox™.
To use the Surrogate optimization algorithm, you need the Global Optimization Toolbox.

Open the Antenna Array Designer App

MATLAB^® Toolstrip: On the Apps tab, under Signal Processing and Communications, click the app icon.
MATLAB command prompt: Enter antennaArrayDesigner.

Examples

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Antenna Array Designer Canvas

Open Live Script

The antenna array designer app opens a new blank canvas.

Select and Visualize an Array

Click in the canvas toolstrip to choose the type of array you want to analyze.

The default is a rectangular array with dipole antennas.

Using the toolstrip, you can choose different types of array layouts, antennas, and backing structures.

You can also specify the Design Frequency of the antenna or array. Setting this value scales the individual array elements to resonate at the specified frequency and places the elements at optimal location in the array to avoid interferences.

Click Accept to analyze the array characteristics.

Galleries

You can select an Array Type from the Array Gallery, and you can choose from different antennas from the Antenna Gallery.

You can choose different types of antennas from the Antenna Gallery.

You can also choose different types of backing structures for your antenna array elements from the Backing Structure Gallery.

Analyze Array

Once you have clicked Accept on a design, you can specify the Frequency Range in the Input pane. Then plot the impedance, correlation, or S-parameters of the array using the corresponding buttons in the Coupling pane.

You can visualize the 3-D Pattern, AZ Pattern, or EL Pattern of the full array or an embedded element using the corresponding buttons in the Pattern pane. You can also add dielectric substrates to the individual elements or change the value and location of the load using the Properties pane.

Use Properties to manually change the properties of the array or its individual elements.

Use Export to view your array in MATLAB workspace or MATLAB script.

Optimize Array

Click on Optimize to open the optimizer canvas of the antenna array designer app.

Use the OBJECTIVE FUNCTION to choose the main goal of optimizing the array

Use the Design Variables to input the variables. The variables are then changed by the optimizer depending on the lower and upper bounds.

Use Constraints to restrict a desired analysis function value on the antenna.

Use the Optimizer to choose between SADEA or Surrogate Opt.

Note: To use the Surrogate optimization algorithm, you need the Global Optimization Toolbox.

After adding the required values, click Run to start the optimization.

Linear Dipole Array and Maximum Directivity

Open Live Script

Open the Antenna Array Designer app.

antennaArrayDesigner

Figure Explore contains an object of type uicontrol.

Click on New and from the Array Type pane, click Linear.

In the bottom left corner, change Number of Elements to 5. Click Accept.

In the Properties pane, expand dipole-Geometry and change the Tilt(deg) to 30. This changes the tilt of each dipole element in the array to 30 degrees. Click on Array tab to view the array.

In the Properties pane, expand linear-Geometry and change the Tilt(deg) to 45. This changes the tilt of the entire array to 45 degrees.

On the Input pane, change the Center Frequency of the array to 60 MHz. Click 3D Pattern in the Pattern pane to plot the radiation pattern. Observe the maximum directivity of the array.

Conformal Array Design and Analysis

Open Live Script

Open Antenna Array Designer app. In the Array Gallery pane, click Conformal.

The default conformal array consists of a dipole antenna and a bowtie antenna.

You can view each element separately by clicking on the element in the Layout window.

Meander Antenna with Rectangular Backing

Add a meander dipole antenna with rectangular backing. From the ANTENNA GALLERY, click Meander to create a meander dipole antenna. Move the antenna by dragging the antenna in the Layout window.

To add the rectangular backing:

Choose the meander dipole antenna from the Layout window and then click Rectangular in the BACKING STRUCTURE GALLERY pane.

Right click on the antenna in the Layout window and select Add Backing > Rectangular Reflector.

Delete Meander and Add V-Dipole

To delete the meander dipole antenna, right click from the Layout window, and select Delete.

Click Vee from the Antenna Gallery to add a V-dipole antenna.

Click Accept.

Antenna Placement

Place the antennas at the following locations in the X-Y-Z plane:

Element 1 - dipole - [1 0 0]
Element 2 - bowtie - [0 1 0]
Element 3 - V-dipole - [0 0 1]

In the Properties pane, expand conformalArray - Geometry and change the values of ElementPosition(m) to [1 0 0;0 1 0;0 0 1]. Click Apply.

Embedded Element Pattern and Half-Power Beam Width (HPBW)

Show the embedded element pattern in the azimuth plane for element 2. Choose Embedded Element in the PATTERN pane. Click AZ Pattern. From the element selection window, click element 2 and then OK.

To view the HPBW, right click on the azimuth pattern and select Measurements > Antenna Metrics.

Coupling Between Elements

To observe the coupling between elements 1 and 3, make sure that the Enable Coupling is selected in the INPUT pane. In the COUPLING, click Correlation. From the element selection window, click 1 and 3.

Optimizing Linear Dipole Antenna Array

Open Live Script

Open the Antenna Array Designer app. In the Array Gallery section, select the array type as Linear.

Select Dipole from Antenna Gallery. Select No Backing under the Backing Structure Gallery. Specify the design frequency as 2.4 GHz. In Layout pane, specify the Number of Elements as 4 and click Accept under the Close section.

Select 3D Pattern under Pattern section to calculate the 3-D radiation pattern.

The gain is 9.1 dBi. Click Optimize on the app toolstrip to optimize this array.

On the Optimizer tab, click Maximize Gain in the Objective Function section. In the Design Variables pane, select the variables you want to optimize. In this example, select the Element Spacing variable and set the lower and upper bounds to 0.06 and 0.09.

Click the Constraints pane. In this example, there are no Constraint Functions. If your application requires constraints, chose one or more constraint functions from the dropdown.

Click Apply to apply the design variables in this example. In the Settings section, set the number of iterations to 50, select Parallel Computing if you have Parallel Computing Toolbox™, and click Run.

Once the simulation is complete, the optimization results are displayed in the Results pane

Click Accept. In the Pattern section, plot the 3D Pattern again. The gain has now increased to 10.7 dBi.

Optimizing Linear Dipole Antenna Array Using Surrogate Optimization

This example uses:

Open Live Script

Open the Antenna Array Designer app. In the Array Gallery section, select the array type as Linear.

Select 3D Pattern under Pattern section to calculate the 3-D radiation pattern.

The gain is 9.1 dBi. Click Optimize on the app toolstrip to optimize this array.

Click the Constraints pane. In this example, there are no Constraint Functions. If your application requires constraints, chose one or more constraint functions from the dropdown.

Click Apply to apply the design variables in this example. In the Settings section, from the Optimizer drop down select Surrogate Opt. Parallel Computing is greyed out.

Once the simulation is complete, the optimization results are displayed in the Results pane.