Automated Waveguide Array - Integrated Design Environment (AWA-IDE): An Automated and Modular Tool for Planar [EM Programmer's Notebook] Waveguide Array Synthesis and Analysis

Abstract

This article is focused on the development of an integrated framework for the synthesis and analysis of resonant waveguide planar arrays, aimed at improving every step of the design process of such devices. This tool has proven to be capable of dramatically speeding up the design and prototyping process: starting from geometrical and electrical specifications, the performance and layout of the designed structure can be quickly evaluated. Moreover, at the end of this process, a complete model is available for an electromagnetic final validation, and the mechanical construction process. The code takes advantage of different methods to face the different phases of the design process. An iterative simplex procedure is carried out for the aperture-synthesis step. An equivalent-magnetic-currents active-admittance-based waveguide model, for the internal problem, and an equivalent-magnetic-currents Method-of-Moments (MoM) model, for the exterior problem, are employed for the synthesis and analysis steps. The entire procedure is carried out through a custom user-friendly PyQt graphical interface environment. The code is entirely modular, and allows for reuse of legacy FORTRAN/C++ codes. New features, such as different solving methods or design procedures, can be easily added to the same tool chain. The proposed tool has been successfully employed in the design of some of the latest Selex-ES fl at-array radar antennas.