I'd like to simulate a microstrip antenna arrry, which is consist of 16 elementes and the whole size is about 350mm*350mm. What kind of SIMULATOR is the best? MOmentum? IE3D?Ensemble? HFSS?.......
Thanks a lot
i think u can use both HF$$ 9 but is is very slow
IE3d is very good , quit fast ,
u can simulate one patch then u can use CUrview to calculate the array parametters , before u draw it
and its simpler to learn than HF$$
If your microstrip antenna is a monolayer, u can easily try Ensemble (let's say.. up to 4 or 5 layers).. If your structure is more complex I reccomend to use HFSS or CST (3d codes).
What kind of array are you studying? If u want, I can help u.
I see different idea about simulation of microstrip antenna array.
Is there anyone here who has been simulated a similar project with some EM simulators.If your response is ok please upload it here to vote others
i've spent much time designing and simulating mpa's and arrays (assuming planar design)
the tools i've had at my disposal are hfss, ie3d and cst
by far and away ie3d is the eziest tool & quite accurate
first you can start by designing your element
you can then generate the radiation pattern within ie3d and use the built in array generator to construct an array with control over the array function (that is phase and amplitude distribution) once you have designed your element you can generate these array patterns within 5 minutes.
next if your array structure is small you can generate your entire feeding network & attach to your element. this will allow you to see how your feeding network would effect your radiation patterns and so on.....
if your structure is large i recommend that you design and simulate a section of the array and use what you know about array theory to draw any conclusions.
as far as hfss and cst go you can do these things with either one of these products. however the time spent in building and simulating is an order of magnitude larger. all 3 of these tools generate answers within the same ballpark.
i highly recommend ie3d - however you will need a drafting program such as autocad because the drawing tool is awful other then that you cant go wrong.
Hi,
You guys say that one can simulate single antenna element, and then claculate array pattern in either IE3D or CST. I have a question. Do these software account for mutual coupling effect between elements, or they just mutiply single element pattern by array factor? Thx.
look microwave office is easy but so primitive you shoul try ie3d or CST or HFSS
also NEC supernec is good it has many ready designs you can start from it and buold up it's matlab interface so you must have matlab installed on your machine