phased.NRRectangularPanelArray

5G antenna array described in 3GPP TR 38.901 specification

Since R2021a

Description

The phased.NRRectangularPanelArray System object™ creates a rectangular antenna array designed to meet the 3GPP TR 38.901 standard. This object models an antenna pattern generated by multiple panels in a rectangular layout. Each panel is a heterogeneous array consisting of co-located antenna elements. The default set of antenna elements is a pair of phased.NRAntennaElement antenna elements having +45° and –45° as the polarization slant angles. The default configuration of each panel is a 2-by-2 antenna configuration. You can also create an array using other types of elements. Elements and panels lie in the yz-plane.

To compute the response of the antenna element for specified directions:

Create the phased.NRRectangularPanelArray object and set its properties.
Call the object with arguments, as if it were a function.

To learn more about how System objects work, see What Are System Objects?

Creation

Syntax

array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray

array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray(Name,Value)

Description

array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray creates an NR antenna panel array System object, array that follows the specification described in the 3GPP TR 38.901.

example

array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray(Name,Value) creates an NR rectangular panel array object, array, with each specified property set to the specified value. You can specify additional name-value arguments in any order as (Name1,Value1,...,NameN,ValueN).

example

Properties

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Unless otherwise indicated, properties are nontunable, which means you cannot change their values after calling the object. Objects lock when you call them, and the release function unlocks them.

If a property is tunable, you can change its value at any time.

For more information on changing property values, see System Design in MATLAB Using System Objects.

`ElementSet` — Array antenna elements
1-by-2 cell array (default) | 1-by-1 cell array

Array antenna elements, specified as a 1-by-2 cell array or 1-by-1 cell array. The default value is a 1-by-2 cell array containing two phased.NRAntennaElement antenna elements both with a selected PolarizationModel of 2. One element has a –45° polarization angle and the other has a +45° polarization angle defined by the PolarizationAngle property.

`Size` — Sizes of panels and element grid
`[2 2 1 1]` (default) | 1-by-4 vector of positive integer values

Sizes of element grid and panel grid, specified as a 1-by-4 vector of positive integer values. The first two entries represent the number of elements in a panel and the last two entries represent the number of panels in the array. The default value is one panel grid with a panel size of 2-by-2 elements.

Example: [2 2 2 2]

Data Types: double

`Spacing` — Spacing between elements and between panels
`[0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0]` (default) | 1-by-4 vector of real positive values

Spacing between elements and between panels, specified as a 1-by-4 positive vector. The first two entries represent the spacing between elements within the panel and the remaining values represent the spacing between panels in the array. Spacing between panels is measured from the center of each panel. Units are in meters.

Example: [0.75 0.75 1.0 1.0]

Data Types: double

`EnablePanelSubarray` — Treat each panel as a subarray
`false` (default) | `true`

Set this property to true to treat each panel as a subarray. Each subarray is supported by a single RF chain if there is only one element at each position, or two RF chains if there are two elements at each position. Set this property to false when every element has its own RF chain.

Data Types: logical

`SubarraySteering` — Subarray steering method
`'None'` (default) | `'Custom'`

Method of subarray steering, specified as 'None' or 'Custom'. When you set this property to 'Custom', the complex weights coefficient for each element in the array is specified as an input.

Example: 'Custom'

Data Types: char | string

`Taper` — Array element tapers
`1` (default) | complex scalar | length-N complex-valued vector

Array element tapers, specified as a complex scalar or a length-N complex-valued vector of weights applied to each element in the sensor array. N is the number of elements in the array. If Taper is a scalar, identical weights are applied to each element. If Taper is a vector, each weight is applied to the corresponding array element.

Example: 1

Data Types: double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Usage

Syntax

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG)

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG,V)

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG,V,WS)

Description

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG) returns the array voltage response, RESP, at the operating frequencies specified in FREQ and in directions specified in ANG.

example

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG,V) also specifies the propagation speed V. This syntax applies when you set the EnablePanelArray property to true and the SubarraySteering property to 'None'.

RESP = array(FREQ,ANG,V,WS) also specifies the element weights, WS. Note that when the ElementSet property contains two elements, each panel contains two subarrays. To enable this syntax, set the EnablePanelArray property to true and the SubarraySteering property to 'Custom'.

example

Note

The object performs an initialization the first time the object is executed. This initialization locks nontunable properties and input specifications, such as dimensions, complexity, and data type of the input data. If you change a nontunable property or an input specification, the System object issues an error. To change nontunable properties or inputs, you must first call the release method to unlock the object.

Input Arguments

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`FREQ` — Operating frequency of antenna element
nonnegative scalar | nonnegative, real-valued 1-by-L row vector

Operating frequency of the antenna element, specified as a nonnegative scalar or nonnegative, real-valued 1-by-L row vector. Frequency units are in Hz.

FREQ must lie within the range of values specified by the FrequencyRange or the FrequencyVector property of the element. Otherwise, the element produces no response and the response is returned as –Inf. Element objects use the FrequencyRange property, except for phased.CustomAntennaElement, which uses the FrequencyVector property.

Example: [1e8 2e6]

Data Types: double

`ANG` — Azimuth and elevation angles of response directions
real-valued 1-by-M row vector | real-valued 2-by-M matrix

Azimuth and elevation angles of the response directions, specified as a real-valued 1-by-M row vector or a real-valued 2-by-M matrix, where M is the number of angular directions. Angle units are in degrees. The azimuth angle must lie in the range –180° to 180°, inclusive. The elevation angle must lie in the range –90° to 90°, inclusive.

If ANG is a 1-by-M vector, each element specifies the azimuth angle of the direction. In this case, the corresponding elevation angle is assumed to be zero.
If ANG is a 2-by-M matrix, each column of the matrix specifies the direction in the form [azimuth;elevation].

The azimuth angle is the angle between the x-axis and the projection of the direction vector onto the xy-plane. This angle is positive when measured from the x-axis toward the y-axis. The elevation angle is the angle between the direction vector and xy-plane. This angle is positive when measured toward the z-axis. See the definition of Azimuth and Elevation Angles.

Example: [110 125; 15 10]

Data Types: double

`V` — Propagation speed
positive scalar

Propagation speed, specified as a positive scalar. Units are in m/s.

Example: physconst('LightSpeed')

Dependencies

To enable this syntax, set the EnablePanelArray property to true and the SubarraySteering property to 'None'.

Data Types: double

`WS` — Element weights
complex-valued Nse-by-Ns matrix

Element weights within each subarray, specified as a complex-valued Nse-by-Ns matrix where Nse is the number of elements within each subarray. Each column of WS represents the weights applied to the elements of the corresponding subarray. Note that when the ElementSet property contains two elements, each panel contains two subarrays.

Dependencies

To enable this argument, set the EnablePanelArray property to true and the SubarraySteering property to 'Custom'.

Data Types: double
Complex Number Support: Yes

Output Arguments

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`RESP` — Voltage response of array
complex-valued M-by-L matrix

Voltage response of the array, returned as a complex-valued M-by-L matrix. In this matrix, M represents the number of angles specified in ANG and L represents the number of frequencies specified in FREQ.

If the array does not support polarization, RESP has a size of N-by-M-by-L where N is the number of elements in the phased array. Each column contains the responses of the array elements for the corresponding direction specified in ANG. Each page of RESP contains the responses of the array for the given frequency specified in FREQ.
If the array supports polarization, RESP is a struct containing two fields, H and V. H represents the horizontal polarization of the array response and V represents the vertical polarization of the array. Each struct field is an N-by-M-by-L array whose columns contains the responses of the array elements for the corresponding direction and frequency.

Data Types: double

Object Functions

To use an object function, specify the System object as the first input argument. For example, to release system resources of a System object named obj, use this syntax:

release(obj)

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Specific to `phased.NRRectangularPanelArray` System Objects

`beamwidth`	Beamwidth of NR rectangular panel array
`collectPlaneWave`	Simulate received plane waves at array
`directivity`	Directivity of NR rectangular panel array
`getElementNormal`	Normal vectors for array elements
`getElementPosition`	Positions of array elements
`getNumElements`	Number of elements in an array and subarray
`getNumSubarrays`	Number of subarrays in panel array
`getSubarrayPosition`	Get positions of NR panel array subarrays
`getTaper`	Array element tapers
`isPolarizationCapable`	Array polarization capability
`pattern`	Beam pattern NR rectangular panel array
`patternAzimuth`	Azimuthal pattern NR rectangular panel array
`patternElevation`	Elevation pattern NR rectangular panel array
`perturbations`	Perturbations defined on array
`perturbedArray`	Apply perturbations to phased array
`perturbedPattern`	Display pattern of perturbed array
`viewArray`	View array geometry

Common to All System Objects

`step`	Run System object algorithm
`release`	Release resources and allow changes to System object property values and input characteristics
`reset`	Reset internal states of System object

Examples

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Plot Response of NR Rectangular Panel Array

Open Live Script

Construct a 5G antenna array where the grid is 2-by-2 and each panel is a 4-by-4 array. Each antenna element consists of two short-dipole antennas with different dipole axis directions. The antenna elements are spaced 1/2 wavelength apart and the panels are spaced 3 wavelengths apart. Plot the response pattern of the array assuming an operating frequency of 6 GHz.

c = physconst('LightSpeed');
fc = 6e9;
lambda = c/fc;
antenna1 = phased.ShortDipoleAntennaElement('AxisDirection','Z');
antenna2 = phased.ShortDipoleAntennaElement('AxisDirection','X');
array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray('ElementSet', ...
        {antenna1, antenna2},'Size',[4, 4, 2, 2],'Spacing', ...
        [0.5*lambda, 0.5*lambda,3*lambda, 3*lambda]);
pattern(array,fc,'ShowArray',true)

Figure contains 2 axes objects. Hidden axes object 1 contains 7 objects of type scatter, line, text. Hidden axes object 2 with title 3D Directivity Pattern contains 13 objects of type surface, line, text, patch.

Use the Orientation property of pattern to change the orientation $8 0^{\circ}$ along the x-axis, $3 0^{\circ}$ along the y-axis and $6 0^{\circ}$ along the z-axis.

pattern(array,fc,'Orientation',[80;30;60],'ShowArray',true)

Disable the display of local coordinates and the colorbar.

pattern(array,fc,'ShowLocalCoordinate',false,'ShowColorBar',false)

Figure contains an axes object. The hidden axes object with title 3D Directivity Pattern contains an object of type surface.

Get Response of NR Rectangular Array

Open Live Script

Construct a 5G antenna array where the grid is 2-by-2 and each panel is a 3-by-2 array. The antenna elements are two phased.NRAntennaElement objects having polarization angles of $+ 45$ and $- 45$ degrees. Find the response of the array at boresight, assuming an operating frequency of 6 GHz. The elements are spaced 1/2-wavelength apart and the panels are 3-wavelengths apart.

    c = physconst('LightSpeed');
    fc = 6e9;
    lambda = c/fc;
    array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray('Size',[3, 2, 2, 2], ...
            'Spacing',[0.5*lambda,0.5*lambda,3*lambda,3*lambda]);
    resp = array(fc,[0;0])

resp = struct with fields:
    H: [48x1 double]
    V: [48x1 double]

Steer Subarrays of NRRectangularPanelArray

Open Live Script

Construct a 5G antenna array with panels on a 2-by-2 grid with each panel being a 4-by-4 array. Each antenna element consists of two short-dipole elements. Use each panel as a subarray. The elements are spaced 1/2 wavelength apart and the panels are spaced at 5/2 wavelengths. Plot the response of the array at 6 GHz. Assume the weights for each element within the subarray is unity.

c = physconst('LightSpeed');
fc = 6e9;
lambda = c/fc;
ant = phased.ShortDipoleAntennaElement;
array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray(ElementSet={ant,ant}, ...
    Size=[4, 4, 2, 2], ...
    Spacing=[0.5*lambda,0.5*lambda,5*0.5*lambda,5*0.5*lambda], ...
    EnablePanelSubarray=true,SubarraySteering='Custom');

Display the array pattern.

pattern(array,fc,'ElementWeights',ones(16,8));

Figure contains an axes object. The hidden axes object with title 3D Directivity Pattern contains 13 objects of type surface, line, text, patch.

Compute the number of elements and the number of subarrays.

getNumElements(array)

ans = 
128

getNumSubarrays(array)

ans = 
8

Then get the subarray positions.

getSubarrayPosition(array)

ans = 3×8

         0         0         0         0         0         0         0         0
   -0.0625   -0.0625   -0.0625   -0.0625    0.0625    0.0625    0.0625    0.0625
    0.0625    0.0625   -0.0625   -0.0625    0.0625    0.0625   -0.0625   -0.0625

More About

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Rectangular Panel Array Indexes

A rectangular panel array may contain one or two types of elements. When a panel contains one type of element, each panel consists of one subarray with that element. When a panel contains two types of elements, the panel consists of two co-located subarrays, one for each type of element. Subarrays are ordered from top to bottom and then from left to right in the same way as indexes in a matrix. Within each subarray, indices are ordered the same way. If there are two kinds of contained in the ElementSet property, the first subarray is the top left panel containing the first type of element. The second subarray is also the top left panel but containing the second type of element, and so on.

This picture shows a 2-by-2 panel array with two types of elements. For example, the first panel contains elements 1 – 8. Elements 1 – 4 are drawn from set 1 and elements 5 – 8 are drawn from set 2. Similarly, the second panel contains elements 9 – 16. Withing a panel, elements are paired. The paired elements are actually co-located but appear slightly offset for illustration. The code to create this object is: `

array = phased.NRRectangularPanelArray('ElementSet',{antenna1,antenna2},'Size', ...
       [2, 2, 2, 2],'Spacing',[0.5*lambda, 0.5*lambda,3*lambda, 3*lambda], ...
       'EnablePanelSubarray',true)

References

[1] 5G: Study on channel model for frequencies from 0.5 to 100 GHz, 3GPP TR38.901 Version 14.0.0 Release 14.

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Usage notes and limitations:

System Objects in MATLAB Code Generation (MATLAB Coder)

Version History

Introduced in R2021a

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Steerable Subarrays

This release supports steerable subarrays by setting the EnablePanelSubarray and SubarraySteering properties.

phased.NRRectangularPanelArray

Description

Creation

Syntax

Description

Properties

ElementSet — Array antenna elements 1-by-2 cell array (default) | 1-by-1 cell array

Size — Sizes of panels and element grid [2 2 1 1] (default) | 1-by-4 vector of positive integer values

Spacing — Spacing between elements and between panels [0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0] (default) | 1-by-4 vector of real positive values

EnablePanelSubarray — Treat each panel as a subarray false (default) | true

SubarraySteering — Subarray steering method 'None' (default) | 'Custom'

Taper — Array element tapers 1 (default) | complex scalar | length-N complex-valued vector

Usage

Syntax

Description

Input Arguments

FREQ — Operating frequency of antenna element nonnegative scalar | nonnegative, real-valued 1-by-L row vector

ANG — Azimuth and elevation angles of response directions real-valued 1-by-M row vector | real-valued 2-by-M matrix

V — Propagation speed positive scalar

Dependencies

WS — Element weights complex-valued Nse-by-Ns matrix

Dependencies

Output Arguments

RESP — Voltage response of array complex-valued M-by-L matrix

Object Functions

Specific to phased.NRRectangularPanelArray System Objects

Common to All System Objects

Examples

Plot Response of NR Rectangular Panel Array

Get Response of NR Rectangular Array

Steer Subarrays of NRRectangularPanelArray

More About

Rectangular Panel Array Indexes

References

Extended Capabilities

C/C++ Code Generation Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.

Version History

Steerable Subarrays

See Also

`ElementSet` — Array antenna elements
1-by-2 cell array (default) | 1-by-1 cell array

`Size` — Sizes of panels and element grid
`[2 2 1 1]` (default) | 1-by-4 vector of positive integer values

`Spacing` — Spacing between elements and between panels
`[0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0]` (default) | 1-by-4 vector of real positive values

`EnablePanelSubarray` — Treat each panel as a subarray
`false` (default) | `true`

`SubarraySteering` — Subarray steering method
`'None'` (default) | `'Custom'`

`Taper` — Array element tapers
`1` (default) | complex scalar | length-N complex-valued vector

`FREQ` — Operating frequency of antenna element
nonnegative scalar | nonnegative, real-valued 1-by-L row vector

`ANG` — Azimuth and elevation angles of response directions
real-valued 1-by-M row vector | real-valued 2-by-M matrix

`V` — Propagation speed
positive scalar

`WS` — Element weights
complex-valued Nse-by-Ns matrix

`RESP` — Voltage response of array
complex-valued M-by-L matrix

Specific to `phased.NRRectangularPanelArray` System Objects

C/C++ Code Generation
Generate C and C++ code using MATLAB® Coder™.