Sunflower Array of Infinitesimal Dipoles for Constrained Antenna Modeling

The sunflower array topology concept is introduced, for the first time, to the constrained infinitesimal dipole modeling (IDM) technique to increase the computational efficiency and reduce the modeling errors. The concept is applied to embedded element pattern predictions via matrix inversion. A novel study on the impact of the type and orientation of the dipoles on the IDM performance in pattern mean square error (MSE) and stability against noise (linked to the matrix condition number) is conducted. A 5 by 5 patch antenna array modeled with 81 dipoles is used for demonstration. It is shown that using magnetic dipoles (oriented in the direction of a radiating edge of the patch) in IDM yields the optimal performance. Besides, the sunflower topology significantly lowers the MSE (by 5 dB, on average), while reducing the condition number by a factor of 10.