Iterative MLFMA-MADBT Technique for Analysis of Antenna Mounted on Large Platforms

Abstract

A hybrid technique combining the multi-level fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) and the modified adaptive division beam tracing (MADBT) is presented to analyze the radiation patterns of the antennas mounted on large-scale complex platforms. In this technique, the MLFMA is used to characterize the antenna and the transition region that cannot be analyzed accurately by high-frequency asymptotic methods. The MADBT method is used to analyze the contribution of the platforms to the entire radiation pattern by tracing all beams effectively. By applying the beam-based MADBT method instead of the conventional current-based physical optics (PO) method to the platforms, the multi-bounce effects inside the platforms are considered, which enhances the accuracy of the radiation patterns, especially for the complex platforms with corner reflector. An iteration method is proposed to model the interaction between the antennas and the platforms strictly. The proposed iterative MLFMA-MADBT method is mesh-independent and can avoid the matrix-vector production (MVP) of the iterative MLFMA-PO method in each iteration. These characters significantly reduce the memory and time consumption in computation while keeping high accuracy. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed hybrid technique.