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installedAntenna

Installed antenna setup

Since R2019a

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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 auto applications. The platform in this case are plane, ship, or an automobile.

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

Syntax

ant = installedAntenna
ant = installedAntenna(Name=Value)

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

showDisplay antenna, array structures, shapes, or platform
axialRatioAxial ratio of antenna
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
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
rcsCalculate and plot radar cross section (RCS) of platform, antenna, or array
returnLossReturn loss of antenna or scan return loss of array
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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Open Live Script

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);

Figure contains 2 axes objects and another object of type uicontrol. Axes object 1 contains 3 objects of type patch, surface. Axes object 2 with title Installed antenna, xlabel x (mm), ylabel y (mm) contains 5 objects of type patch, surface, text. These objects represent PEC, feed, platform.

Calculate the impedance of the antenna.

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

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title Impedance, xlabel Frequency (GHz), ylabel Impedance (ohms) contains 2 objects of type line. These objects represent Resistance, Reactance.

Visualize the pattern of the antenna.

figure;
pattern(ant, 1e9);

Figure contains an axes object and other objects of type uicontrol. The axes object contains 5 objects of type patch, surface, text. This object represents platform.

Open Live Script

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

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

Figure contains an axes object. The axes object with title Platform object, xlabel x (m), ylabel y (m) contains 2 objects of type patch. This object represents PEC.

Design a dipole antenna operating at 1GHz. Install this dipole antenna element below the nose of the glider. 

d = design(dipole,1e9);
d.Tilt = 90;
d.TiltAxis=[1 0 0];
ant = installedAntenna(Platform=plat, Element=d, ElementPosition=[-1.2 0 -0.25]);
figure
show(ant);

Figure contains 2 axes objects and another object of type uicontrol. Axes object 1 contains 3 objects of type patch, surface. Axes object 2 with title Installed antenna, xlabel x (m), ylabel y (m) contains 5 objects of type patch, surface, text. These objects represent PEC, feed, platform.

Visualize the radiation pattern of the installed dipole.

figure
pattern(ant,1e9)

Figure contains an axes object and other objects of type uicontrol. The axes object contains 5 objects of type patch, surface, text. This object represents platform.

Algorithms

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Version History

Introduced in R2019a

See Also

Topics