EXCITATION OF ANTENNAS BY TRANSMISSION LINES:
A SIMPLE, ACCURATE FDTD MODEL
James G. Maloney'
Signature Technology Laboratory
Georgia Tech Research Institute
Atlanta, Ga 30332-0800
Kurt L. Shlager and Glenn S. Smith
School of Electrical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Ga 30332-0250
The finite-difference timedomain (FDTD)method has been used to analyze
antennas for transient radiation, an example being the cylindrical monopole
antenna fed through an image plane by a coaxial transmission line [1],[2].
When a full model is used, e.g., the FDTD grid surrounds the antenna
and extends into the coaxial line, a complete and very accurate description
of the transient response is obtained. This includes the reflected voltage
within the line and the radiated waveforms at any point surrounding the
antenna. Of course, the small cell size needed to include the coaxial feed
can lead to a very large number of cells (unknowns) for the total space.
Sometimes this number can be reduced by exploiting some feature of the
geometry, e.g., for the monopole a two-dimensional grid (r, z ) can be used to
model the three-dimensional antenna. In cases where such simplifications
are not available, it is very useful to have an approximate yet accurate
model for the coaxial feed that does not require the physically small cell.
The purpose of this paper is to describe and verify such a model. The
model will be illustrated for the above mentioned cylindrical monopole; the
rotational symmetry will not be exploited, and rectangular FDTD cells will
be used in the space surrounding the antenna.
Under the assumption that the field within the coaxial line is purely TEM,
the coaxial line can be replaced by a onedimensional transmission line
model that is simply connected to the antenna at the image plane ( z = 0),
as shown in Fig. 1. The voltage and current on the transmission line are
updated in the standard FDTD fashion, i.e,
1"+o.6(k') = I"-'.'(k') --1 vAt
z, A2
(-)
[U"(k' -t 0.5) - U"(k' - 0.5)],
This work was supported in part by the Joint Services Electronica Program under con-
tracts DAAL-O3-9@C0004, and by the A r m y Research Office under contract DAALO3-8%
COO38 with the Uninnity of M i n e w t s High Performance Computing Research Center.
0-7803-1246-5/93/$3.00 0 1993 IEEE. 81 8
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V"+'(k' + 0.5) = V"(k' + 0.5) - 2, (%) [I"+O.5(&' + 1) - 1 " + 0 . 5 ( & 7 ] ,
where 2, is the characteristic impedance. Notice that 'A = k d for the last
cell of the transmission line, while k = 1 (k' = k e d + 1) for the first cell
along the antenna. To update the voltage at the image plane, the current
in the antenna just above the image plane is computed from the four values
of the magnetic field, i.e.,
+
~n+o.6(kend 1) = AY [ ~ ; + 0 . 6 ( i , , , j , - 0.5,1) - U:+O.~(~,,- 1,j, - 0.5,1)]
-Az [Xrf0.6(ta - 0.5,ja, 1) - Ur+O.s(i,- O.S,j,, - 1, l)],
where the indices i, and j, locate the axis of the antenna. The unknowns in
the 3-D YEE cells along the antenna are updated using the standard thin-
wire FDTD equations [3].The equations for the four U field components
that surround the antenna just above the image plane ( k = 1) are modified
to include the voltage at the image plane; for example,
U:fo.5(i,,j, - 0 . 5 , l ) = U;,,"-"."(i,,,j,, - 0.5,l)
- (2) k:(i,,j, -0.5,1.5) - ( h___
( A2z / a ) ) Ax
+ 0.5)
1
+ (2) + E,"(;,, 0 . 5 , ~-
' ~0 . 5 , l ) .
Fig. 2 is a comparison of results for the approximate model (dashed line)
with those for the experimentally verified, full model (solid line) [I]. The
cylindrical monopole is excited from the transmission line (Zo= 50 fl) by
a unit-amplitude, Gaussian voltage pulse with characteristic time rp/ra=
1.61 x lo-' (7, = h/c is the time required for light to travel the length of
the monopole). A special treatment (FDTD cell) was used at the end of the
monopole z = h. Results are shown for both the reflected voltage within
the transmission line and the radiated field at broadside (0 = ./2, r = 2h).
The agreement between the two sets of results is seen to be very good.
The use of the approximate model is not restricted to this illustration (trans-
mitting, cylindrical monopole); it can be used for both transmitting and
receiving antennas in monopole or dipole configurations. Various applica-
tions of the model will be described during the presentation.
References
1. J . G. Maloney, G. S. Smith and W. R. Scott, Jr., "Accurate Computation
of the Radiation from Simple Antennas Using the Finite-Difference Time-
Domain Method", IEEE 'Itane. Antenna8 Propagat., vol. 38, pp 1059-1068,
July 1990.
819
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2. J. G.Maloney, 'Analysis and Synthesis of "oient Antennw Uaing the
Finite-Difference Time-Do& (FDTD) Method: Ph.D. dianertatbn,Geor-
gia Institute of Techndou, Atlanta, Ga, Nov. 1992
3. K. Umwhankar and A. 'Mlove, 'Calculation and Experimental Validation
of Induced Cumnta on Coupled W i n s in an Arbitrary Shaped Cavity,"
IEEE 3tana. Antennor Propapt., vol. 35, pp. 1248.1257, Nov. 1987.
k=l -
k' = k e d -
Fig. 1 Details of spatial grids for approximate model.
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0.5 I ' I ' I ' I ' I .
W 0.4 -
! - FULL MQDEL -
W ..--.- APPROX.MODEL
4
0.3 -
0
> 0.2 -
E
U
0.1 : -
3cr 0.0
3 -0.1 -
I . I . I . I " *
-0.2
-2 0 2 4 6 8 10
t/%
6 l ' l ' l ' l ' l '
n 4 - - FULL MODEL -
a----- APPROX. MODEL -
-
b. -
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
t/%
Fig. 2 Comparison of results for the approximate model with
those for the full model. (a) Reflected voltage in the transmis-
sion line. (b) Electric field at broadside.
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