horn

Create regular or AI-based horn antenna

Description

The default horn object is a pyramidal horn antenna resonating around 15.86 GHz with a standard-gain of around 15.6 dBi. The default horn antenna operates in the X-Ku band, which ranges from 10 GHz to 16 GHz. By default, the horn antenna feed is a WR-75 rectangular waveguide with an operating frequency at 7.87 GHz.

For a given flare angles of the horn and dimensions of the waveguide, use the hornangle2size utility function to calculate the equivalent flare width and flare height of the horn.

You can perform full-wave EM solver based analysis on the regular horn antenna or you can create a horn type AIAntenna and explore the design space to tune the antenna for your application using AI-based analysis.

Creation

Syntax

h = horn

h = horn(PropertyName=Value)

Description

h = horn creates a regular standard-gain pyramidal horn antenna with default property values. The default dimensions are chosen for an operating frequency of around 15.86 GHz.

h = horn(PropertyName=Value) sets properties using one or more name–value arguments. PorpertyName is the property name and Value is the corresponding value. You can specify several name-value arguments in any order as PropertyName1=Value1,...,PropertyNameN=ValueN. Properties that you do not specify, retain their default values.

For example, h = horn(FlareLength=0.2) creates a standard-gain pyramidal horn antenna with flare length of 0.2 m. and default values for other properties.

• You can also create a regular horn antenna resonating at a desired frequency using the design function. For example, to create a regular horn antenna resonating at 12 GHz, use the following syntax:

  >> design(horn,12e9)
  

  To analyze this antenna use object functions of the horn. Use this workflow to design, tune, and analyze a horn antenna using conventional full-wave solvers.

• You can create an AI-based horn antenna resonating at a desired frequency using the design function. Using AI-based antenna models over conventional full-wave solvers significantly reduces the simulation time required to fine-tune the antenna to meet your design goals. Set the ForAI argument in the design function to true to create a horn type AIAntenna object. To use this feature, you need license to the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox™ in addition to the Antenna Toolbox™. For example, to create an AI-based horn antenna resonating at 12 GHz, use the following syntax:

  >> design(horn,12e9,ForAI=true)
  

  The AI-based horn antenna retains the Width, Height, FlareLength, FlareHeight, and FeedHeight properties of the regular horn antenna as tunable properties. Rest of the properties of the regular horn antenna are converted into read-only properties in its AI-based version. To find the upper and lower bounds of the tunable properties, use the tunableRanges function.

  To analyze this antenna use object functions of the AIAntenna. Use this workflow to design, tune, and analyze a horn antenna using its AI-based model. To create a regular horn antenna from this AI-based antenna, use the exportAntenna function.

Properties

FlareLength — Flare length of horn

0.1020 (default) | scalar

Flare length of horn, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property for both regular and AI-based horn antenna. For a regular horn antenna, FlareLength value does not have any upper and lower bounds.

For AI-based horn antenna, FlareLength value has upper and lower bounds. Use the tunableRanges function to get the upper and lower bound values.

Example: 0.35

Data Types: double

FlareWidth — Flare width of horn

0.0571 (default) | scalar

Flare width of horn, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna. This property is read-only for the AI-based horn antenna.

Example: 0.2

Data Types: double

FlareHeight — Flare height of horn

0.0338 (default) | scalar

Flare height of horn, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property for both regular and AI-based horn antenna. For a regular horn antenna, FlareHeight value does not have any upper and lower bounds.

For AI-based horn antenna, FlareHeight value has upper and lower bounds. Use the tunableRanges function to get the upper and lower bound values.

Example: 0.15

Data Types: double

Length — Rectangular waveguide length

0.0500 (default) | scalar

Rectangular waveguide length, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna. This property is read-only for the AI-based horn antenna.

Example: 0.09

Data Types: double

Width — Rectangular waveguide width

0.0190 (default) | scalar

Rectangular waveguide width, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property for both regular and AI-based horn antenna. For a regular horn antenna, Width value does not have any upper and lower bounds.

For AI-based horn antenna, Width value has upper and lower bounds. Use the tunableRanges function to get the upper and lower bound values.

Example: 0.05

Data Types: double

Height — Rectangular waveguide height

0.0095 (default) | scalar

Rectangular waveguide height, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property for both regular and AI-based horn antenna. For a regular horn antenna, Height value does not have any upper and lower bounds.

For AI-based horn antenna, Height value has upper and lower bounds. Use the tunableRanges function to get the upper and lower bound values.

Example: 0.0200

Data Types: double

FeedHeight — Height of feed

0.0048 (default) | scalar

Height of feed, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property for both regular and AI-based horn antenna. For a regular horn antenna, FeedHeight value does not have any upper and lower bounds.

For AI-based horn antenna, FeedHeight value has upper and lower bounds. Use the tunableRanges function to get the upper and lower bound values.

Example: 0.0050

Data Types: double

FeedWidth — Width of feed

1.0000e-04 (default) | scalar

Width of feed, specified as a scalar in meters. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna. This property is read-only for the AI-based horn antenna.

Example: 5e-05

Data Types: double

FeedOffset — Signed offset of feed point from center of ground plane

[–0.0155 0] (default) | two-element vector

Signed offset from center of ground plane, specified as a two-element vector in meters. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna. This property is read-only for the AI-based horn antenna.

Example: [–0.0070 0.01]

Data Types: double

Conductor — Type of metal

metal("PEC") (default) | metal object

Type of the metal used as a conductor, specified as a metal object. You can choose any metal from the MetalCatalog or specify a metal of your choice. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna. For more information on metal conductor meshing, see Meshing.

Example: metal("Copper")

Load — Lumped elements

[1x1lumpedElement] (default) | lumpedElement object

Lumped elements added to the antenna feed, specified as a lumpedElement object. You can add a load anywhere on the surface of the antenna. By default, the load is at the feed. You can set this property only for a regular horn antenna.

Example: lumpedElement(Impedance=75)

Tilt — Tilt angle of antenna

0 (default) | scalar | vector

Tilt angle of the antenna in degrees, specified as a scalar or vector. For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: 90

Example: Tilt=[90 90],TiltAxis=[0 1 0;0 1 1] tilts the antenna at 90 degrees about the two axes defined by the vectors.

Data Types: double

TiltAxis — Tilt axis of antenna

[1 0 0] (default) | three-element vector | 2-by-3 matrix | "X" | "Y" | "Z"

Tilt axis of the antenna, specified as one of these values:

• Three-element vector of Cartesian coordinates in meters. In this case, each coordinate in the vector starts at the origin and lies along the specified points on the x-, y-, and z-axes.

• Two points in space, specified as a 2-by-3 matrix corresponding to two three-element vectors of Cartesian coordinates. In this case, the antenna rotates around the line joining the two points.

• "x", "y", or "z" to describe a rotation about the x-, y-, or z-axis, respectively.

For more information, see Rotate Antennas and Arrays.

Example: [0 1 0]

Example: [0 0 0;0 1 0]

Example: "Z"

Data Types: double | string

Object Functions

axialRatio	Calculate and plot axial ratio of antenna or array
bandwidth	Calculate and plot absolute bandwidth of antenna or array
beamwidth	Beamwidth of antenna
charge	Charge distribution on antenna or array surface
current	Current distribution on antenna or array surface
design	Create antenna, array, or AI-based antenna resonating at specified frequency
efficiency	Calculate and plot radiation efficiency of antenna or array
EHfields	Electric and magnetic fields of antennas or embedded electric and magnetic fields of antenna element in arrays
impedance	Calculate and plot input impedance of antenna or scan impedance of array
info	Display information about antenna, array, or platform
memoryEstimate	Estimate memory required to solve antenna or array mesh
mesh	Generate and view mesh for antennas, arrays, and custom shapes
meshconfig	Change meshing mode of antenna, array, custom antenna, custom array, or custom geometry
optimize	Optimize antenna and array catalog elements using SADEA or TR-SADEA algorithm
pattern	Plot radiation pattern of antenna, array, or embedded element of array
patternAzimuth	Azimuth plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
patternElevation	Elevation plane radiation pattern of antenna or array
peakRadiation	Calculate and mark maximum radiation points of antenna or array on radiation pattern
rcs	Calculate and plot monostatic and bistatic radar cross section (RCS) of platform, antenna, or array
resonantFrequency	Calculate and plot resonant frequency of antenna
returnLoss	Calculate and plot return loss of antenna or scan return loss of array
show	Display antenna, array structures, shapes, or platform
sparameters	Calculate S-parameters for antenna or array
vswr	Calculate and plot voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) of antenna or array element

Examples

Default Horn Antenna

Create and view a default horn antenna.

h = horn

h = 
  horn with properties:

    FlareLength: 0.1020
     FlareWidth: 0.0571
    FlareHeight: 0.0338
         Length: 0.0500
          Width: 0.0190
         Height: 0.0095
      FeedWidth: 1.0000e-04
     FeedHeight: 0.0048
     FeedOffset: [-0.0155 0]
      Conductor: [1×1 metal]
           Tilt: 0
       TiltAxis: [1 0 0]
           Load: [1×1 lumpedElement]

show(h)

References

[1] Balanis, Constantine A.Antenna Theory. Analysis and Design. 3rd Ed. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2005.

Version History

Introduced in R2016a

R2024b: AI model based antenna analysis

Design, tune, and analyze this antenna using an AI model. Using AI-based antenna models over conventional full-wave solvers significantly reduces the simulation time required to fine-tune the antenna to meet your design goals. Set the ForAI argument in the design function to true to create a horn type AIAntenna. To use this feature, you need license to the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox in addition to the Antenna Toolbox.