Our team proposes to expand the capabilities of an existing software tool so that is capable of producing CAD models and associated configuration information for representative antenna designs given the type of information that can be found on a vendors specification sheet. The user will select an antenna type from a database of antennas and specify design objectives. An underlying computational engine will be used as the basis for an optimization engine that creates designs to meet the objectives specified. The approach for creating representative designs for antennas will be demonstrated using realistic example antennas. Performance metrics will be developed to assess the accuracy of the approach. A list of common antennas employed on NAVAIR aircraft will be compiled and mapped to existing antenna types supported by Antenna Magus. If there is a need for additional antenna models, they will be developed. A study will be conducted to assess the accuracy of using representative designs versus the actual antenna design for installed antenna performance analyses. The proposed tool will also include a capability for searching the antenna database according to specific applications. This database will also allow the user to save, organize and share representative designs developed by NAVAIR.
Benefit: Modern military and commercial aircraft include numerous RF systems and associated antennas serving a multitude of functions such as surveillance, radar, communications, electronic warfare, and navigation. Typically, the designed free-space performance of antennas is degraded by their installation on the airframe due to interactions with the platform. These facts present the antenna/platform integrator with an enormous problem: how to place the numerous antennas on the airframe so that they can perform their stand-alone functions while minimizing interference and satisfying aerodynamic constraints. Computer-based analysis tools are used by engineers to predict the performance of antennas as installed on aircraft. All CEM tools require a characterization of the antenna in order to predict the installed performance. The simulation of installed antenna performance presents a major challenge in that the details of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) antenna designs are often not known to the antenna/platform integrator. COTS antenna vendors generally provide performance indicators and basic physical properties, but do not provide detailed information that is necessary to construct input for a simulation tool predicting installed performance of antennas. As a result, engineers typically attempt through several manual simulations to develop an antenna design that reasonably matches the performance information shown on the vendors specification sheet. This approach is time consuming and not guided by design algorithms that could converge upon an acceptable design in much less time. It is also common for engineers to be tasked to identify an antenna design for a specific application (e.g., SATCOM, GPS, TCDL, etc.) and assess the installed performance of such an antenna. Engineers currently turn to textbooks or the internet to search for antenna designs for their application of interest. This approach can certainly yield useful designs. However, it places the burden of researching and developing models for multiple antenna designs on the engineer, which can be a very time consuming process contrary to the goal of fast, proof-of-concept analyses. By leveraging the previous investment in the Antenna Magus, WIPL-D and Savant software tools, our team is confident that we can develop a successful commercial software capability that will greatly reduce the workload for engineers performing installed antenna performance analysis.
Keywords: Design, Design, Database, Modeling and Simulation, Computational Electromagnetics, Optimization, installed performance, Antenna, free-space
