FarfieldArray Object

Defines the antenna array pattern for a farfieldplot based on a single antenna element.

• Methods

• Queries

• Default Settings

• Example

Methods

Reset

Resets all internal settings to their initial values.

UseArray ( bool bFlag )

Activates the array pattern for farfield calculation.

Arraytype ( enum type )

Sets the type of the array pattern.

type can have one of the following values:

XSet ( int  number, double spaceshift, double phaseshift )

YSet ( int  number, double spaceshift, double phaseshift )

ZSet ( int  number, double spaceshift, double phaseshift )

Defines a linear array pattern in the x,y or z-direction respectively. Thus a linear, planar or cubic antenna array structure may be created.

SetList

Calculates a complete list of single antenna elements based on the specified array configuration and transfers these settings to the farfield plotter.

DeleteList

Deletes the current list of single antenna elements defining the array pattern.

Antenna ( double x, double y, double z, double amplitude, double phase )

Defines the properties of a single antenna element. This method is only applicable in the editing mode set by Arraytype.

AddAntennaItem ( filename sfile, double x, double y, double z, double alpha, double beta, double gamma, double A, double phase)

Loads an antenna farfield from sfile and adds it to the combine list.

AddAntennaItemA ( filename sfile, double x, double y, double z, double z1, double z2, double z3, double x1, double x2, double x3, double A, double phase)

The command is similar to AddAntennaItem, but the orientation is specified by the antenna frame z-axis and x-axis in global coordinates.

The following table summarizes the antenna parameters:

ClearAntennaItems

Clears the antenna combine list.   

 SetNormalizeAntennas ( bool bflag )

Activates the normalization of all antennas  to 1 W(peak) stimulated power before the execution of the combine command. The user specified amplitudes are  applied to the scaled farfields.

SetCombineFrequency ( double  frequency )

Sets the frequency of the combined antenna. All antennas in the combine list must have the same frequency, otherwise the consistent combination of the antennas is not possible.

SetCombineReferenceAxes ( double z1, double z2, double z3, double x1, double x2, double x3 )

Sets the theta reference axis (z1, z2, z3) and the phi reference axis (x1, x2, x3) of the combined antenna.

SetCombineReferenceOrigin ( double p1, double p2, double  p3 )

Sets the phase reference origin (p1, p2, p3) of the combined antenna.

ExecuteCombine ( filename sfile, double stepInDegree )

Combines all antennas from the combine list to a single antenna. The new antenna data is sampled with stepInDegree and written to sfile. No further scaling is applied to the combined field.

Queries

GetCombinePowerRatio double

Returns the ratio of the actual emitted power to the integrated input power of all antennas from the combine list. A strong deviation from unity indicates a non-negligible interaction of the antennas.

Default Settings

UseArray (False)

Arraytype ("rectangular")

XSet (1, 0.0, 0.0)

YSet (1, 0.0, 0.0)

ZSet (1, 0.0, 0.0)

SetCombineFrequency (-1.0)

SetCombineReferenceAxes (0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0)

SetCombineReferenceOrigin (0, 0, 0)

SetNormalizeAntennas (True)

Example

The first example defines a linear antenna array:

 With FarfieldArray

    .Reset

    .UseArray (True)

    .Arraytype ("rectangular")

    .ZSet (2, 2.5, 90)

    .SetList

    .Arraytype ("edit")

    .Antenna (0, 0, 0, 1.0, 0.0)

 End With

The second example combines two antennas with different orientation and position:

With FarfieldArray

ResultPath = GetProjectPath("Result")                 ' Assume that the farfield files are in the result folder

.ClearAntennaItems()

.SetCombineFrequency(100.0)

.AddAntennaItem(ResultPath + "farfield_1.ffp", 0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 0,   0, 30.0, 1.0, 90.0)

.AddAntennaItem(ResultPath + "farfield_2.ffp", 0.0,  1.0, 0.0, 0, -30,  0.0, 1.0,  0.0)

.ExecuteCombine(ResultPath + "combined_ff.ffp", 5.0)  ' Store the combined antenna in the result folder

MsgBox "Actual Power / Power Sum = " & .GetCombinePowerRatio()

End With

The third example combines antennas to a finite-size array of unit cells with seven times seven elements:

With FarfieldArray

.SetCombineFrequency(100.0)

.SetNormalizeAntennas(False)

.SetUnitCellArray("farfield_1.ffp", 7, 7)

.ExecuteCombine("combined_ff.ffp", 5.0)

End With

The forth example sets the farfield origin:

NewOriginX = -100

NewOriginY = 300

NewOriginZ = 400

Frequency = 30.0

MonitorName = "farfield (f=30)"

With FarfieldArray

ResultPath = GetProjectPath("Result")

.ClearAntennaItems()

.SetCombineFrequency(Frequency)

.AddAntennaItemA(ResultPath + MonitorName + "2D_1.ffp", 0,0,0, 0,0,1,1,0,0, 1, 0)

.SetCombineReferenceOrigin ( NewOriginX, NewOriginY ,NewOriginZ )

.ExecuteCombine(ResultPath + "MovedOrigin.ffp", 1.0)

End With

' Add to result tree

With ResultTree

.Name "Farfields\MovedOrigin"

.File ResultPath + "MovedOrigin.ffp"

.Type "Farfield"

.Add

End With