Introduction to the Antenna Magus User Interface

Getting to know the UI

If you are unfamiliar with Antenna Magus it is recommended that you briefly familiarize yourself with the basic
layout of the user interface before continuing with other application notes. A description of the main areas in user
interface is given below.

Ribbon - Offers Access to commonly used tools and operations. It also allows the user to switch between
different modes in the application.
Palette - The palette consists of expanders that generally follow workflow of the application, however,
strict adherence to this workflow is not required. The expanders generally consist of parameters and operations.
Workspace - Typically displays results and additional information. Here the user is able to view and refine
results.
Collections - Consists of the user's antenna prototypes.
Antenna Array Synthesis in Antenna Magus

Image of a Concentric Circular Antenna Array

Antenna Magus contains a wide collection of antenna array configurations .This application note discusses the
Antenna Magus workflow for exploring and synthesizing these antenna arrays. We go through the typical workflow
of designing an array for two different array configurations and then compare their results.

User Interface
If you are unfamiliar with Antenna Magus it is suggested that you briefly familiarize yourself with the main
components of the user interface. A short application note on the basic layout of the user interface is
available here.

Exploring the Arrays

To start the array design we have to add an array prototype to the 'Collection'. Do this by clicking on the 'Array
Synthesis' button located on the 'Home' ribbon. Antenna Magus creates and opens a new array prototype and also
starts a new design for the prototype. In the workspace we see a browsable collection of antenna array
configurations. The layouts of the configurations are illustrated on the thumbnails with the orange arrows
indicating some of the parameters that can be set. More information about each of these array configurations are
also available on the antenna amagus website
 We can also
select a
configuration by
using the drop-
down menus in
the 'Pallet'.

Synthesise Planar Array

The first array that we will look at is a planar array with broadside directivity. In the 'Arrays' expander rename
the design from "Array 1" to "Planar Array". In the 'Create Distribution Matrix' expander select 'planar' from
the 'Choose Array Shape' drop-down.

We are now presented with

specific planar configurations in
the 'Specify'drop-down. Select
the '+ Exitation taper' option of
the 'Broadside directivity or
beamwidth' configuration.

Click on 'Set Up' to choose the specific configuration. In the 'Workspace' we are presented with additional
information on this configuration.
We are also presented with
additional design options in
the 'Create Distribution
Matix' expander. Set the
centre - and display
frequency both to 30GHz.
Choose 'Specify
beamwidth' in the 'Main-
beam' drop-down and set
the value to 15 degrees in
both the x and y direction.
In the 'Taper' drop-down
select 'All side lobes
equal' and set the Side-
lobe level to 30dBi. Click
on 'Apply' after entering
all the parameters.

Antenna Magus will switch to the 'Array Layout' tab; here the Layout of the array as well as the Isotropic array
pattern (where each element is a spherical radiator with 0 dBi gain in all directions) can be inspected. (Shown
below)
At the bottom of the 'Pallete' we
see the 'Derived
Parameters' expander. Here we
note that the number of elements
required for design objective is 64.

To synthesise the array for a specific antenna element, we can specify a node on the 'Element Pattern'tab. Switch
to this tab and select 'Left-hand circular QHA' from the drop-down. Select 'Z' from the 'D_max' drop-down and
click on 'Apply'. The radiation pattern for the antenna is displayed in the workspace (shown below). This radiation
pattern will be used as the element patterns in the synthesis of the array. Note that custom element patterns can
also be imported.
Navigate to the 'Synthesised Array' tab to view the results of the synthesised array (shown below).

Synthesise Concentric Circular Array

Synthesizing the Concentric Circular Array is a similar process as that described above. Start a new array design by
clicking 'New Array' in the 'Arrays' expander or in the 'Home' ribbon. Again the collection of array configurations
is displayed in the workspace. In the 'Create Distribution Matrix' set the value for 'Choose Array
Shape' to 'Concentric circular' and the value of 'Specify' to 'Beamwidth with a specific taper and steering
angle'. Click on 'Set up' to select this configuration. Information for the selected configuration is displayed in the
workspace.
Additional input
parameters are
displayed in
the 'Create
Distribution
Matrix' expander.
Set values in the
expander to the
values shown in the
image below and
click on 'Apply'. We
are designing for the
same beamwidth
and side-lobe level
as the previous
design.

In the 'Workspace' the layout and isotropic radiation pattern is displayed. Note that the plot for both designs is
shown
 In the 'Derived
Parameters' we
note that the
number of
elements required
(77) for this array
is higher than for
the planar array
with similar
design objectives.
The physical size
of the array is
also slightly larger
than for the
planar array.

Navigate to the 'Element pattern' tab to set the node radiation pattern. Select 'Left-had-circular QHA' from
the 'Choose Pattern' drop down; set 'D_max' to 'Z' and click on 'Apply'. The radiation pattern for the antenna is
displayed in the workspace. This radiation pattern will be used in the synthesis of the array.

Navigate to the 'Synthesised Array ' to view the results. In the workspace we can compare the results of the two
array configurations. Shown below is the XZ-plane cut of the radiation pattern of the two arrays. Note the
similarity of the two plots.
We can also compare the 3D synthesised array pattern by switching between the two designs in
the'Arrays' expander located in the 'Pallet '. Shown below are the two radiation patterns side by side. Here the
difference between the radiation patterns of the two designs are more noticeable. The concentric circular array
configuration results in a pattern which is symmetrical around the vertical axis with more evenly shaped sidelobes.