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installedAntenna

Installed antenna setup

Description

The installedAntenna object creates an installed antenna setup that enables you to mount antennas on a platform for analysis.

Installed antenna analysis involves an electrically large structure called a platform. Around this platform, different antenna elements are placed. You can analyze the effects of the platform on the antenna performance. Installed antenna analysis is commonly used in aerospace, defense, and automotive applications. The best examples of a platform in these applications are an aircraft, a ship, and an automobile respectively.

Another common application of installed antenna analysis is to determine the interference of different antennas placed on a large platform.

Note

installedAntenna only models pure metal structures.

Creation

Description

example

ant = installedAntenna creates an installed antenna setup. The default setup has a rectangular reflector in the xy-plane as the platform with a dipole as the antenna. The dimensions of the dipole antenna are chosen for an operating frequency of 1GHz.

ant = installedAntenna(Name=Value) creates an installed antenna setup, with additional Properties specified by one or more name-value arguments. Name is the property name and Value is the corresponding value. You can specify several name-value pair arguments in any order as Name1=Value1, ..., NameN=ValueN. Properties that you do not specify retain their default values.

Output Arguments

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Installed antenna setup, returned as an installedAntenna object.

Properties

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Platform object file, specified as a platform object.

Example: platform(FileName='plate.stl')

Data Types: char

Single or multiple antennas, specified as an antenna object or a cell array of antenna objects. For multiple antenna elements, you must specify ElementPosition for all the elements.

Example: dipole

Example: ant = installedAntenna(Element={discone,monocone}, ElementPosition=[0.1 0.1 0.5; -0.1 -0.1 0.5]) This code creates discone and monocone antenna objects for installed antenna analysis.

Data Types: char

Position of the feed or the origin of each antenna element, specified as a vector of [x,y,z] coordinates in meters. For multiple antenna elements, the number of positions in ElementPosition must be equal to the number of elements specified in the Element property.

Example: [0 0 0.0050]

Data Types: double

Reference for positioning the antenna elements, specified as either "feed" or "origin".

Example: "origin"

Data Types: string

Excitation amplitude for the antenna elements, specified as a scalar vector in volts. For multiple antenna elements, the number of elements in FeedVoltage must be equal to the number of elements specified in the Element property.

Example: 2

Example: [2 5]

Data Types: double

Phase shift of each antenna element, specified as a scalar or vector in degrees. For multiple antenna elements, the number of elements in FeedPhase must be equal to the number of elements specified in the Element property.

Example: 50

Example: [50 60]

Data Types: double

Tilt angle of the antenna in degrees, specified as a scalar or vector. For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: 90

Example: Tilt=[90 90],TiltAxis=[0 1 0;0 1 1] tilts the antenna at 90 degrees about the two axes defined by the vectors.

Data Types: double

Tilt axis of the antenna, specified as one of these values:

  • Three-element vector of Cartesian coordinates in meters. In this case, each coordinate in the vector starts at the origin and lies along the specified points on the x-, y-, and z-axes.

  • Two points in space, specified as a 2-by-3 matrix corresponding to two three-element vectors of Cartesian coordinates. In this case, the antenna rotates around the line joining the two points.

  • "x", "y", or "z" to describe a rotation about the x-, y-, or z-axis, respectively.

For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: [0 1 0]

Example: [0 0 0;0 1 0]

Example: "Z"

Data Types: double | string

Solver for antenna analysis, specified as either "MoM-PO" (Method of Moments-Physical Optics) or "MoM" (Method of Moments) or "FMM" (Fast Multipole Method).

Example: "MoM"

Data Types: string

Object Functions

axialRatioCalculate and/or plot axial ratio of antenna or array
beamwidthBeamwidth of antenna
chargeCharge distribution on antenna or array surface
currentCurrent distribution on antenna or array surface
efficiencyRadiation efficiency of antenna
EHfieldsElectric and magnetic fields of antennas or embedded electric and magnetic fields of antenna element in arrays
impedanceInput impedance of antenna or scan impedance of array
infoDisplay information about antenna, array, or platform
meshMesh properties of metal, dielectric antenna, or array structure
meshconfigChange meshing mode of antenna, array, custom antenna, custom array, or custom geometry
patternPlot radiation pattern and phase of antenna or array or embedded pattern of antenna element in array
patternAzimuthAzimuth plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
patternElevationElevation plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
patternSystemVisualize radiation patterns of multiple antennas installed on platform
rcsCalculate and plot monostatic and bistatic radar cross section (RCS) of platform, antenna, or array
returnLossReturn loss of antenna or scan return loss of array
showDisplay antenna, array structures, shapes, or platform
solverAccess FMM solver for electromagnetic analysis
sparametersCalculate S-parameters for antennas and antenna arrays
vswrVoltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of antenna or array element

Examples

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Create a default installed antenna.

ant = installedAntenna
ant = 
  installedAntenna with properties:

           Platform: [1x1 platform]
            Element: [1x1 dipole]
    ElementPosition: [0 0 0.0750]
          Reference: 'feed'
        FeedVoltage: 1
          FeedPhase: 0
               Tilt: 0
           TiltAxis: [1 0 0]
         SolverType: 'MoM-PO'

show(ant);

Calculate the impedance of the antenna.

figure;
impedance(ant, linspace(950e6, 1050e6, 51));

Visualize the pattern of the antenna.

figure;
pattern(ant, 1e9);

Create a platform from the STL file containing the geometry information of a glider. View the platform.

plat = platform(FileName="glider.stl", Units="m");
figure
show(plat);

Design a regular and a circular microstrip patch antenna operating at 2GHz. Install these antennas on the glider wings. View the glider with installed antennas.

elem1 = design(patchMicrostrip, 2e9);
elem2 = design(patchMicrostripCircular, 2e9);
ant = installedAntenna(Platform=plat, Element={elem1, elem2},...
    ElementPosition=[-3.15 1.1 0.12; -3.15 -1.1 0.12]);
figure
show(ant)

Visualize the radiation patterns of the installed patch antennas.

figure
patternSystem(ant, 2e9, ElementNumber=1:2)

Algorithms

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Version History

Introduced in R2019a