Fast Prediction of Equivalent Model of Installed Patch Antenna Radiation Pattern

Abstract

This paper proposes an efficient equivalent model of patch antenna for the fast prediction of its installed radiation pattern. More CPU time and memory cost are required for accurate prediction of installed radiation pattern of patch antenna on different platforms. However, a fast and efficient prediction can save CPU time and memory cost when constructing an equivalent model of patch antenna that can reproduce a similar radiation pattern to that of the patch antenna. A code is developed to determine the electric field of a magnetic dipole based on Green function derivation. The result of the radiation pattern for the far-field and near-field are computed and validated with the result using commercial software tool (FEKO). The magnetic dipole is used to construct the equivalent model of patch antenna based on the radiation mechanism to predict its installed radiation pattern. The numbers of design parameters needed to be optimized are reduced to only two parameters which are the spacing distance between the dipoles in the x- and y-directions. The height of the dipole is kept at a fixed value above the same ground plane as that of the patch antenna. This makes it more computational efficient by reducing the CPU time and memory cost. After the equivalent model is optimized with FEKO optimization tool, it is further installed on a platform to compute the installed radiation pattern. The simulation results show that the proposed equivalent model based on a magnetic dipole with only two design parameters can obtain a fast prediction of installed radiation pattern of patch antenna when mounted on a platform. The equivalent model does not require detailed geometry and material information of the patch antenna.