PCBReader

Create a default PCB stackup definition object.

S = stackUp;

Set the thickness of the dielectric Air in layer 1 and layer 5 of the stackUp object to 0.1 mm.

S.Layer1.Thickness = 0.1e-3;
S.Layer5.Thickness = 0.1e-3;

Import a top layer Gerber file to layer 2.

S.Layer2 = 'antenna_design_file.gtl';

Import a bottom layer Gerber file to layer 4.

S.Layer4 = 'antenna_design_file.gbl';

Create a PCBReader object, B, using the stackUp object, S.

B = PCBReader('StackUp',S);

Create a default PCB stackup definition object.

s = stackUp;

Import a top layer Gerber file to layer 2.

s.Layer2 = "patchMicrostripCircular_design_file.gtl";

Create a PCBReader object using the stackUp object.

p = PCBReader(StackUp=s);

To update the Gerber file, convert the PCBReader object to a pcbStack object.

p3 = pcbStack(p);

View the pcbStack object.

figure
show(p3)
title("Circular Patch Antenna")

Update the feed diameter.

p3.FeedDiameter = 0.005;

View the updated pcbStack object.

figure
show(p3)
title("Circular Patch Antenna with Reduced Feed Diameter")

Plot the current distribution on the antenna at 2.4 GHz.

figure
current(p3,2.4e9)

Create a PCBReader object.

B = PCBReader;

Import a two-layer design.

st = B.StackUp;
st.Layer2 = "UWBVivaldi.gtl";
st.Layer4 = "UWBVivaldi.gbl";
B.StackUp = st;

Extract shapes from the metal layers.

S = shapes(B);

View the top-layer Gerber file.

figure
show(S(1))

View the bottom-layer Gerber file.

figure
show(S(2))

This example will show how to translate the symmetrical polygon imported from the Gerber file to the respective co-ordinates.

Create a PCB stackup and import rectangular patch on it.

S = stackUp;
S.Layer2 = "PatchRectangular.gtl";
S.Layer3 = dielectric("Teflon");

Use a PCB Reader to read the polygon shape from the stackup.

p1 = PCBReader(StackUp=S);
figure 
show(p1.shapes)

Translate the shape with center (0,0) using the centriod function from MATLAB.

s = p1.shapes

s = 
  Polygon with properties:

        Name: 'mypolygon'
    Vertices: [4×3 double]

polygon = s;
[x,y] = centroid(polygon);
translate(polygon,[-x, -y, 0]);

This example shows how to translate the asymmetrical polygon imported from the Gerber file to the respective co-ordinates.

Create a PCB stackup and import rectangular patch on it.

S = stackUp;
S.Layer2 = "RightAngleBend.gtl";
S.Layer3 = dielectric("Teflon");

Use a PCB Reader to read the polygon shape from the stackup.

p1 = PCBReader(StackUp=S);
figure 
show(p1.shapes)

Translate the shape's bottom left corner to (0,0). Use the boundingbox function from MATLAB to convert the shape to polyshape and find the upper and lower bounds of the shape.

s = p1.shapes

s = 
  Polygon with properties:

        Name: 'mypolygon'
    Vertices: [6×3 double]

ver = s.Vertices(:,1:2);
polygon = polyshape(ver);
[xlim, ylim] = boundingbox(polygon);
translate(s,[-xlim(1), -ylim(1), 0]);