Efficient and Accurate Simulation of Antenna Arrays in Ansys HFSS

Categories:

Unit-cell in HFSS

HFSS offers different method of creating and simulating a large array. The explicit method, shown in Figure 1(a) might be the first method that comes to our mind. This is where you create the exact CAD of the array and solve it. While this is the most accurate method of simulating an array, it is computationally extensive. This method may be non-feasible for the initial design of a large array. The use of unit cell (Figure 1(b)) and array theory helps us to start with an estimate of the array performance by a few assumptions. Finite Array Domain Decomposition (or FADDM) takes advantage of unit cell simplicity and creates a full model using the meshing information generated in a unit cell. In this blog we will review the creation of unit cell. In the next blog we will explain how a unit cell can be used to simulate a large array and FADDM.

11 1
Fig. 1 (a) Explicit Array
12 1
Fig. 1 (b) Unit Cell
13
Fig. 1 (c) Finite Array Domain Decomposition (FADDM)

In a unit cell, the following assumptions are made:

  • The pattern of each element is identical.
  • The array is uniformly excited in amplitude, but not necessarily in phase.
  • Edge affects and mutual coupling are ignored
Annotation 2020 04 06 133244 1
Fig. 2 An array consisting of elements amplitude and phases can be estimated with array theory, assuming all elements have the same amplitude and element radiation patterns. In unit cell simulation it is assumed all magnitudes (An’s) are equal (A) and the far field of each single element is equal.

A unit cell works based on Master/Slave (or Primary/Secondary) boundary around the cell. Master/Slave boundaries are always paired. In a rectangular cell you may use the new Lattice Pair boundary that is introduced in Ansys HFSS 2020R1. These boundaries are means of simulating an infinite array and estimating the performance of a relatively large arrays. The use of unit cell reduces the required RAM and solve time.

Primary/Secondary (Master/Slave) (or P/S) boundaries can be combined with Floquet port, radiation or PML boundary to be used in an infinite array or large array setting, as shown in Figure 3.

Fig3 1 1
Fig. 3 Unit cell can be terminated with (a) radiation boundary, (b) Floquet port, (c) PML boundary, or combination of them.

To create a unit cell with P/S boundary, first start with a single element with the exact dimensions of the cell. The next step is creating a vacuum or airbox around the cell. For this step, set the padding in the location of P/S boundary to zero. For example, Figure 4 shows a microstrip patch antenna that we intend to create a 2D array based on this model. The array is placed on the XY plane. An air box is created around the unit cell with zero padding in X and Y directions.

41
Fig. 4 (a) A unit cell starts with a single element with the exact dimensions as it appears in the lattice
42
Fig. 4 (b) A vacuum box is added around it

You notice that in this example the vacuum box is larger than usual size of quarter wavelength that is usually used in creating a vacuum region around the antenna. We will get to calculation of this size in a bit, for now let’s just assign a value or parameter to it, as it will be determined later. The next step is to define P/S to generate the lattice. In AEDT 2020R1 this boundary is under “Coupled” boundary. There are two methods to create P/S: (1) Lattice Pair, (2) Primary/Secondary boundary.

Lattice Pair

The Lattice Pair works best for square lattices. It automatically assigns the primary and secondary boundaries. To assign a lattice pair boundary select the two sides that are supposed to create infinite periodic cells, right-click->Assign Boundary->Coupled->Lattice Pair, choose a name and enter the scan angles. Note that scan angles can be assigned as parameters. This feature that is introduced in 2020R1 does not require the user to define the UV directions, they are automatically assigned.

51
Fig. 5 The lattice pair assignment (a) select two lattice walls
52
Fig. 5 (b) Assign the lattice pair boundary
53
Fig. 5 (c) After, right-click and choosing assign boundary > choose Lattice Pair
54
Fig. 5 (d) Phi and Theta scan angles can be assigned as parameters

Primary/Secondary

Primary/Secondary boundary is the same as what used to be called Master/Slave boundary. In this case, each Secondary (Slave) boundary should be assigned following a Primary (Master) boundary UV directions. First choose the side of the cell that Primary boundary. Right-click->Assign Boundary->Coupled->Primary. In Primary Boundary window define U vector. Next select the secondary wall, right-click->Assign Boundary->Couple->Secondary, choose the Primary Boundary and define U vector exactly in the same direction as the Primary, add the scan angles (the same as Primary scan angles)

Fig6 1 1
Fig. 6 Primary and secondary boundaries highlights.

Floquet Port and Modes Calculator

Floquet port excites and terminates waves propagating down the unit cell. They are similar to waveguide modes. Floquet port is always linked to P/S boundaries. Set of TE and TM modes travel inside the cell. However, keep in mind that the number of modes that are absorbed by the Floquet port are determined by the user. All the other modes are short-circuited back into the model. To assign a Floquet port two major steps should be taken:

Defining Floquet Port

Select the face of the cell that you like to assign the Floquet port. This is determined by the location of P/S boundary. The lattice vectors A and B directions are defined by the direction of lattice (Figure 7).

Fig7 1
Fig. 7 Floquet port on top of the cell is defined based on UV direction of P/S pairs

The number of modes to be included are defined with the help of Modes Calculator. In the Mode Setup tab of the Floquet Port window, choose a high number of modes (e.g. 20) and click on Modes Calculator. The Mode Table Calculator will request your input of Frequency and Scan Angles. After selecting those, a table of modes and their attenuation using dB/length units are created. This is your guide in selecting the height of the unit cell and vaccume box. The attenation multiplied by the height of the unit cell (in the project units, defined in Modeler->Units) should be large enough to make sure the modes are attenuated enough so removing them from the calcuatlion does not cause errors. If the unit cell is too short, then you will see many modes are not attenuated enough. The product of the attenuatin and height of the airbox should be at least 50 dB. After the correct size for the airbox is calcualted and entered, the model with high attenuation can be removed from the Floquet port definition.

The 3D Refinement tab is used to control the inclusion of the modes in the 3D refinement of the mesh. It is recommended not to select them for the antenna arrays.

Fig8 1 1
Fig. 8 (Left) Determining the scan angles for the unit cell, (Right) Modes Calculator showing the Attenuation

In our example, Figure 8 shows that the 5th mode has an attenuation of 2.59dB/length. The height of the airbox is around 19.5mm, providing 19.5mm*2.59dB/mm=50.505dB attenuation for the 5th mode. Therefore, only the first 4 modes are kept for the calculations. If the height of the airbox was less than 19.5mm, we would need to increase the height so accordingly for an attenuation of at least 50dB.

Radiation Boundary

A simpler alternative for Floquet port is radiation boundary. It is important to note that the size of the airbox should still be kept around the same size that was calculated for the Floquet port, therefore, higher order modes sufficiently attenuated. In this case the traditional quarter wavelength padding might not be adequate.

Fig9 1
Fig. 9 Radiation boundary on top of the unit cell

Perfectly Matched Layer

Although using radiation boundary is much simpler than Floquet port, it is not accurate for large scan angles. It can be a good alternative to Floquet port only if the beam scanning is limited to small angles. Another alternative to Floquet port is to cover the cell by a layer of PML. This is a good compromise and provides very similar results to Floquet port models. However, the P/S boundary need to surround the PML layer as well, which means a few additional steps are required. Here is how you can do it:

  1. Reduce the size of the airbox* slightly, so after adding the PML layer, the unit cell height is the same as the one that was generated using the Modes Calculation. (For example, in our model airbox height was 19mm+substrte thickness, the PML height was 3mm, so we reduced the airbox height to 16mm).
  2. Choose the top face and add PML boundary.
  3. Select each side of the airbox and create an object from that face (Figure 10).
  4. Select each side of the PML and create objects from those faces (Figure 10).
  5. Select the two faces that are on the same plane from the faces created from airbox and PML and unite them to create a side wall (Figure 10).
  6. Then assign P/S boundary to each pair of walls (Figure 10).

*Please note for this method, an auto-size “region” cannot be used, instead draw a box for air/vacuum box. The region does not let you create the faces you need to combine with PML faces.

Fig10 1 1
Fig. 10 Selecting two faces created from airbox and PML and uniting them to assign P/S boundaries

The advantage of PML termination over Floquet port is that it is simpler and sometimes faster calculation. The advantage over Radiation Boundary termination is that it provides accurate results for large scan angles. For better accuracy the mesh for the PML region can be defined as length based.

Seed the Mesh

To improve the accuracy of the PML model further, an option is to use length-based mesh. To do this select the PML box, from the project tree in Project Manager window right-click on Mesh->Assign Mesh Operation->On Selection->Length Based. Select a length smaller than lambda/10.

Fig11
Fig. 11 Using element length-based mesh refinement can improve the accuracy of PML design

Scanning the Angle

In phased array simulation, we are mostly interested in the performance of the unit cell and array at different scan angles. To add the scanning option, the phase of P/S boundary should be defined by project or design parameters. The parameters can be used to run a parametric sweep, like the one shown in Figure 12. In this example the theta angle is scanned from 0 to 60 degrees.

image 17 4
Fig. 12 Using a parametric sweep, the scanned patterns can be generated

Comparing PML and Floquet Port with Radiation Boundary

To see the accuracy of the radiation boundary vs. PML and Floquet Port, I ran the simulations for scan angles up to 60 degrees for a single element patch antenna. Figure 13 shows that the accuracy of the Radiation boundary drops after around 15 degrees scanning. However, PML and Floquet port show similar performance.

image 18 4
image 19 4
image 20 3
image 21 4
image 22 3
Fig. 13 Comparison of radiation patterns using PML (red), Floquet Port (blue), and Radiation boundary (orange).

S Parameters

To compare the accuracy, we can also check the S parameters. Figure 14 shows the comparison of active S at port 1 for PML and Floquet port models. Active S parameters were used since the unit cell antenna has two ports. Figure 15 shows how S parameters compare for the model with the radiation boundary and the one with the Floquet port.

Fig14
Fig. 14 Active S parameter comparison for different scan angles, PML vs. Floquet Port model.
Fig15
Fig. 15 Active S parameter comparison for different scan angles, Radiation Boundary vs. Floquet Port model.

Conclusion

The unit cell definition and options on terminating the cell were discussed here. Stay tuned. In the next blog we discuss how the unit cell is utilized in modeling antenna arrays.

Categories

Get Your Ansys Products & Support from the Engineers who Contribute to this Blog.

Technical Expertise to Enable your Addictive Manufacturing Success.

PADT Pulse Newsletter Screen Grab from March 2023

PADT’s Pulse Newsletter

Keep up to date on what is going on at PADT by subscribing to our newsletter.


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Share this post:

Upcoming Events

05/24/2023

Hill Air Force Base Tech Expo

05/24/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (3) – Structural Optimization & Ex

05/23/2023

CROSSTALK 2023: Emerging Opportunities for Advanced Manufacturing Smal

05/10/2023

Signal & Power Integrity Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/26/2023

Additive Manufacturing Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

04/20/2023

38th Space Symposium Arizona Space Industry

More Info

04/19/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/19/2023

Additive Aids for Manufacturing - Webinar

04/18/2023

38th Space Symposium
Arizona Space Industry

04/17/2023

38th Space Symposium

04/13/2023

Venture Madness 2023

04/12/2023

Fluid Meshing & GPU-Solver Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/29/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/29/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Composites, Fracture & MAPDL

03/28/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/27/2023

8th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/26/2023

8TH Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference

03/24/2023

Arizona BioPreneur Conference | Spring 2023

03/22/2023

2023 Arizona MedTech Conference

03/22/2023

Optimize Jigs & Fixtures with Additive - Webinar

03/15/2023

3D Design Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

03/08/2023

Competitive Advantages of 1D/3D Coupled Simulation - Webinar

03/01/2023

High Frequency Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 - Webinar

02/22/2023

Additive Advantages in Aerospace - Webinar

02/15/2023

Structural Updates in Ansys 2023 R1 (1) - Webinar

02/09/2023

IME 2023: MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/08/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

02/07/2023

IME 2023 MD&M | WestPack | ATX | D&M | Plastek

01/27/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/26/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/26/2023

Venture Cafe Phoenix Talent Night - Job Fari

01/26/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/25/2023

Arizona Photonics Days, 2023

01/25/2023

Building A.M.- Utah: Kickoff!

01/25/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/25/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

VFS 2023 Autonomous/Electric VTOL Symposium

01/24/2023

TIPE 3D Printing | 2023

01/18/2023

2023 AZ Tech Council Golf Tournament

12/21/2022

Simulation Best Practices for 5G Technology - Webinar

12/14/2022

Digital Twins Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

12/08/2022

Tech the Halls - AZ Tech Council Holiday Mixer

12/07/2022

Electric Vehicle and Other Infrastructure Update Panel

11/30/2022

SPEOS Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

11/23/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Electronics Reliability - Webinar

11/16/2022

Discovery Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

11/10/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Venture Capital in AZ

11/08/2022

2022 GOVERNOR’S CELEBRATION OF INNOVATION AWARDS + TECH SHOWCASE

11/03/2022

VentureCafe Phoenix Panel: Angel Investment in AZ

11/02/2022

High & Low Frequency Electromagnetics Updates in Ansys 2022 R2

10/26/2022

Simulation Best Practices For Chip-Package-System Design & Development

10/20/2022

Nerdtoberfest 2022

10/19/2022

2022 Southern Arizona Tech + Business Expo

10/19/2022

LS-DYNA Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/17/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Clearfield Utah

10/14/2022

ASU School of Manufacturing Systems and Networks - Formal Opening Cele

10/14/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Midvale Utah

10/12/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Littleton Colorado

10/06/2022

Fluids Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

10/05/2022

Experience Stratasys Truck Tour - Colorado Springs

09/29/2022

White Hat Life Science Investor Conference - 2022

09/28/2022

2022 AZBio Awards

09/28/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Rotating Machinery Design & Development

09/21/2022

ExperienceIT NM 2022

09/21/2022

Additive Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

09/14/2022

Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor & Partnering Conference

09/08/2022

Ansys Optics Simulation User Group Meeting - Virtual

09/08/2022

Ansys Optics Simulation User Group Meeting

09/07/2022

SI & PI Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

08/31/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Developing Medical Devices - Webinar

08/24/2022

Mechanical Updates in Ansys 2022 R2 - Webinar

08/10/2022

Tucson after5 Tech Mixer: Ruda-Cardinal

08/05/2022

Flagstaff Tech Tour, 2022

08/02/2022

2022 CEO Leadership Retreat

08/01/2022

2022 CEO Leadership Retreat

07/27/2022

Thermal Integrity Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

07/20/2022

Simulation Best Practices for the Pharmaceutical Industry - Webinar

07/14/2022

NCMS Technology Showcase: Corpus Christi Army Depot

07/13/2022

NCMS Technology Showcase: Corpus Christi Army Depot

07/13/2022

Additive & Structural Optimization Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

07/07/2022

Arizona AADM Conference, 2022

06/29/2022

LS-DYNA Updates & Advancements in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

06/23/2022

Simulation Best Practices for Wind Turbine Design - Webinar

06/15/2022

MAPDL Updates & Advancements in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

06/01/2022

Mechanical Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - pt. 2 Webinar

05/26/2022

Modelling liquid cryogenic rocket engines in Flownex - Webinar

05/25/2022

SMR & Advanced Reactor 2022

05/25/2022

05/24/2022

SMR & Advanced Reactor 2022

05/19/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

05/19/2022

Venture Cafe Roundtable: AI & Healthcare

05/18/2022

Tucson after5 Tech Mixer: World View

05/18/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

More Info

05/18/2022

Signal & Power Integrity Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

05/18/2022

Simulation World 2022

05/17/2022

RAPID + tct 2022

05/11/2022

Experience Stratasys Manufacturing Virtual Event

05/04/2022

Mechanical Meshing Updates in Ansys 2022 R1 - Webinar

Search in PADT site

Contact Us

Most of our customers receive their support over the phone or via email. Customers who are close by can also set up a face-to-face appointment with one of our engineers.

For most locations, simply contact us: