Design of Pyramidal Horn Antenna at 10GHz Using WIPL-D Optimizer

Rectangular horn is one of the simplest and most widely used microwave antennas. In this paper, an electromagnetic simulator, WIPL-D is used to analyze and optimize the dimensions of the horn antenna which is based on the method of moments solution for computations. The standard horn antenna at 10 GHz is modeled and the radiation pattern is obtained. It is optimized to achieve more than 20dB gain using optimization techniques like genetic algorithm and simplex method. A comparison is made between these two optimization techniques with respect to number of iterations and time required for optimization. The radiation patterns of the optimized horn antenna are also observed. Geometry of the horn is modeled by exploring the ‘symmetry’ option. The amount of time, memory required, and size of EFIE matrix for both analyzed and optimized antennas are consolidated for entire, half symmetry, and quarter symmetry