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getElementNormal

System object: phased.ULA
Package: phased

Normal vector to array elements

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Syntax

normvec = getElementNormal(sULA)
normvec = getElementNormal(sULA,elemidx)

Description

normvec = getElementNormal(sULA) returns the normal vectors of the array elements of the phased.ULA System object™, sULA. The output argument normvec is a 2-by-N matrix, where N is the number of elements in array, sULA. Each column of normvec defines the normal direction of an element in the local coordinate system in the form[az;el]. Units are degrees. Array elements are located along the axis selected in the ArrayAxis property. Element normal vectors are parallel to the array normal. The normal to a ULA array depends upon the selected ArrayAxis property.

ArrayAxis Property ValueArray Normal Direction
'x'azimuth = 90°, elevation = 0° (y-axis)
'y'azimuth = 0°, elevation = 0° (x-axis)
'z'azimuth = 0°, elevation = 0° (x-axis)

The origin of the local coordinate system is defined by the phase center of the array.

normvec = getElementNormal(sULA,elemidx) returns only the normal vectors of the elements specified in the element index vector, elemidx. This syntax can use any of the input arguments in the previous syntax.

Input Arguments

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Uniform line array, specified as a phased.ULA System object.

Example: sULA = phased.ULA

Element indices , specified as a 1-by-M or M-by-1 vector. Index values lie in the range 1 to N where N is the number of elements of the array. When elemidx is specified, getElementNormal returns the normal vectors of the elements contained in elemidx.

Example: [1,5,4]

Output Arguments

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Element normal vectors, specified as a 2-by-P real-valued vector. Each column of normvec takes the form [az,el]. When elemidx is not specified, P equals the array dimension. When elemidx is specified, P equals the length of elemidx, M.

Examples

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Open Live Script

Construct three ULAs with elements along the x-, y-, and z-axes. Obtain the element normals.

First, choose the array axis along the x-axis.

sULA1 = phased.ULA('NumElements',5,'ArrayAxis','x');
norm = getElementNormal(sULA1)
norm = 2×5

    90    90    90    90    90
     0     0     0     0     0

The element normal vectors point along the y-axis.

Next, choose the array axis along the y-axis.

sULA2 = phased.ULA('NumElements',5,'ArrayAxis','y');
norm = getElementNormal(sULA2)
norm = 2×5

     0     0     0     0     0
     0     0     0     0     0

The element normal vectors point along the x-axis.

Finally, set the array axis along the z-axis. Obtain the normal vectors of the odd-numbered elements.

sULA3 = phased.ULA('NumElements',5,'ArrayAxis','z');
norm = getElementNormal(sULA3,[1,3,5])
norm = 2×3

     0     0     0
     0     0     0

The element normal vectors also point along the x-axis.

Version History

Introduced in R2016a