AntenNet: a Web-based method of moments solver for antenna education

This paper describes AntenNet, a plug-in to WebMath that permits students to simulate arbitrarily shaped wire antennas and arrays thereof through a Web-based interface. Computer aided design environments-the majority of which are Web-based-are being developed in many electrical engineering subfields. AntenNet allows students to define structures comprised of an arbitrary number of straight or curved, joined or disjoined wires. These wires can be fed by one or more voltage sources and loaded with lumped impedances. AntenNet, upon rigorously analyzing the antenna currents using the method of moments (MoM), permits students to extract the antenna´s input impedance and visualize the antenna´s geometry along with its radiation patterns. Output from AntenNet can be postprocessed and/or combined with that of all other antenna analysis tools supported by the WebMath environment.