# WASP-NET’s CAD Features

## WASP-NET CAD Features

[Overview](/brick/95553)

[Waveguides](/brick/101100)

[Antennas](/brick/101104)

[Arrays](/brick/101107)

WASP-NET’s particular CAD strength is its efficient EM CAD solution for demanding waveguide and antenna design problems with tough specifications.

## (WASP NET) Accelerating RF, Microwave, mm-Wave Component, Antenna and Array Design

WASP-NET provides **advanced fast full-wave EM CAD and optimization capabilities** for RF, microwave, mm-wave component, antenna and array design workflows. From waveguiding components to reflector antennas, phased arrays, and integrated feed networks, WASP-NET combines high-speed electromagnetic (EM) simulation and fast optimization with full-wave precision to help engineers rapidly develop accurate, fabrication-ready RF, microwave, mm-wave, antenna and array components and systems.
The following selected examples provide a short overview.

## (WASP-NET CAD Highlight) Fast Full-Wave EM Level Optimization

Due to its high efficiency, WASP-NET is particularly well appropriate for the fast direct optimization of waveguide, antenna and antenna array components to meet desired demanding specifications. Optimizations are carried out directly on accurate full-wave electro-magnetic (EM) level, and the high speed allows with high numbers of optimization iterations to exploit physical limits within reasonably short design times.

Three powerful optimizers, the self-learning evolution optimizer EVOPT, which is able to find the global minimum and to efficiently handle huge numbers (e.g. thousands) of optimization parameters, the robust direct search algorithm EXTREME, and POWELL, a gradient-based optimizer, in combination with the high computational speed of WASP-NET, enable users to master also highly demanding and complex optimization problems, that would take an unreasonably long time to solve using more conventional methods.

[Fast Full Wave](/media/25611)

## (Wasp-net Panel) CAD of Waveguiding Components

WASP-NET’s efficient full-wave design and optimization capabilities cover – in addition to antenna and antenna array structures - the entire class of waveguiding components, from standard waveguide structures with canonical and arbitrary cross-sections to mm-wave waveguiding structures, such as substrate integrated (SIW), micro-strip and gap waveguides. WASP-NET’s calculation speed for components that include structural waveguide element parts with standard or non-standard cross-sections, is particularly high, as these structural parts are calculated using the highly efficient quasi-analytical mode-matching (MM) method. Waveguide components can conveniently be composed in the user interface by selecting and combining via mouse click corresponding basic elements, such as steps, irises, junctions, transitions etc., from the element library. The library comprises ca. 400 often used fundamental elements. More general and special user-specific elements and structures, not available in the element library, can easily be set-up in form of multi-port black-box elements with parametrized geometry dimensions, and then be combined full-wave with library elements or with additional black-box elements.

[CAD of Waveguiding Components](/media/26102)

## (Wasp-net h2) Filter CAD Examples

WASP-NET **simplifies filter design through user-friendly filter wizards**, reusable templates, and flexible user-defined structures that can be rapidly optimized to target specifications.

### Key Benefits

- Fast setup using built-in filter wizards
- Extensive template and designer database support
- Flexible user-defined filter modeling
- Efficient optimization for complex requirements
- Supports advanced manufacturing methods

### Typical Applications

- All types of iris and post coupled filters
- Die-cast filters with draft angles
- Dielectric resonator filters with cross-couplings
- Dual-mode filters with stop-band poles
- High-power corrugated low-pass filters
- Additive manufacturing filters
- mm-wave gap waveguide filters
- Ultra-broadband waffle-iron filters
- Evanescent-mode filters
- Reduced cavity-size conductor-loaded filters
- Diplexers, multiplexers

[Filter CAD Examples](/media/25904)

## (Wasp-net h3) Polarizer CAD Examples

WASP-NET **supports rapid design and optimization of standard and custom polarizer structures through** built-in templates, library elements, and flexible black-box modeling.

### Key Benefits

- Ready-to-use polarizer templates
- Flexible custom structure definition
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- Supports broadband and mm-wave applications
- Simplifies complex waveguide design workflows

### Typical Applications

- Circular waveguide septum polarizers
- Polarizers with microstrip side-ports
- Dual-band corrugated polarizers
- Polarizers with machining radii
- Ultra-broadband quad-ridge waveguide polarizers

[Test Media](/media/25742)

## (Wasp-net h3) Orthomode-Transducer CAD Examples

WASP-NET **enables efficient design and optimization of standard and custom orthomode transducer (OMT) structures** using built-in templates, library elements, and flexible black-box modeling.

### Key Benefits

- Ready-to-use OMT templates
- Flexible custom OMT configuration
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- Supports broadband and dual-polarization designs
- Simplifies complex waveguide development

### Typical Applications

- Broadband Boifot OMTs
- Ridge waveguide taper OMTs
- Dual-band tapered side-junction OMTs
- OMTs with integrated waffle-iron low-pass filters
- Dual-polarization dual-band OMTs
- Compact dual-band turnstile junction OMTs

[Orthomode-Transducer CAD](/media/25744)

## (Wasp-net h6)Junction, Transformer, Taper, Bend, Coupler CAD Examples

WASP-NET **supports efficient design and optimization of waveguide junctions, transformers, tapers, bends, and couplers** using built-in templates, library elements and flexible custom structure modeling.

### Key Benefits

- Extensive ready-to-use component templates
- Flexible user-defined structure setup
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- Supports compact and broadband waveguide designs
- Simplifies advanced microwave component development

### Typical Applications

- Broadband compensated corners
- Tapered twists
- Compact 90° (“HE-“) junctions
- Circular-to-rectangular waveguide tapers
- Square-to-rectangular ridged waveguide tapers
- Circular waveguide smooth-wall tapers
- Riblet, branch-guide and Moreno couplers
- Pin-compensated turnstile junctions
- Ridged waveguide bends
- Magic Tees
- Power combiners, dividers

[Waveguide Junction, Transformer, Taper, Bend, Coupler](/media/25747)

## (Wasp-net h3) Coaxial, Combline, Microstrip Structure CAD Examples

WASP-NET **supports rapid design and optimization of coaxial, combline, microstrip structures** through built-in templates, library elements and flexible custom modeling capabilities.

### Key Benefits

- Ready-to-use component templates
- Flexible user-defined structure setup
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- Supports broadband and compact RF designs
- Simplifies complex microwave component development

### Typical Applications

- Coaxial filters and dividers
- Combline and interdigital filters
- Microstrip and suspended substrate line components
- Customized compact component structures

[Coaxial, Combline, Microstrip Waveguide Structure](/media/25748)

## (Wasp-Net panel of brick) CAD of Antennas including Feed-Networks

**WASP-NET**’s efficient full-wave design and optimization capabilities cover – in addition to waveguiding and array structures - the entire class of antennas, from wire antennas, corrugated horn antennas, to single and dual shaped reflector antennas, both body-of-revolution (BOR) and offset structures. Additionally, WASP-NET includes a powerful characteristic mode analysis (CMA) tool, which allows investigating fundamental radiation characteristics of antenna structures. Complete feed-networks, such as OMTs, polarizers, tapers, can directly and accurately be included in the antenna design, and the complete antenna system efficiently be optimized as a whole to meet final overall specifications. This special advanced design capability eliminates the traditional need for calculating antennas and feed-networks as separate parts (and often by separate tools), and avoids time-consuming data transfers. This saves development time and offers users the advantage of achieving optimal antenna performance by optimizing the entire assembly as a complete system. 9 For radiating structural parts, the accurate method-of-moments (MoM) with higher-order basis functions is applied, large structures and symmetries are taken into account by efficient tailored algorithms. On state-of-the-art standard PCs, the analysis and optimization speed for antenna structures (including feed networks) is typically in the range from a few seconds to several tens of seconds per frequency point. Many common antenna components can conveniently be designed by using WASP-NET’s user friendly wizards, or be selected directly as a template from WASP-NET’s comprehensive designer data base. Since the antennas are modeled via general multi-port black-box elements, such as define\_bor (for BOR antennas), define\_ant (for general antennas), and def\_layered (for multilayer microstrip antennas), WASP-NET offers full antenna design flexibility.

[cad-of-antennas.webp](/media/26191)

## (Wasp-net H8) Horn Antenna CAD Examples

WASP-NET **simplifies the design of horn antennas** through user-friendly design wizards, built-in templates and flexible custom modeling capabilities.

### Key Benefits

- User-friendly horn antenna design wizard
- Extensive horn template library
- Supports custom horn and feed-network structures
- Efficient full-wave EM optimization
- High-speed BOR-MoM solver for rotationally symmetric designs

### Typical Applications

- Corrugated and profiled horns
- Choked and ring-loaded horn antennas
- Dielectric loaded horns
- Horns with integrated OMTs
- Rectangular and elliptic horns
- Horns with dielectric covers or lenses
- Sector and quad-ridge horns
- Coax-fed broadband horn antennas

[Horn Antenna](/media/25582)

## (Wasp-net H9) BOR Dual-Reflector CAD Examples

WASP-NET **enables efficient design and optimization of body-of-revolution (BOR) reflector antennas** using dedicated reflector wizards, built-in templates, and flexible custom modeling tools.

### Key Benefits

- User-friendly BOR reflector antenna design wizard
- Extensive BOR reflector template library
- Supports custom reflector and feed network configurations
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- High-speed BOR-MoM solver for rotationally symmetric designs
- Supports integrated radomes and mounting struts

### Typical Applications

- Shaped BOR dual-reflector antennas
- Reflectors with septum polarizers
- Microstrip fed reflector antennas
- Reflectors with layered radomes
- Dielectric-strut-supported reflectors
- Compact asymmetrically displaced elliptic(ADE)shaped reflectors
- Mobile earth station reflector systems
- Compact dual-band shaped dual-reflector hat antennas with integrated OMTs

[BOR Dual-Reflector](/media/25583)

## (Wasp-net H10) Offset Reflector CAD Examples

WASP-NET **supports the efficient design and optimization of offset reflector antennas** through dedicated reflector wizards, reusable templates, and flexible custom modeling capabilities.

### Key Benefits

- User-friendly reflector antenna design workflow
- Extensive offset reflector template library
- Supports custom reflector and feed network configurations
- Efficient optimization to target specifications
- High-speed combined MoM iterative physical optic (IPO) solver for complex reflector systems

### Typical Applications

- Gregorian reflector antennas
- Reflectors with corrugated horn feeds
- Dual-band reflector systems with integrated OMTs
- Shaped elliptic reflectors
- Reflectors with dichroic frequency selective sub-reflectors
- Jerusalem cross unit-cell reflector structures

[Offset Reflector](/media/25584)

## (Wasp-net H10) Microstrip and Wire Antenna CAD Examples

WASP-NET **enables the efficient design and optimization of microstrip patch and wire antennas**, including custom antenna and feed networks.

### Key Benefits

- Efficient EM CAD and optimization workflow
- Built-in antenna templates
- Flexible custom antenna modeling
- Supports finite size and complex ground-plane configurations
- Fast optimization to target specifications
- Efficient layered media solver
- Fast MoM solver including thin wires

### Typical Applications

- Layered arbitrarily shaped microstrip patch antennas
- Wrapped or conformal antenna structures
- Quadri-filar helix antennas
- Yagi antennas
- Ultra-broadband shaped conical antennas
- Dipole antennas with baluns

[Microstrip and Wire Antenna](/media/25585)

## (Wasp-net H10) Characteristic Mode Analysis Tool

WASP-NET includes **a powerful Characteristic Mode Analysis (CMA) tool** for evaluating the fundamental radiation behavior of antenna structures through eigenmode-based analysis.

### Key Benefits

- Identifies inherent antenna radiation characteristics
- Helps optimize bandwidth and radiation performance
- Supports feeding point and antenna placement optimization
- Supports platform mounted antennas
- Reduces overall antenna development time
- Helps determine the most suitable antenna solutions for specific problems
- Flexible custom antenna modeling

### Typical Applications

- Mobile phone antennas
- Broad-band antennas
- Platform-mounted antennas
- Microstrip patch antennas with feed networks
- Slot antennas

[Characteristic Mode Analysis](/media/25586)

## (Wasp-Net panel of brick) CAD of Arrays including Feed-Networks

**WASP-NET**’s efficient full-wave design and optimization capabilities cover the entire class of common arrays: Waveguide slot-arrays (resonant, travelling, ridge, circular polarized, dual polarized, edge, SIW, gap), horn arrays, microstrip arrays (patch, multilayer, Vivaldi), wire antenna arrays, phased arrays, frequency selective structures (FSS), absorber arrays, and reflect-arrays. Due to WASP-NET’s full-wave generalized S-matrix combination of sub-circuits and elements, complete feed-networks can directly and accurately be included in the array design, and the complete antenna system efficiently be optimized as a whole to meet final overall specifications. Finite array sizes can accurately and efficiently be taken into account. Slot-arrays can conveniently be designed by using WASP-NET’s user-friendly slot-array wizard. Many array types can be selected directly as a template and be modified and optimized to special needs from WASP-NET’s comprehensive designer data base. For phased array design and optimization, WASP-NET offers a user-friendly array tool. Since the arrays are modeled via general multi-port black-box elements, which work with (by text or graphic editor) editable geometry input files, WASP-NET offers full flexibility for the design of practically all kind of arrays. For radiating structural parts, the accurate method-of-moments (MoM) with higher-order basis functions is applied, large structures and finite sizes are taken into account by efficient periodic boundary solutions and tailored algorithms, such as domain decomposition methods. On standard state-of-the-art PCs, the analysis and optimization speed for array structures (including feed networks) is typically in the range from a few tens of seconds to several hundreds of seconds per frequency point.

[cad-of-arrays.webp](/media/26190)

## (SIMULIA Wasp-net Designer Database highlight 1) Horn Cluster, Microstrip-Array, Gap Waveguide Array, Reflect-Array CAD Examples

WASP-NET **supports efficient design and optimization of a wide range of antenna array structures** through built-in templates and flexible custom array modeling.

### Key Benefits

- Extensive antenna array template library
- Flexible user-defined array configurations
- Supports fast optimization including integrated feed networks
- High-speed EM optimization for complex array systems
- Specialized layered-media MoM solver for microstrip arrays
- Fast Floquet solver for large arrays
- Efficient MoM solutions for taking finite array sizes accurately into account

### Typical Applications

- Horn clusters with feed networks
- Horn cluster reflector systems
- Microstrip patch arrays
- Circularly polarized patch arrays
- Side-fed and center-fed array configurations
- Gap-waveguide slot-arrays
- Coax-fed array structures
- Reflect-arrays with feed horns

[Horn Cluster, Microstrip-Array, Gap Waveguide Array, Reflect-Array](/media/25606)

## (SIMULIA Wasp-net Designer Database highlight 2) Slot-Array CAD Examples

WASP-NET **enables efficient design and optimization of resonant and traveling-wave slot-arrays** through dedicated slot-array wizards, reusable templates, and flexible custom modeling.

### Key Benefits

- User-friendly slot-array design wizard
- Extensive slot-array template library
- Supports fast optimization including integrated feed networks
- Flexible custom array configuration
- Efficient MoM solutions for taking finite array sizes accurately into account
- Supports advanced polarization and mm-wave designs
- Side (edge) slot array designs taking the wrap-around effect of the side slots into account

### Typical Applications

- Resonant slot arrays
- Traveling-wave slot-arrays
- Ridge waveguide slot-arrays
- Compact side (edge) slot-arrays
- Circularly polarized slot arrays
- Mixed top-wall side-wall slot-arrays for dual polarization
- Substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) slot-arrays
- Gap-waveguide slot-arrays
- Slot-arrays with dielectric cover

[Slot-Array](/media/25607)

## (SIMULIA Wasp-net Designer Database highlight 3) Array Tool: CAD of Phased Array

WASP-NET includes **a powerful array tool for efficient design and optimization of phased arrays** supporting both periodic and finite array structures for advanced phased array solutions.

### Key Benefits

- User-friendly phased array design workflow
- Fast Floket based solver for large arrays
- Accurate finite array analysis and optimization using DDM FETI solvers
- Flexible unit-cell and topology editing
- High-speed EM optimization of geometry parameters, excitation amplitudes and phases
- Supports large scan angle performance optimization

### Typical Applications

- Wire antenna (e.g. helix) arrays
- Patch arrays
- Horn arrays
- Vivaldi arrays
- Frequency selective surface (FSS) structures
- Absorber arrays
- Finite and periodic phased array systems

[Array Tool: Phased Array Examples](/media/24930)

## (WASP-NET CAD Features Panel of Content) Also Discover

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