Fragmented Aperture Antennas
Computational Design of Antenna Structure
Dr. James G. Maloney
Dr. James G. Maloney
Work in progress — updated regularly.
Fragmented Aperture Antennas are a class of antennas whose physical structure is designed computationally rather than analytically. A planar conducting surface is divided into many sub-wavelength pixels, each either conducting or non-conducting. A genetic algorithm, working with a full-wave electromagnetic simulation (FDTD), determines the optimal pixel configuration to meet a given set of antenna performance requirements.
The resulting antenna structures are complex, non-intuitive metallic patterns that routinely approach the theoretical limits of antenna performance for a given aperture size.
A fragmented aperture antenna optimized for 800 MHz to 2.5 GHz (U.S. Patent 6,323,809).
The fragmented aperture concept, invented by the author in the late 1990s, has been extended to reconfigurable antennas, ultra-wideband phased arrays with bandwidths exceeding 33:1, and metamaterial-enhanced designs. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the concept, from fundamentals through advanced applications.
Appendix A: Computational Modeling of Antennas (FDTD Method)
Dr. James G. Maloney is the inventor of the Fragmented Aperture Antenna. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he has pioneered computational antenna design techniques combining genetic algorithms with finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) electromagnetic simulation. His work has produced antennas for applications ranging from communications to radar, with designs that have been fabricated, measured, and fielded across frequencies from UHF through millimeter wave.
The complete LaTeX source for this book is available in this repository. Contributions, corrections, and feedback are welcome.