Comprehensive Array Design System for Printed-Circuit Antennas

We propose to develop a versatile comprehensive design system for designing printed-circuit antennas and arrays. To provide an all-encompassing design environment, the design system will provide capabilities to perform array synthesis, simulate aperture-coupled as well as proximity-coupled stacked elements in a multi-layer configuration, design the feed network, and perform accurate array analysis for finite-sized arrays. Unified under a common design framework, this system will provide a set of powerful computer-aided tools to explore new designs as well as assess design tradeoffs. The goal of Phase I is to demonstrate the viability of the design system. Phase I effort will be focused on the development of user interfaces for designing array elements and feed network components in a multi-layer microstrip configuration. The results of Phase I will provide a foundation for the Phase II implementation of the design system.