Rowanne Steiner, D. Ung, A. Hubrechsen, Robert D. Jones, R. Wayth, M. Bentum, A. B. Smolders
{"title":"Optimizing Processing Time of Radio-Astronomy Antenna Simulations Using FEKO","authors":"Rowanne Steiner, D. Ung, A. Hubrechsen, Robert D. Jones, R. Wayth, M. Bentum, A. B. Smolders","doi":"10.47037/2020.ACES.J.351007","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"─ The far-field pattern of a geometrically large and complex antenna used in low-frequency radio astronomy is computationally expensive to simulate on electromagnetic simulators, such as FEKO. For example, one station of the Square Kilometer Array, which consists of 256 log-periodic antenna elements, will take years to simulate using the full CAD model for the full operational frequency band. This paper focuses on reducing the simulation time for a single antenna element by simplifying the simulation model, thus decreasing the number of unknowns that have to be solved in a simulation. An iterative process for optimizing the simplification of such an element is described, while keeping the reflection coefficient within 1 dB absolute mean deviation of the measured data. After four iterations, the amount of unknowns to be solved, which includes the number of triangles and segments, was reduced from 29,307 to 11,991. This decreased the computation time by 86.5%, making array simulations feasible. Using the techniques described in the paper, other antenna constructions can benefit from it and be simulated more efficiently. Index Terms ─ Antenna, FEKO, optimization techniques, radio astronomy, square-kilometer array","PeriodicalId":8207,"journal":{"name":"Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society Journal","volume":"35 1","pages":"1153-1160"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2020-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society Journal","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.47037/2020.ACES.J.351007","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
─ The far-field pattern of a geometrically large and complex antenna used in low-frequency radio astronomy is computationally expensive to simulate on electromagnetic simulators, such as FEKO. For example, one station of the Square Kilometer Array, which consists of 256 log-periodic antenna elements, will take years to simulate using the full CAD model for the full operational frequency band. This paper focuses on reducing the simulation time for a single antenna element by simplifying the simulation model, thus decreasing the number of unknowns that have to be solved in a simulation. An iterative process for optimizing the simplification of such an element is described, while keeping the reflection coefficient within 1 dB absolute mean deviation of the measured data. After four iterations, the amount of unknowns to be solved, which includes the number of triangles and segments, was reduced from 29,307 to 11,991. This decreased the computation time by 86.5%, making array simulations feasible. Using the techniques described in the paper, other antenna constructions can benefit from it and be simulated more efficiently. Index Terms ─ Antenna, FEKO, optimization techniques, radio astronomy, square-kilometer array
期刊介绍:
The ACES Journal is devoted to the exchange of information in computational electromagnetics, to the advancement of the state of the art, and to the promotion of related technical activities. A primary objective of the information exchange is the elimination of the need to "re-invent the wheel" to solve a previously solved computational problem in electrical engineering, physics, or related fields of study.
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The technical activities promoted by this publication include code validation, performance analysis, and input/output standardization; code or technique optimization and error minimization; innovations in solution technique or in data input/output; identification of new applications for electromagnetics modeling codes and techniques; integration of computational electromagnetics techniques with new computer architectures; and correlation of computational parameters with physical mechanisms.