A STRATEGY FOR THE EFFICIENT FULL-WAVE DESCRIPTION OF COMPLEX WAVE-GUIDE NETWORKS

The mode-matching analysis of rectangular waveguide networks requires a complex segmentation of the structure into simple elements. The way these elements are connected has a strong influence on the computing p erformance of the code, Moreover, for complex structures the size of t he coefficient matrix of the main system can easily reach unaffordable dimensions, so that the use of an efficient solving strategy becomes indispensable, A new approach to the optimum automatic choice of the i nterconnections is presented, leading to a highly stable and outperfor ming method of analysis, A Butler 4 x 4 matrix, with six branch guide couplers and four phase shifters, containing 336 uniform waveguide sec tions and bifurcations, has been studied, and the presented strategy h as allowed a performance increase up to two orders of magnitude. (C) 1 996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.