A PC based program package FARFOR-99: improving our understanding of radiation from aperture antennas and antenna arrays

Abstract

Program package FARFOR-99 may be used as a powerful teaching tool in addition to the well-known antenna textbook [1] for technical university students and engineers. A very simple, universal and powerful model for wide class of antenna arrays, reflectors, lenses or hybrid antennas is presented. Both symmetrical and offset geometry are available. The feed arrays of hybrid antennas may have up to few hundreds independently placed and excited elements. The model has been realized in the program package FARFOR-99 for IBM-compatible personal computers. The advantages of the model have provided more than order decreasing in computation time, and program packages users can easily analyze and synthesize multi-element arrays, reflector and hybrid antennas practically in real-time mode. Using FARFOR-99 you can also reconstruct the antenna's far field from their near field measurements on planar surface. Advanced system of input and output de-sign information, visual representation and program interface to popular graphic package SURPHER provide comfortable conditions for user-PC dialog. This report is accompanied by the demonstration of action FARFOR-99 tools in real time mode.