The P(MMAS) interactive environment: an Internet service coupling Web technology and HPCN to analyse conformal microstrip arrays

Abstract

Using high performance computing (HPC) as a remote service over the Internet is now becoming a realistic possibility to investigate and visualise computational electromagnetics problems. Additionally, the pragmatics of their utilisation can be abstracted by adopting a World Wide Web (WWW) interface. We analyse the behaviour of conformal microstrip patch antennas for aircraft communications. Microstrip patch antennas consist of a thin dielectric slab (usually called substrate) covering a rectangular metallic plate (ground plane). The radiating element of the antenna is a metallic patch located tangentially to the upper surface of the dielectric substrate, fed by an excitation implemented as a microstrip line or a coaxial cable. Due to their small size and weight, microstrip antennas, often clustered in arrays of several elements, are used in airborne communication systems. Since these arrays are usually positioned on the aircraft outer surface, they have to be conformal to the local portion of the latter. The way the composite antenna radiates is described by a three dimensional graph, called the far field pattern. The energy radiated to a given direction is proportional to the value of the graph in that particular direction. Protruding lobes of the graph correspond to high radiation directions. This paper concentrates on using a Web-based environment, not only for the connectivity, but also for the supportive tools of data entry, program initiation, result visualisation and even interactive modifications of the geometry and/or the electromagnetic properties of the examined problem.