Improved Time Efficiency for Simulation of an
Antenna for Near-Field Distance Measurements in
CST Studio Suite.
Aleksandra Baskakova1,2
1
Czech Technical University in Prague, 2Dassault Systèmes CZ s.r.o.,
Prague, Czech Republic
aleksandra.baskakova@fel.cvut.cz
Abstract— The study of an antenna for near-field distance
measurements in CST Studio Suite is presented. The properties
of the antenna were simulated in the frequency band from 8 to
12.4 GHz for distances of a reflective target from 0 up to 20 mm.
The techniques enable to reduce the calculation time in Time
Domain (TD) solver were discussed. The speed-up of the
simulations more than 25 times was achieved. Cross domain
verification between TD and FD (Frequency Domain) solvers was
shown. The simulated and measured results were compared.
They are in a good agreement, which confirm that the
experiment was very well predicted by the simulations.
Keywords—antenna, near-field, distance measurements, time
efficiency
I. INTRODUCTION
Measurement of a distance, direction or speed
determination is highly demanded nowadays in automotive
industry, military and civil engineering. Different microwave
and mm-wave radar systems can be used for these purpose.
Generally, the combination of vector network analyzer
(VNA) and antenna with different calibration/correction
methods can be applied (see Fig. 1). However, in these
arrangement the measured targets are supposed to be in the far
field zone of the antennas, in distances at least of several
wavelengths.
On the other hand, there are also demands for
measurements of reflection coefficients of targets placed in
ultra-short distances, which correspond to measurement in near
field zone of an antenna, [1]. That measurements can have
applications in material properties measurement, [2],
microwave imaging, [3], and mechanical engineering to
Fig.1. Radar system, using a VNA and an antenna.
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measure not only distances of mechanical components, but also
their possible vibrations.
The distance d between the target and the antenna can be
determined from the phase of the reflection coefficient Γ using
an equation
λ
d= 0
(π − arg Γ ) , (1)
4π
where λ0 is a free space wavelength.
However, this formula works only for the case when the
dependence of the measured phase on the distance is a linear
function. In the near field the parameters of conventional
antennas, like horn antenna, change due to the presence of the
target close to the antenna. Thus the dependence of the
measured phase on the distance is significantly nonlinear [1].
In [4] the design of the antenna with linear dependence of
the measured phase with respect to the distance of the target is
described. The measurements of the reflection coefficient of
the antenna were proceeded in the frequency band from 8 GHz
to 12.4 GHz with the moving of the position of the target (a
metal plate) from 0 mm up to 20 mm with a step of 0.5 mm.
The number of points of the VNA Agilent E8364A was set to
801, and the IF bandwidth was 10 kHz. Each measurement
took no longer that 0.1 sec.
Certainly, the simulation of results in any electromagnetic
field simulation software lasts for longer. Taking into account
the need of the design, optimization and investigation of the
behavior of the antenna with respect to the changing the
distance to the target, the whole procedure is time consuming.
For companies and institutions, it is crucial to get the accurate
results fast though.
In the paper, a study of an antenna for near-field distance
measurements in CST Studio Suite is presented. The
approaches to improve time efficiency for the simulations
using TD solver are considered. Cross domain verification
between TD and FD solvers is demonstrated. Both solvers can
be used in one house utilizing the same 3D model. The
simulation data can be utilized for the prediction of the
systematic errors, as soon as for the elimination of the errors in
the distance measurement.
978-1-7281-3599-1/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

Fig.2. YZ cutting plane of the antenna.
II. ANTENNA DESIGN
The drawing of the antenna with a flange with a choke [4]
in YZ cutting plane is shown in Fig. 2.
R 100 waveguide (22.86 x 10.16 mm2) with a standard
flange with a choke at the end was under consideration. Such
structures have been used in high power waveguide systems for
the connection between the plain flanges in order to reduce loss
of the power. However, the features of the structure can be
successfully used in ultra-short distance measurement
application.
The distance from the center of the wider wall of the
waveguide to the bottom of the choke notch is about ½ of the
wavelength, therefore the choke forms a short in the planes of
the wider waveguide walls. It creates a very high impedance at
its input, which significantly suppresses the current flow across
the notch. That prevents propagation of the field between the
flange and the target to the sides of the structure.
The choke forms a virtual waveguide as an extension of the
metallic waveguide with a flexible length corresponding to the
distance to the target. Due to this effect at selected frequencies
it enables to achieve a quasi-linear dependence of the reflection
coefficient phase on the distance to a target with no
ambiguities. It is advantageous to use such structures in
distance measurement applications as it doesn’t require any
complex calibration/correction method.
III. SIMULATION SPEED-UP
The simulations of the antenna were done in CST Studio
Suite 2019. The PC with Intel Xeon ® E5-2620 v2 CPU @
2.10 GHz with the RAM 128 GB was used. The project
template wizard of CST Studio Suite automatically
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recommends solver(s) based on common applications. The first
recommended solver for waveguide antennas is TD solver.
Therefore the reflection coefficient of the antenna was
calculated in a transient solver based on the Finite Integration
Technique (FIT) with PBA (Perfect Boundary Approximation
®). The template settings were utilized.
The TD solver works on hexahedral grids. The smallest
meshcell was defined by the template as 0.125 mm. The
accuracy of the simulations was set to -60 dB. This parameter
is representing value of the energy convergence criterion. To
get a value for the accuracy, the amplitudes of the time signals
as well as the total energy inside the calculation domain are
used. The total energy value is frequently calculated and
related to the maximum energy that has been monitored thus
far. Every simulation stops at some time when meet the
convergence criterion.
The |S11| of the antenna, which was placed in 20 mm away
from the target, was simulated (the distance changed along z-
axis). It took 51 m. and 2 s., considering the solver loop time
calculation.
The designed antenna has symmetrical planes YZ and XZ.
The first approach that enables to decrease the simulation time
is to use the boundary condition with the symmetry plane. YZ-
plane with a magnetic boundary and XZ-plane with electrical
boundary (no magnetic/electric field component tangential to
boundary surface) are depicted in Fig. 3. The calculation time
using this technique reduced by a factor of 4.
Another way to decrease the simulation time and to
increase the overall simulation speed is related to the smallest
mesh step, which influences the time step width in TD solver.
This setting helps to avoid overrefinement due to small
geometric details. Based on the geometry features of the
structure the minimum cell size can be override to 0.2 mm.
Both above approaches were utilized to compute the S-
parameters of the antenna. The solver loop time was 9 m. 32 s.
It speeded up the calculation for more than 5 times.
Transient solver algorithm is memory bound. The solution
to improve more the time efficiency of simulations is to use
hardware acceleration. GPU memory was utilized. The
simulation time was 1 m. 45 s., which provided the speed-up of
5 times. The total acceleration of the solver loop time was more
than 25 times in compare with the template settings project.
IV. SIMULATIONS VS MEASUREMENTS
The reflection coefficient for the antenna was measured at
distances from 0 mm up to 20 mm with a step 0.5 mm in
frequency band from 8 GHz up to 12.4 GHz. The most linear
dependence of the phase on the distance was achieved at
frequency 8.9 GHz and is shown in Fig. 4 with solid line.
Fig.4. Phase of the reflection coefficient of the antenna at 8.9 GHz as a
function of the target distance.
a)

In the whole measured interval, the phase dependence on

the distance curve is close to the linear one. The phase
deviation from the linear trace is from 0 to 12 deg. It
corresponds to maximum 0.56 mm error in the distance
determination.
The cross domain verification procedure was done before
the comparison of the measured and the simulated results. It is
worth to mention that TD and FD solvers are based on the
different calculation principles. In case of close fit results
between the solvers, the designer could have more confidence
that the output in reality will be as simulated one.
CST Studio Suite enables to change the solver type from
TD to FD in the same house utilizing the same project with the b)
same 3D model, and then simulate the S-parameters. General Fig.5. Polar plot (a) and phase (b) of the reflection coefficient of the
purpose broadband frequency sweep was used. The linear simulated antenna with a distance to the target 20 mm.
equation system was solved for each frequency sample by a
direct solver. The threshold for S-parameters broadband sweep and TD solver for the antenna with 20 mm distance to the
convergence was set as 0.005. reflective target were compared. The techniques to reduce the
The calculated reflection coefficients of the antenna for the calculating time were shown and discussed. The antenna was
both solvers are depicted in Fig. 5. The results are in a good measured, and the results are in a good agreement with the
agreement. The maximum residual error in the simulations is simulated ones. That verifies that the experiment is very well
1.35 degrees, which corresponds to the distance of 0.06 mm at
the frequency of interest 8.9 GHz.
The simulated and measured curves are compared in Fig. 4.
They are in a good agreement, which practically proved that
the experiment was very well predicted by the simulations.
Generally, the simulations can be utilized for the early stage
design and optimization, where we are looking for the
frequencies with the most linear phase/distance dependence; as
well as for the prediction of the systematic error, and for
elimination of the error in the distance measurement. The
simulating data can be used in the post processing to create a
virtual prototype with a correction curve, which is taking into
account 2nd order error. Including this post processing to the
measurement procedure enable to distinguish precisely distance
to the target.
V. CONCLUSION

The study of an antenna for near-field distance

measurements in CST Studio Suite was presented. The
antenna properties were simulated in the frequency band from
8 to 12.4 GHz. The simulated reflection coefficients for FD Fig.3. Boundary condition with the symmetry planes YZ and XZ.

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predicted by the simulations. Moreover, the simulation results
can be used for precomputation and elimination of the residual
systematic errors of the distance measurement.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon
2020 research and innovation programme 2016-2020 under the
Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 675683.
This work would not have been possible without the
support of my colleagues from Dassault Systèmes CZ s.r.o.,
who provided insight and expertise that greatly assisted the
study. I thank Milan Prihoda and Vratislav Sokol for their
comments that greatly improved the article.
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