Phased Array Bench
An active electronically scanned array (AESA) of the kind used for military datalinks, satcom-on-the-move terminals and radar-comms. Every slider feeds the same physics model: array factor, element pattern, T/R module chain and a Friis link budget. Change hardware on the left, software on the right tab, and watch the beam, sidelobes and usable range respond. Values are representative textbook figures, not any specific fielded system.
Beam pattern · polar
azimuth cut, dB normalisedBeam pattern · rectangular
−90° … +90°, floor −60 dBAperture · phase & amplitude
hue = commanded phase, size = taper weightRange vs scan angle
link closes below the curveAntenna structure · 3D model
drag to orbit · scroll or pinch to zoom in to the unit cell · click a part for detailsClick any layer
The model rebuilds from your hardware settings: element count, spacing, frequency (sets physical size), substrate and semiconductor choice. Large arrays show a 16 × 16 element tile, which is how real AESAs are built and replaced.
3D radiation pattern
drag to orbit · scroll to zoom · radius and colour = gain (dB, 50 dB range)The aperture sits in the XY plane with boresight along +Z. Azimuth steering tilts the lobe in the XZ plane. Elements are coloured by commanded phase, the plain arrow is the steer command, the red arrow is the jammer direction. The 3D lobe uses the separable product AFx(u)·AFy(v)·cosqθ with u = sinθ cosφ, v = sinθ sinφ, so it includes taper, quantisation and nulling on the azimuth axis.
Link budget
one-way, transmit side is this arrayWhat each part does
Each card gives the component's role, the governing formula, and its live value from the bench above. Click a card to light up its links in the dependency graph.
Which knob moves which number
Left column holds inputs, the middle holds the physical and algorithmic stages, the right holds the performance metrics. Hover or tap a node to trace its upstream and downstream links.