Difference between revisions of "EM.Picasso Tutorial Lesson 8: Analyzing A CPW-Fed Folded Dipole Slot Antenna"
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== Drawing the Additional Slot Segments == | == Drawing the Additional Slot Segments == | ||
− | Open the variables dialog again and change the definition of variable "center_len" as shown below. This will turn the objects "ANCHOR" and "Slot_2" into small joint squares. | + | Open the variables dialog again and change the definition of variable "center_len" to 2 as shown below. This will turn the objects "ANCHOR" and "Slot_2" into small joint squares. |
<table> | <table> |
Revision as of 21:25, 24 July 2018
Contents
What You Will Learn
In this tutorial you will learn how to construct and simulate slot structures. You will define coupled ports to model coplanar waveguide (CPW) structures.
Back to EM.Picasso Tutorial Gateway
Getting Started
Open the EM.Cube application and switch to EM.Picasso. Start a new project with the following parameters:
Creating the Base One-Port Coplanar Waveguide Line
Click on the CPW Wizard button of the Wizard Toolbar or select the menu item Tools → Transmission Line Wizards → Coplanar Waveguide.
Open the variables dialog and change the definition of the following variables:
Variable Name | Original Definition | New Definition |
---|---|---|
h | 0.0015*to_meters | 1.2 |
feed_len | 0.5*center_len | 30 |
The wizard creates the geometry of a one-port coplanar waveguide in the project workspace. The default coplanar waveguide structure is made up of four rectangle strip objects grouped under a slot trace called "CPW":
- ANCHOR
- Slot_2
- Feed_1
- Feed_2
The objects wizards create are not only highly parameterized, but they are also usually linked to one another. This means that you can move them or rotate them together without affecting their parameterization. But they are rules to follow. The object named "ANCHOR" is the one which you should translate or rotate. Most other objects initially created by a wizard are linked to the anchor and follow its translation or rotation.
As you saw in the previous tutorial lesson, slot structures in EM.Picasso are modeled as magnetic currents on an infinite ground plane. The slot trace "CPW" is sandwiched between the finite dielectric layer and the top half-space. Open EM.Picasso's Stackup Settings dialog to see the substrate layer hierarchy.
Keep in mind that the default setting of the bottom half-space is PEC when you create a new project. When working with slot structures, make sure that the bottom half-space material is set to vacuum to represent the free space.
Examining the Coupled Sources & Port Definition
The wizard created two scattering wave port sources called "WP_1" and "WP2". Open the property dialog of both sources and inspect their properties. You will notice that the two sources are out of phase. They have been set to have a phase difference of 180° to excite coplanar waveguide's dominant odd mode.
The wizard also initiated a port definition for the two wave port sources. If you open the port definition dialog, you will notice that there is only one port in the list rather than two. The only define port called "Port_1" has been associated with both sources "WP_1" and "WP_2". In other words, the two sources have been coupled to each other, creating a single port. Select and highlight "Port_1" in the table and click the Edit button of the dialog. This opens the "Edit Port" dialog from which you can modify the source associations. Close the dialogs and return to the project workspace.
Drawing the Additional Slot Segments
Open the variables dialog again and change the definition of variable "center_len" to 2 as shown below. This will turn the objects "ANCHOR" and "Slot_2" into small joint squares.
Next, draw the following five rectangle strip objects in the project workspace:
Label | Object Type | LCS Origin | Length | Width |
---|---|---|---|---|
Rect1 | Rectangle Strip | (0, -20mm, 1.2mm) | 2mm | 34mm |
Rect2 | Rectangle Strip | (0, 20mm, 1.2mm) | 2mm | 34mm |
Rect3 | Rectangle Strip | (-6mm, 0, 1.2mm) | 2mm | 74mm |
Rect4 | Rectangle Strip | (-3mm, -38mm, 1.2mm) | 8mm | 2mm |
Rect5 | Rectangle Strip | (-3mm, 38mm, 1.2mm) | 8mm | 2mm |
After making all the changes and adding all the new slot segments, your physical structure should look like this:
Running a PMOM Analysis of the Slot Antenna
Before running the simulation, let’s take a look at the planar mesh of your slot antenna. The wizard set Mesh Density for this structure to 40 cells/λeff. It is recommended that you use a higher mesh density for slot traces (PMC) compared to PEC traces. As you would expect, EM.Picasso extends both feed lines with scattering wave ports on them to 2λg in the mesh view. For a coplanar waveguide transmission line, λeff = λ0/√εeff, where εeff ≈ (εr + 1)/2 when the medium above the slot is vacuum and the one beneath it is a dielectric of permittivity εr.
Define a far-field radiation pattern observable and set both the theta and phi angle increments to 1° in the radiation pattern dialog. Run a quick single-frequency PMOM analysis of your folded slot antenna. The port characteristics are reported as:
S11: -0.019578 -0.075183j
S11(dB): -22.192665
Z11: 47.549339 -7.193173j
Y11: 0.020560 +0.003110j
Keep in mind that since EM.Picasso models slot traces as perfect magnetic conductors (PMC), the electric surface current distribution is zero everywhere. Therefore, under the current distribution node "CD_1" in teh navigation tree, you should look at the magnetic current distribution plots instead. Note that the magnetic current density has units of V/m, which is the same as that of electric field.
Visualize the 3D radiation pattern of the slot antenna. The radiation pattern is typical of a dipole antenna as you would expect. The discontinuity at θ = 90°, is due to the presence of the infinite dielectric substrate layer.
Examining the Resonant Behavior of the Slot Antenna
Next, you will run a frequency sweep of your folded dipole slot antenna to examine its frequency response and resonant behavior. Run an adaptive frequency sweep of your physical structure with the following parameters:
Start Frequency | 1.4GHz |
---|---|
End Frequency | 2GHz |
Min. Number of Frequency Samples | 5 |
Max. Number of Frequency Samples | 15 |
Convergence Criterion | 0.02 |
At the end of the sweep simulation, graph three data files: “S11_RationalFit.CPX”, “Z11_RationalFit.CPX” and “VSWR_RationalFit.DAT”. You will see that around 1.65GHz, the magnitude of S11 (return loss) dips into a deep minimum representing a very good impedance match. Also note that the slot antenna features a 10-dB return loss bandwidth of more than 330MHz.
Move the mouse on the Z11 graph and read the value of the horizontal axis (frequency) and the corresponding value of the real and imaginary parts of Z11-parameter in the settings panel. You can see that around 1.65GHz, the imaginary part of Z11 (i.e. input reactance) vanishes and the antenna resonates.
Finally, move the mouse to the bottom of the the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) minima in the graph. It shows that the minimum VSWR is 1.068.
Alternatively, in the data manager, you can "view" the contents of the data file “VSWR_RationalFit.DAT” in the spreadsheet as shown below.