Array Factor Calculator & AF Pattern Plot

Installation

pip install arrayfactor==1.0.3

Modules

The arrayfactor library enables to calculate the normalized array factor values in the range of -180 to 180 degree with respect to the array factor input variables which are: Inter-element spacing,frequency,steering angle, number of array elements,plane.

The six main modules of the package are:

• af.af_asym_phasescannig : To get Array Factor of Uniform or Asymmetrically Spaced Arrays with Phase Shifting Technique
• af.af_asym_timescannig : To get Array Factor of Uniform or Asymmetrically Spaced Arrays with True Time Delay Technique
• af.af_symmetrical_phasescannig : To get Array Factor of Symmetrically Spaced Arrays with Phase Shifting Technique
• af.af_symmetrical_timescannig : To get Array Factor of Symmetrically Spaced Arrays with True Time Delay Technique
• af.cartesian_plot : To get Array Factor Pattern on 2D Cartesian plot
• af.polar_plot : To get Array Factor Pattern on 2D Polar plot

Description of Input Variables

• af.af_asym_phasescannig(bx, by, bz, f, f0, steering_angle, Nx, Ny, Nz, increase_rate, plane)

• af.af_asym_timescannig(bx, by, bz, f, f0, steering_angle, Nx, Ny, Nz, increase_rate, plane)

• af.af_symmetrical_phasescannig(bx, by, bz, f, f0, steering_angle, Nx, Ny, Nz, increase_rate, plane)

• af.af_symmetrical_timescannig(bx, by, bz, f, f0, steering_angle, Nx, Ny, Nz, increase_rate, plane)

• af.cartesian_plot(x_axis, y_axis)

• af.polar_plot(x_axis, y_axis)

• bx : The coefficient represents the association of distance between elements along x axis and wavelength (dx=bx*lambda)

• by : The coefficient represents the association of distance between elements along y axis and wavelength (dy=by*lambda)

• bz : The coefficient represents the association of distance between elements along z axis and wavelength (dz=bz*lambda)

• f : Frequency of the signal sent.

• f0 : Center Frequency.

• steering_angle : It is desired beam steering angle. It must be written in degree.

• Nx : Total number of elements along x axis

• Ny : Total number of elements along y axis

• Nz : Total number of elements along z axis

• increase_rate : This is the amount of change of distance between two successive elements in the case of NON-UNIFORM ASYMMETRICAL OR NON-UNIFORM SYMMETRICAL spacing.

Note: For uniform array, af.af_asym_phasescannig or af_asym_timescannig must be used and increase rate must be set as 0.

For the further information about it, please refer to the link: https://github.com/Barkhausen-Institut/AntennaArraySimulator/blob/master/ArrayFactorUserInterface/Theory%20of%20Array%20Factor.pdf

• plane : It decides if the results are obtained on E or H plane. 'E' or 'H' must be written.

• x_axis : Values of x axis of the plot.

• y_axis : Values of y axis of the plot.

Outputs of Modules

Output of aforementioned functions (modules) is consisting of two Numpy arrays:
1-First element (array) contains the values of incident angle as range from -180 to +180 degree.
2-Second element (array) contains the values of normalized array factor.

Examples of Usage

Example 1: Get the normalized array factor values of 16 elements broadside uniform linear array along x- axis (spacing based on half wavelength) at 10 GHz on E plane.

from arrayfactor import af
result=af.af_asym_phasescannig(0.5,0,0,10e9,10e9,0,16,1,1,0,'E')

#To get Cartesian Plot:
af.cartesian_plot(result[0], result[1])

#To get Polar Plot:
af.polar_plot(result[0], result[1])

Example 2: Get the normalized array factor values of 8 elements symmetric linear array with the increase rate=0.1 along x- axis (spacing based on half wavelength) at 10 GHz on E plane and with 30° beam steering angle (by TTD technique).

from arrayfactor import af
result=af.af_symmetrical_timescannig(0.5,0,0,10e9,10e9,0,16,1,1,0.1,'E')

#To get the Cartesian Plot:
af.cartesian_plot(result[0], result[1])

#To get Polar Plot:
af.polar_plot(result[0], result[1])