Integrated Reflector Antenna Design and Analysis

Reflector antenna design is a mature field and most aspects of it have been studied. However, most previous work is distinguished by the fact that it is narrow in scope, analyzing only a particular problem under certain conditions. Methods of analysis of this type are not useful for working on real-life problems since they can not handle the many and various types of perturbations of basic antenna design. In this thesis, the idea of an integrated design and analysis is proposed. By broadening the scope of the analysis, it becomes possible to deal with the intricacies attendant with modern reflector antenna design problems. In this thesis, the concept of integrated reflector antenna design is put forward. A number of electromagnetic problems related to reflector antenna design are investigated. Some of these show how tools for reflector antenna design are created. In particular, a method for estimating spillover loss for open-ended waveguide feeds is examined. The problem of calculating and optimizing beam efficiency (an important figure of merit in radiometry applications) is also solved. Other chapters in this thesis deal with applications of this general analysis. The wide-angle scan abilities of reflector antennas is examined and a design is proposed for the ATDRSS triband reflector antenna. The following chapter discusses the development of a general phased-array pattern computation program and shows how the concept of integrated design can be extended to other types of antennas. The conclusions are contained in the final chapter.