OM Card

This card can be used to calculate the weighted set of orthogonal current-modes which are supported on a conducting surface.

On the Request tab, in the Configurations group, click the  Characteristic modes icon.

Characteristic mode analysis allows for a systematic CEM design approach, provides physical insight regarding antenna operating principles, can determine the resonating frequency of specific modes and determine the optimum feeding arrangements to excite these modes.


Figure 1. The OM - Characteristic mode analysis dialog.

Parameters:

Request name
The name of the request.
Number of modes to calculate

The maximum number of modes to calculate for the characteristic mode analysis.

Compute modal excitation coefficients
When this item is checked, in addition to the characteristic modes, modal excitation coefficients are computed given an excitation/source.
Disable mode tracking
When this item is checked, characteristic mode tracking is disabled. This means that for each frequency, the modes will be sorted according to their dominance at that frequency. When unchecked, a logical mode will be tracked over the entire simulated frequency range.

The characteristic mode analysis (CMA) is supported for MoM/SEP examples containing dielectric and magnetic materials and metallic structures, such as metallic triangles and wires. CMA can also be used in conjunction with the planar multilayered Green’s function as well as the planar Green’s function aperture. No VEP, waveguide ports, MLFMM or FEM are allowed in conjunction with a characteristic mode analysis request.