Analysis of radiation and coupling associated with large multiple antenna arrays on ships

The analysis of electromagnetic (EM) radiation from, and the coupling between, large multiple antenna arrays which are mounted on a large complex platform, such as a ship, is addressed. Other large platforms include airborne and land vehicles. These problems are challenging due to the fact that numerical methods for treating large arrays alone require very large computational resources; such difficulties are further compounded by the presence of even larger complex platforms on which the large arrays are mounted and with which they also interact. Use is made of a relatively new and efficient numerical solution of a sufficiently general finite array configuration; this solution is based on a finite element-boundary integral (FE-BI) approach that is accelerated by fast integral equation methods (Kindt, R.W. et al., IEEE Trans. Antennas Propagat., vol.51, no.6, p.1364-72, 2003). As the electrical size of the platform increases, conventional numerical integral equation based methods quickly require prohibitively extensive computational resources. Thus, the arrays together with the platform are treated in ways that aim to alleviate this bottleneck.