ArraySoft provides high performance simulation software for the design and assessment of phased array antennas for radar and communication systems. The flagship of its software portfolio is the program APAS.
APAS is a sophisticated phased array simulator software package for the design and simulation of a wide variety of planar phased array antennas. It offers accurate, high-speed computation of the far-field patterns of both sum and difference beams of planar phased antennas including advanced far-field analysis capabilities and comprehensive 2-D and 3-D visualization of the simulated results. The effect of mutual coupling between the array elements on the array far-field performance can be taken fully into account. This is arranged by using measured or computed mutual coupling coefficients between the elements (S-parameters) for calculating the embedded element pattern of each array element.
The name APAS stands for Advanced Phased Array Simulator. APAS offers a range of features not provided by similar programs of other vendors. Among these features are: low sidelobe pattern synthesis, calculation of main beam dispersion, monopulse slope, array noise figure, array third order intercept point including the impact of a wide range of array errors on these features. The array errors comprise: element phase and amplitude, element positions, defective elements, and structural deformation of the aperture.
One of the unique capabilities of APAS is the synthesis of low sidelobe tapers for both sum and difference patterns including multiple sector nulling. Amplitude-only synthesis is supported as well as phase-only and complex weighting.
Another distinct feature is the very fast calculation and subsequent processing of the 2D array far-field. This type of computation is carried out in almost real time time. A far-field calculation including its subsequent processing involving 1001 x 1001 far-field directions, is done within 0.12 seconds. The subsequent far-field processing comprises array directivity, 3 dB beamwidth, peak sidelob level, average sidelobe level and beam efficiency.
APASplus offers the same functionality as APAS but is intended to be used with external MATLAB© programs that take over its control through bypassing its graphical user interface (GUI). In this way APASplus can be become part of a phased array radar system simulator.
APASlite is a stripped-down version of APAS. Compared to APAS it provides less functionality. Mutual coupling, calculation of the array noise figure and that of the third order intermodulation among others are removed. The emphasis with APASlite is on far-field calculation including its processing and taper synthesis. These features are fully similar to those of APAS.
All these three programs are coded in MATLAB and can be run on any platform on which MATLAB is installed.