Model the response of an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) using full-wave electromagnetic simulation. The IRS, also known as the reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), large intelligent surface (LIS), or metasurface, has garnered significant interest in the wireless communication community. The IRS consists of a large array of subwavelength unit cell elements which can manipulate the phase, amplitude, polarization, or frequency of the incident signal. If an obstacle blocks the direct path between the base station (BS) and the user equipment (UE), the parasitic reflection of the IRS can provide an alternative path for signal transmission, as this figure shows. An external phase control mechanism can be integrated to control the reflection characteristics of the IRS.

Design, model, and analyze a metasurface antenna based on reference [1]. Metasurface antennas take advantage of the periodic boundary of each radiation unit cell to group the radiation unit in a more compact space.

Analyze electrically large antennas using two solvers in Antenna Toolbox™: the hybrid method of moments (MOM) and the fast multipole method (FMM). The overall size of an antenna can be expressed in electrical terms, as a function of the frequency of operation or wavelength λ. Doing so can enable you to choose the electromagnetic solver to deploy for analysis.

Radar cross section benchmarking example.

The use of infinite array analysis to model the behavior of a single element - the unit cell embedded in the array[1] - [3]. The array is assumed to be of infinite extent in two dimensions, and located in the XY-plane.

Model a probe-fed microstrip patch element used as a unit cell in an infinite array.

Investigates the effect of feed position and reflector surface geometry on the far-field radiation pattern of a half-wavelength dipole-fed symmetric parabolic reflector.

Illustrates modeling of antennas and arrays with infinite ground plane. The main advantage of modeling the ground plane as infinite is that the ground plane is not meshed. This helps in speeding up the solution. The structure is modelled using the method of images. Several antenna elements in Antenna Toolbox™ have a ground plane as part of the structure. For other elements, the ground plane can be introduced by placing them in front of a reflector.

The example models an antenna element in presence of a large platform. The antenna is modelled accurately using the Method of Moments (MoM) while the effect of the electrically large platform is considered using physical optics (PO).