Antenna control and optimization

A class of radiation problems is considered where an arbitrary smooth surface on which currents may be induced is treated as an antenna. A variety of measures of antenna performance is defined in terms of functionals of the radiation pattern. These in turn give rise to a class of optimization problems in which the current distribution is sought which maximizes or minimizes one or another of the antenna performance functionals. A general method, based on the use of vector wave functions, of reducing each problem to one in finite dimensions is presented. Some numerical examples are presented to illustrate results attainable by these methods