Tag - advanced RF

Learn to optimize antennas with genetic algorithms using AN-SOF and Scilab. Includes ready-to-use scripts for population evolution and cost functions targeting gain, VSWR, and front-to-back ratio in a 3-element Yagi-Uda design.

Master cost function design for antenna optimization: weighting strategies, parameter normalization, and performance trade-offs. Practical methods to balance gain, VSWR, and impedance matching in your designs.

This article presents a Nelder-Mead optimization workflow for antenna design using AN-SOF Engine and Scilab. We demonstrate automated Yagi-Uda tuning via weighted cost functions, covering script implementation, NEC file modification, and result analysis for VSWR, gain, and front-to-back ratio optimization.

Traditional coil inductance calculations often rely on simplified approximations. AN-SOF offers a more accurate approach by considering factors like non-uniform magnetic fields, conductor losses, and complex coil geometries. By using AN-SOF, you can obtain precise inductance values, visualize magnetic field and current distributions, to improve your coil designs.

We are happy to share an interesting project by one of our AN-SOF users: @PoweredMeshtasticEurope. He demonstrates how to build your own helix high gain directional antenna for the Meshtastic frequency range, from theory to reality.

In this article, we provide an overview of various numerical methods used in Computational Electromagnetics (CEM), with a special focus on antenna simulation methods such as FDTD, FEM, MoM, CMoM, FMM, MLFMM, FVTD, GO, GTD, UTD, PO, PTD, and DDM.

Explore a simple, low-cost method to simulate 2.4 GHz solid wheel antennas with reliable first-order accuracy and practical efficiency.

Discover a practical first-order method for modeling microstrip antennas on ungrounded dielectric substrates with simplicity and ease.

Discover the competitive advantage of AN-SOF’s exclusive James R. Wait ground model. This guide explores how to accurately simulate LF/MF broadcast masts with radial wire ground screens, allowing for direct wire-to-ground connections, a critical feature for realistic impedance and efficiency calculations that legacy NEC-based solvers cannot match.

Discover the vital role of historical theoretical results alongside advanced numerical calculations in accurately approximating current distribution on linear antennas.

Discover how the Wave Matching Coefficient (WMC) redefines near-far field boundaries. Using a 20 dB threshold, we uncover new distances for elementary antennas and a consistent method to define non-spherical boundaries for antennas of any size or complexity relative to the wavelength.

This article validates AN-SOF’s results against the IEC FDIS 62232 standard by replicating an RBS panel antenna model with nine dipole radiators. The successful validation highlights AN-SOF’s ability to deliver highly accurate results, even with relatively simple models.

AN-SOF simulations of axial-mode helical antennas closely match John D. Kraus’s classic measurements for gain and VSWR, confirming its accuracy. Using the Conformal Method of Moments, AN-SOF models true helix curvature, delivering reliable predictions for high-gain circularly polarized designs.

Moving beyond the uniform-current simplifications of small antennas, this article analyzes the electromagnetic behavior of electrically large circular loops. By benchmarking AN-SOF numerical results against classical Fourier theory, we explore how loop circumference and wire thickness influence non-uniform current distributions, parallel/series resonances, and axial directivity. This detailed study validates the accuracy of CMoM for curved radiators.

This article presents a comprehensive comparison between AN-SOF's dipole antenna simulations and the renowned King-Middleton second-order solution. Through rigorous analysis and numerical experiments, we validate the accuracy and reliability of AN-SOF in predicting dipole antenna input impedance.