Electromagnetic Analysis of Periodic Iris-Fed Patch Antenna Array Using Fast and Efficient Hybrid Analytical Approach

Abstract

Planar antenna arrays are renowned for their high directivity and ease of implementation, while offering the possibility of controlling the radiation pattern. However, the study of the electromagnetic aspect taking into account the coupling between the array’s elements requires a memory space and a considerable calculation time. To overcome these drawbacks, a fast and rigorous full-wave numerical method for the electromagnetic analysis of a unidimensional periodic iris-fed patch antenna array has been proposed. The spatial electromagnetic calculation of a periodic structure of finite dimensions is reduced to a spectral calculation carried out on a single unit reference cell by applying periodicity conditions to it. The modeling of a unit cell is based on the MOM-GEC flexible formalism, which reduces the resolution of the electromagnetic problem to a simple manipulation of equivalent circuits. Firstly, a validation of the numerical approach took place through the verification of the boundary conditions applied to the current distribution. Next, the mutual coupling between the elements of the antenna array was calculated. Results were validated with those obtained with HFSS commercial software and they yield accurate and efficient solutions. Furthermore, a significant reduction of both memory storage requirement and computational time was observed.