Fast Macro Basis Function approach to irregular array of printed dipole antennas

A method is proposed for the fast Macro Basis Functions (MBFs) characterization of linear arrays of printed dipoles with irregular spacings. The presented technique is based on a model for the reaction terms between MBFs, which is obtained from pre-computed exact interactions at a limited set of relative positions. The proposed model is presented as a five terms Laurent series. Thus, the off-diagonal blocks of the reduced impedance matrix are computed using this model for the linear irregular array. Furthermore, the developed model is flexible in terms of array complexity with regards to the number of elements in the array, the number of unknowns per antenna and the spacing irregularity between them. Numerical results for the proposed method have been compared with full wave solutions and with results obtained with the commercial software IE3D. An excellent agreement between the presented technique and the reference solutions has been reported.