Get Started with Antenna Toolbox

Antenna Toolbox™ provides functions and apps for the design, analysis, and visualization of antenna elements and arrays. You can design standalone antennas and build arrays of antennas using either predefined elements with parameterized geometry or arbitrary planar elements.

Antenna Toolbox uses the method of moments (MoM) to compute port properties such as impedance, surface properties such as current and charge distribution, and field properties such as the near-field and far-field radiation pattern. You can visualize antenna geometry and analysis results in 2D and 3D.

You can integrate antennas and arrays into wireless systems and use impedance analysis to design matching networks. Antenna Toolbox provides radiation patterns for simulating beam forming and beam steering algorithms. Gerber files can be generated from your design for manufacturing printed circuit board (PCB) antennas. You can install the antennas on large platforms such as cars or airplanes and analyze the effects of the structure on antenna performance. A site viewer enables you to visualize antenna coverage on a 3D terrain map using a variety of propagation models.

Tutorials

• Antenna Modeling and Analysis
  

  This example shows how to construct, visualize and analyze the antenna elements in the Antenna Toolbox.

• Array Modeling and Analysis
  

  This example shows how to construct, visualize, and analyze an antenna array from the Antenna Toolbox.

• Current Visualization on the Antenna Surface
  

  This example shows how to visualize surface currents on the half- wavelength dipole and how to observe the individual current components.

• Antenna Far-Field Visualization
  

  This example shows how to visualize the far fields for antennas and antenna arrays.

• Antenna Near-Field Visualization
  

  This example shows how to calculate and visualize the near-fields for antennas.

• Infinite Array Analysis
  

  This example demonstrates the use of infinite array analysis to model the behavior of a single element - the unit cell embedded in the array[1] - [3].

• RF Propagation and Visualization
  

  This example shows how to compute and visualize outdoor wireless coverage between a transmitter and receiver.

• Design and Analysis Using Antenna Array Designer App
  

  Antenna array designer app workflow tutorial.

Antenna Concepts

Fundamental Antenna Analysis

Port Analysis

Input impedance, resonance, return loss, reflection coefficient, bandwidth.

Surface Analysis

Charge distribution, current distribution

Field Analysis

Radiation pattern, E-H fields, beamwidth, polarization, axial ratio

Fundamental Array Analysis

Mutual Coupling

Active or scan impedance, array factor and pattern multiplication, coupling matrix, isolated or embedded element pattern.

Beamforming

Side lobe control, beam scanning.

Grating Lobes

Grating lobes are the maxima of the main beam, as predicted by the pattern multiplication theorem.

Solvers

Method of Moments Solver for Metal Structures

Method of Moments computation technique for metal antennas.

Method of Moments Solver for Metal and Dielectric Structures

Method of Moments computation technique for metal and dielectric antennas.

Hybrid MoM-PO Method for Metal Antennas with Large Scatterers

Hybrid method of moments (MoM) physical optics (PO) computational technique in Antenna Toolbox allows you to model antennas near large scatterers such as parabolic reflectors.

Physical Optics Solver

Physical optics (PO) solver in Antenna Toolbox allows you to solve for the RCS of an object..

Feed Model

Antenna Toolbox feed model.

Antenna Modeling

Antenna Classification

Classify antennas based on radiation pattern or feeding mechanism

Antenna Toolbox Coordinate System

Rectangular and spherical coordinate system

Antenna Toolbox Limitations

Features not supported

Antenna Radiation Patterns

Default radiation patterns of antennas and arrays

Featured Examples

Design and Analysis Using Antenna Designer App

Construct, visualize, and analyze antenna elements using the Antenna Designer App.

Open Live Script

Port Analysis of an Antenna

Quantifies terminal antenna parameters, with regard to the antenna port. The antenna is a one-port network. The antenna port is a physical location on the antenna where an RF source is connected to it. The terminal port parameters supported in Antenna Toolbox™ are

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Current Visualization on the Antenna Surface

Visualize surface currents on the half- wavelength dipole and how to observe the individual current components. Finally, it shows how to interact with the colorbar to change its dynamic range to better visualize the surface currents.

Open Script

Antenna Far-Field Visualization

Visualize the far fields for antennas and antenna arrays. Radiation patterns can be plotted in Antenna Toolbox™ using the pattern function. The example explains different options available in the pattern function.

Open Live Script

Antenna Near-Field Visualization

Calculate and visualize the near-fields for antennas. Near fields can be plotted in Antenna Toolbox™ using the EHfields function. This function can also be used to calculate and plot the near-fields for antenna arrays.In the near field region, the electric and magnetic fields can exist independently of each other, and one type of field can dominate the other.

Open Live Script

Plane Wave Excitation - Scattering solution

Explains how to excite an antenna using a plane-wave. The antenna in this case can be thought of as a receiving antenna. A receiving antenna may be viewed as any metal object that scatters an incident electromagnetic field. As a result of scattering an electric current appears on the antenna's surface. The current in turn creates a corresponding electric field. This produces a voltage difference across the feed. This voltage constitutes the received signal. [1]

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Antenna Modeling and Analysis

Construct, visualize and analyze the antenna elements in the Antenna Toolbox.

Open Live Script

Array Modeling and Analysis

Construct, visualize, and analyze an antenna array from the Antenna Toolbox.

Open Live Script

Loading Using Lumped Elements

Load an antenna using a lumpedElement. You can load an antenna to make it smaller, enable matching at the feedline, or to make antennas larger to obtain higher performance. The example below demonstrates creating a simple matching network by adding a lumped load at the feed.

Open Live Script