Accurate and efficient extraction of antenna array performance from numerical unit-cell data

This paper presents an efficient method of characterizing phased array antennas by formally reducing analysis of the unit cell to the scattering matrix of an equivalent waveguide junction. The scattering matrix is computed using the transfinite element method, a finite element technique incorporating determination of this matrix directly into the finite element solution process. Most notably, the computed scattering matrix is shown to yield a comprehensive characterization of the array without the need for postprocessing or consideration of internal fields of the unit cell. In particular, the bounded nature of the matrix entries enables robust interpolation in both frequency and scan angle to accelerate the computation of array performance. Examples demonstrate accurate prediction of array performance from the data.