Software Tools For Antenna Design

We have all grown up with antennas - be it on our old television sets, radio or any other transmission device. Yet, most of us know very little about it. However, for those of you who do, designing an antenna according to your requirements is quite a fun activity.

Even if you never tried it before but are planning to, you can start easily using an antenna design software.

Some of them are free while some are paid. Regardless of your expertise or the price point, you can begin exploring antenna designs using these software programs any day!

Top Antenna Design Software For Windows

Antenna Design Software For Mac

1. Ansys HFSS

Our first pick for Windows operating system comes from the renowned company of engineering and simulation software systems - Ansys. Their HFSS software has created quite the buzz among electromagnetic enthusiasts. This name comes from an abbreviation of High-Frequency Structure Simulator.

Even though it is commercially used by many businesses, its interface stays simplistic and easily comprehensible for amateur users.

With the combined efforts of HFSS Optimetrics and HFSS FEM solver, this software successfully manages the accurate antenna placement in smartphones, without violating the SAR (Suspicious Activity Report) regulations. You will be able to analyze their radiation patterns and possible reflection effects from here as well.

Along with designing and simulating antennas or arrays of antennas, you can also use it in other projects of the same category.

The software can prove to be useful to design connectors, RF or microwave components, IC packages, high-speed interconnects and printed circuit boards.

2. Feko

Feko

Altair Engineering developed the software Feko three decades ago in 1991. This software has been designed to help with computational electromagnetic projects which require sophistication and accuracy. Its name has been taken from a German acronym that stands for field calculations of arbitrary shapes.

Throughout its run crossing two decades, it has always been counted as one of the leaders in the electromagnetic simulation industry.

You can use it to ensure EMC (electromagnetic capability), optimize connectivity (including wireless and 5G) and perform analysis like Radar Cross Section or RCS.

In addition to Windows, Feko is also available for devices running on Linux. For antennas, you can design many varieties like microstrip, aperture, horn, reflector, wire and lenses.

Along with antenna simulation, it can offer assistance in radome modeling, network planning, radio coverage and bioelectromagnetics.

3. IE3D

The software called IE3D was developed originally by Zeland Software which is now known as Mentor Graphics. It has been popularized as the first scalable solution to electromagnetic simulation projects.

You can use it to both design and verify different models for high-frequency circuits, antennas or similar projects.

This functions like a platform that delivers accurate models to solve the wide array of problems an electromagnetics project might face.

Each antenna design you specify using this software will be saved in a file with the extension.GEO. You can create both 2D and 3D polygons here using some or all of the three coordinates.

4. CENOS

Another electromagnetics simulation and modeling software is CENOS. This intuitive FEM (Finite Element Method) software promises to deliver industry-standard computer modeling features to users at an affordable cost.

Especially in the case of RF antenna designs, it can speed up the process by resolving different complexities related to electromagnetic and geometric constraints.

This software has been programmed to directly solve Maxwell equations without the need for any limitation or simplification.

For example, it can perform simulations of arbitrary 3D structures with high Q cavities very well. It has been specialized for simulating wire and microstrip antennas.

5. EZNEC

Even though the interface of EZNEC is incredibly simple, the software has proven to be quite the solution to difficult design problems faced by engineers and hobbyists. You can use it for both 2D and 3D plots or patterns.

It will be a great choice for those who have been thinking of trying out the electromagnetic industry and are a little intimidated by all the intricacies. The user-friendly interface of EZNEC can easily introduce them to the basic features and units of antenna designing.

Top Antenna Design Software For Mac

Antenna Design Software For Mac

1. RF Toolbox

RF Toolbox was developed by Black Cat Systems as a top designing software for Mac or OS X.

It would be especially useful for amateurs since it walks them through each step of the designing process for a variety of antennas. You can use it to create blueprints for dipole, yagi, j-pole, cubic quad, helical, full-wave and many other kinds of antennas.

Additionally, it is equipped to carry out a large number of calculations including the ones for transmission lines, matching networks, resistors, impedance, coil design, LC filter design and network attenuator.

2. cocoaNEC

No, the name of cocoaNEC software is not inspired by the developers' love for chocolate. Rather, this naming convention comes from the framework they used to build it - called Cocoa. You can download this application for free anytime and also check out its source code for your personal projects!

Its' Snow Leopard edition ensures complete utilization of every core present in a new Intel-based Mac with the Grand Central Dispatch technology. You can also use it with Lion or OS X 10.7. For the computers based on PowerPC and Tiger, cocoaNEC runs natively as a universal binary application.

3. Antenna Master

Black Cat Systems made another antenna diagram making software which is specifically meant for ham radio operators called Antena Master.

Be it amateurs, experts or mere enthusiasts - anyone can start using this software to create different antennas for their radio communications.

Among the varieties it supports, there are dipole, fat dipole, J-pole, super J-pole, yagi, cubic quad, log periodic and vertical designs.

Additionally, it can also execute necessary calculations for transmission line loss, LC filter design, coil design, Pi matching networks and L matching networks.

Top Antenna Design Software For Mobile

Antenna Design Software For Mobile

1. Antenna Tool

Within the handful of software for antenna design systems available for mobile devices, Antenna Tool has secured the top spot for many. You can find it on both android and iOS platforms which is one of the main reasons it is so popular among signal enthusiasts.

It has a simple interface where you can put in all the values comfortably. There are inputs for necessary entities like frequency, antenna type, dipole length, log length and more. This app has been designed to help the users of ham radio, CB and other similar radio devices.

2. Cantennator

The mobile antenna design app called Cantennator was developed by Valery Kustarev. Unlike the previous app, this one is only available for android devices unfortunately. It has been designed to measure the sizes of homemade antennas which serve digital networks like 4G-LTE, 3G-UMTS, Wi-Fi and digital television.

Their list of supported antenna types is pretty impressive. It includes bi-quad, double bi-quad, 3-element, Yagi-disk, Yagi-Uda, helix, bi-circle, collinear coaxial, square-ellipse and even tin can antenna!

Final Words

So, here is our top 10 Antenna Design Software for Mac, Windows and Mobile.

No matter which software for antenna design you choose, it will surely open up a lot of new doors for your electromagnetic, networking or communication projects. You will be able to modify the crucial entities and customize them according to your project requirements.

Pick a software that is capable of accommodating the particular varieties of antennas you work with frequently. Besides, it should be able to carry out necessary calculations and provide an easy interface to navigate for all kinds of users.