FDTD modeling of helicopter antenna pattern rotor modulation

Author

Birtcher, C.R. ; Balanis, C.A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA

fYear

2005

fDate

3-8 July 2005

Firstpage

148

Abstract

Rotor modulation is the periodic disruption of electromagnetic communication signals caused by the rotation of lift or thrust generating propellers on aircraft. Rotor modulation is predominantly associated with helicopters because their very large main rotor can cause intense modulation effects, and their comparatively small fuselages provide few antenna mounting locations at which rotor modulation can be avoided. Rotor modulation modeling, because of its complexity, has not received very much attention. We use the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to model the radiation patterns of antennas mounted on helicopters, including the modulating effects due to the motion of the rotor blades.

Keywords

aircraft antennas; antenna radiation patterns; blades; finite difference time-domain analysis; helicopters; modulation; propellers; radiowave propagation; FDTD modeling; antenna radiation patterns; electromagnetic communication signals; finite-difference time-domain method; helicopter antenna pattern rotor modulation; lift generating propellers; periodic disruption; thrust generating propellers; Aircraft; Antenna radiation patterns; Blades; Finite difference methods; Helicopters; Intensity modulation; Propellers; Rotors; Signal generators; Time domain analysis;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, 2005 IEEE

Print_ISBN

0-7803-8883-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APS.2005.1552764

Filename

1552764