Fast array analysis using a combination of FDTD and matrix manipulation techniques

In many cases, antenna array design and modelling are performed by the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The method is robust but very demanding in computer memory and CPU power. The authors present a new method that allows otherwise impractical FDTD simulations to produce valid results with no great dissipation of computer power. This is achieved with a combined effort of reduced full-wave simulations and matrix manipulations in the proposed array geometry. With the new scheme, the computational limitations of the conventional FDTD analysis are surpassed and the scope of the analysis itself is broadened; changes in electrical characteristics of an array, such as beam scanning, do not necessitate new simulation runs.