#TMCGROTS
!Graphics parameters
!Graphics data
!file name : E:\BackUP\ARHIV\WORK\Source\SAMPLE_R\KIRILL\HIPERSOUND\r7.dop
!Data file for draw graphics
!TFileName GraphicsName DrawFlag Input1 Mod1 Input2 Mod2
r7.DAT r7.DAT 1 1 1 1 1

!TFileName GraphicsName DrawFlag Input1 Mod1 Input2 Mod2
r7.DAT     r7.DAT       1        1      1    1      1

Frequence = <частота> Ghz;
N = <число излучателей>;
<выражение собственной ДН одного элемента>
0   X = <x0> mm; Y = <y0> mm; Amplitude = <a0>; Faza = <f0> degree; [FiMin = ... degree; FiMax = ... degree; <выражение>]
1   X = <x1> mm; Y = <y1> mm; Amplitude = <a1>; Faza = <f1> degree; ...
...

User manual — the TMC_DN program (TMC_DN.exe)

TMC Suite package. This manual is written in plain language and is intended for a user seeing the program for the first time. All menu and button names are given as they appear in the program (the interface is in English), with a translation and explanation next to them.

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1. Purpose of the program

TMC_DN (the executable TMC_DN.exe, full name Tamic Directional Pattern Viewer) is a program for computing and viewing the radiation patterns (RP) of antennas and antenna arrays. In simple terms, it builds a graph where:

• the horizontal axis (X) shows the angle (in radians, roughly from −π to +π) — that is, the direction in space the antenna "looks" at;
• the vertical axis (Y) shows the radiation-pattern level (Pattern) — how strongly the antenna radiates (or receives) in that direction.

A radiation pattern is a "map" of how the antenna distributes radiation over angles: in which directions it radiates strongly (the main lobe) and in which weakly (the side lobes and nulls). For an antenna array (a set of radiators placed in space), the shape of the pattern depends on the coordinates of the elements, their amplitudes and phases. TMC_DN takes the description of such an array, computes its radiation pattern and draws it as a clear graph.

What the program can do:

• open ready-made pattern documents (.dop files) or array-description files (.DAT) directly;
• compute the radiation pattern of an antenna array from a description of its radiators (coherent summation of the fields of all elements over the angle);
• compute and show the integral characteristics of the antenna: the directivity (Knd, including in decibels), the aperture efficiency (Kip), and for large arrays the emitted power (Emitted Power);
• show several patterns at once on one field (for example, patterns of different arrays for comparison);
• change the scale (zoom in/out, auto-fit by axes), shift the visible area;
• configure the colors of the background, grid, axes and the curves themselves, as well as the label font;
• introduce random deviations into the radiator parameters — coordinates, amplitudes, phases — and see how the pattern "degrades"; compare the resulting pattern with the required (reference) pattern;
• print the pattern and save the display settings in the .dop document itself.

Computing a large array can take a noticeable amount of time, so TMC_DN computes the pattern in the background and shows a progress window with two indicators (the readiness of the current pattern and the readiness across all patterns of the document). Details in section 6.

How does TMC_DN differ from the "neighboring" programs of the package? TMCGROUT shows frequency characteristics (the S-matrix as a function of frequency), TMCROS shows time signals, and TMC_DN shows radiation patterns (the radiation level as a function of angle). Outwardly all three are very similar (built to the same design), so their menus and toolbars are almost identical. But TMC_DN can additionally compute the array pattern, compute directivity/aperture efficiency, and model deviations — the other viewers cannot.

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2. Launching and opening data

How to launch the program

1. Find the file TMC_DN.exe (after the build it is in dist/win32/bin or dist/win64/bin).
2. Launch it with a double click.
3. On the first launch the program maximizes to full screen. If any files were opened before, TMC_DN will try to automatically open the last of them (the "recent files" list is stored in the Windows registry under TMC_DN).

Which file to open

TMC_DN works with two main file types (details in section 7):

To open a file:

1. Menu File → Open…, or click the "Open" button on the toolbar, or press Ctrl+O.
2. In the dialog select the desired .dop or .DAT file.
3. The program computes the radiation pattern (for a large array a progress window appears) and builds the graph.

If you open a .DAT file, a document will be created next to it (it stores the display settings). In the future it is more convenient to open the .dop document.

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3. The main window

The main window is a multiple-document window (MDI): several windows with different patterns can be open inside it at once.

The window consists of four zones:

1. Menu bar (top) — all program commands, grouped into sections (File, Edit, View, Config, Window, Help). Details in section 5.
2. Toolbar — a row of icon buttons for the most frequent actions. Details in section 4.
3. Graph area (center) — here the axes, the coordinate grid and the radiation pattern itself are drawn. The horizontal axis shows the angle (radians), the vertical the pattern level. The mouse works over this area: you can select a rectangle to zoom in, and a double click fits the scale.
4. Status bar (bottom) — two panels: - the left one — the coordinates of the point under the mouse cursor (the angle value on X and the pattern-level value on Y); - the right one — the integral characteristics of the current pattern: the directivity (Knd, including in dB) and the aperture efficiency (Kip), and for a large array the emitted power (Emitted Power) instead of Kip.

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4. The toolbar

The toolbar duplicates the most frequent menu commands as buttons. If the toolbar is not visible, enable it via View → Toolbar. TMC_DN's toolbar and menu are shared with TMCGROUT — the radiation-pattern program (the DiaNapGr module) has no resource file of its own, so the set of buttons is the same.

The buttons go from left to right. Below is the purpose of each.

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5. The menus

Below, every item of every menu is explained: what it does, its keyboard shortcut, and what happens after you select it. TMC_DN's menu is shared with TMCGROUT.

5.1. The File menu

When saving, the display settings (colors, font, line types) are additionally remembered in the Windows registry and used as defaults for new documents.

5.2. The Edit menu

Important: the radiation-pattern-specific dialogs (introducing deviations, computing the pattern of a deviated array relative to the required pattern) are opened not from the top menu but from the Characteristics dialog (Ctrl+D) — separate buttons have been added to it in TMC_DN. See sections 6.4–6.5.

The Characteristics dialog (the document's pattern table):

5.3. The View menu

The Viewport dialog (window parameters):

The View → Zoom submenu

With auto-scale enabled on an axis, the program fits the limits to the minimum/maximum of the data itself, and manual limits on that axis are ignored (the Xmin/Xmax or Ymin/Ymax fields in the Viewport dialog become unavailable).

The View → Translate submenu

Shifting is convenient when you need to "scroll" the pattern left/right/up/down without changing the scale. The same actions are produced by the shift buttons on the toolbar (#16–21).

5.4. The Config menu

The Config → Color submenu

The Graphics item opens a table of 16 line samples. By clicking the desired sample, you choose the color, the style (solid, dashed, dotted) and the thickness of that line.

5.5. The Window menu

5.6. The Help menu

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6. Typical workflows

Below are step-by-step instructions for the most frequent tasks.

6.1. Open a .dop document

1. Menu File → Open… (or Ctrl+O, or the "Open" button on the toolbar).
2. Select a file with the .dop extension (for example, r7.dop).
3. The program computes the radiation pattern. If the array is large, a progress window with two indicators appears — wait for the computation to finish.
4. The pattern is built automatically. If the curve has "run off" beyond the window, press the auto-scale buttons Auto X size and Auto Y size.

6.2. Build a pattern from a "raw" description .DAT

1. Menu File → Open… (Ctrl+O).
2. In the dialog select a file with the .DAT extension (for example, r7.DAT).
3. The program reads the array description, computes the radiation pattern (for a large array — with a progress window) and builds the graph; a document to store the display settings is created next to it. Save it (File → Save, Ctrl+S) so that next time you open the ready .dop document.

6.3. Read the directivity, aperture efficiency and emitted power

After the pattern is computed and built:

1. Look at the right panel of the status bar (bottom of the window) — the directivity (Knd, including in dB) and the aperture efficiency (Kip) are shown there.
2. For a large array, Emitted Power is shown instead of Kip.

What these quantities mean (for the user):

• Directivity (Knd) — how "sharply" the antenna radiates in the main direction compared with an antenna radiating equally in all directions. The higher the directivity, the narrower and stronger the main lobe. It is often expressed in decibels (dB): the more dB, the more directional the antenna.
• Aperture efficiency (Kip) — a measure of how efficiently the whole aperture (surface) of the antenna "works". Roughly: it shows how close the real array is to the ideal in the shape of the amplitude-phase distribution.
• Emitted Power — the total power radiated by the array; the program shows it instead of Kip for large arrays.

6.4. Introduce random deviations into the array

This function lets you model how manufacturing inaccuracies of an antenna affect the radiation pattern: small deviations of the coordinates, amplitudes and phases of individual radiators.

1. Open a document or a .DAT file with the array description.
2. Open the document table: menu Edit → Characteristics (Ctrl+D) or the "Document parameters" button on the toolbar.
3. In this dialog find the button that launches the deviations function and press it. A separate deviation dialog opens.
4. In the deviation dialog you set: - the source file of the array (.DAT, the source); - the output file (.DAT, where to save the deviated array); - the coordinate spread of the radiators along X and Y (in millimeters); - the amplitude spread (as a percentage); - the phase spread (in degrees).
5. The program creates a new array file in which the parameters of each radiator are randomly deviated within the given limits (a uniform distribution). This new .DAT can be opened in TMC_DN and its pattern compared with the original.

Input: the source array file + the spread values (X, Y, amplitude, phase). Output: a new .DAT file with randomly deviated radiator parameters.

6.5. Compare the pattern of a deviated array with the required (reference) one

This function computes the radiation pattern for a given amplitude-phase distribution and saves it next to the required (reference) pattern in a single comparison file, so that they are convenient to compare.

1. Open the document table: Edit → Characteristics (Ctrl+D).
2. In the dialog find the button that launches the comparison with the required pattern function and press it. A separate computation dialog opens.
3. In the dialog you set: - the array amplitude/phase distribution file (.DAT); - the required (reference) pattern file — it defines which pattern you want to obtain ideally; - the output comparison file, into which two patterns (the required and the actually computed) are written for each angle.
4. The program computes the pattern for the given distribution and writes the comparison file. It can be opened to see how much the actual pattern differs from the required one.

Input: the amplitude/phase distribution file + the required-pattern file. Output: a comparison file with three columns — angle · required pattern · computed pattern.

6.6. Adjust the scale (Zoom / Auto X / Auto Y)

There are three ways to change the scale:

• With the mouse — hold the left button and draw a rectangle around the pattern area of interest; when you release the button the program zooms in on the selection. A double click in the graph area fits the scale back.
• With the toolbar buttons — Zoom + / Zoom − (both axes), Zoom +X/−X, Zoom +Y/−Y (one axis).
• Auto-scale — View → Zoom → Auto X size (Alt+X) and Auto Y size (Alt+Y). The program fits the limits so that the whole pattern is visible. This is the fastest way to "fit" the graph into the window.

6.7. Shift the pattern (Translate)

1. Menu View → Translate.
2. Select Change Xmax, Xmin (shift along the angle) or Change Ymax, Ymin (shift along the level).
3. In the nested submenu, choose to increase or decrease the desired limit. The pattern shifts by a step of about 10% of the range.

The same effect is produced by the shift buttons on the toolbar (#16–21).

The shift only works with auto-scale disabled on the corresponding axis: with auto-scale enabled, the limits are determined automatically from the data.

6.8. Change the colors and appearance

Background / grid / axes / point color: 1. Menu Config → Color → Background / Grid / Axies / Point. 2. In the standard dialog select the color → OK.

Curve color, style and thickness: 1. Menu Config → Color → Graphics. 2. In the opened table click the sample of the desired pattern. 3. Select the color, the line style (solid/dashed/dotted) and the thickness → OK.

Label font: 1. Menu Config → Font. 2. Select the font, size and color → OK.

6.9. Print the pattern

1. First set the scale and appearance the way you want to see them on paper.
2. (Optional) Menu File → Print Preview — check how the pattern will fit on the page.
3. Menu File → Print… (Ctrl+P) or the "Print" button.
4. Select the printer and click OK.

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7. Input data formats

TMC_DN works with the .dop document, the .DAT array-description file, and the distribution files .AMP (amplitudes) and .FAZ (phases).

7.1. The .dop document file

.dop is a text TMC_DN document file. It can be opened with any text editor. It stores the display settings and the list of patterns, but does not store the data itself — the data is taken from the .DAT files referenced by the document.

File structure (using the real file samples/SAMPLE_R/KIRILL/HIPERSOUND/r7.dop):

#TMCGROTS
!Graphics parameters
!Graphics data
!file name : E:\BackUP\ARHIV\WORK\Source\SAMPLE_R\KIRILL\HIPERSOUND\r7.dop
!Data file for draw graphics
!TFileName GraphicsName DrawFlag Input1 Mod1 Input2 Mod2
r7.DAT r7.DAT 1 1 1 1 1

Line-by-line breakdown:

Pattern description (a data line). The column format is given in the comment above it:

!TFileName GraphicsName DrawFlag Input1 Mod1 Input2 Mod2
r7.DAT     r7.DAT       1        1      1    1      1

7.2. The .DAT antenna-array description file

.DAT is a file with the description of the antenna array from which the program computes the radiation pattern. According to the description in the API documentation (docs/api/viewers/tmc_dn.md, the c2DArray::ReadData method), it is a text file with the following structure:

Frequence = <frequency> Ghz;
N = <number of radiators>;
<expression of the element's own pattern>
0   X = <x0> mm; Y = <y0> mm; Amplitude = <a0>; Faza = <f0> degree; [FiMin = ... degree; FiMax = ... degree; <expression>]
1   X = <x1> mm; Y = <y1> mm; Amplitude = <a1>; Faza = <f1> degree; ...
...

Line-by-line breakdown:

What is responsible for what:

• The coordinates X, Y of a radiator set its position in the plane of the array. It is precisely the mutual arrangement of the elements that determines how their fields add up at different angles and what main lobe results.
• Amplitude — the excitation amplitude of the element (how "loudly" the given element radiates). The distribution of amplitudes over the array affects the side-lobe level.
• Faza — the excitation phase of the element (in degrees). The phase distribution allows the main lobe to be "tilted" (beam scanning).
• The element's own pattern expression (the 3rd line and/or in the element line) sets how a single element radiates as a function of angle. It is a formula in the exprint library language (trigonometric and other functions are available; the angle is denoted by the angle variable).
• FiMin / FiMax (if set) limit the angular range in which the element is considered "visible" (radiating).

7.3. The .AMP and .FAZ distribution files

.AMP and .FAZ are the amplitude and phase distributions over the elements (aperture) of the antenna: a "map" of the amplitude and phase with which each point of the aperture is excited. The excitation of the array radiators is formed from them.

From the available files the following can be seen (using r7.AMP as an example):

The .AMP/.FAZ files in this form are not meant for manual editing — after the header come numbers written in binary. They should be opened with the package's tools, not a text editor.

7.4. How to obtain data files for TMC_DN

The data for the radiation pattern is prepared by a compute kernel when computing a planar structure. In brief (details are in docs/api/kernels/planar_rt_h.md and docs/api/libs/tmcindan.md):

1. Prepare an input template file .tpl (the structure topology, parameters, the output section) and compute the structure in the tmc_rth.exe kernel (H-polarization). During the computation the kernel integrates the field over time (the CFieldIntegrated class).
2. The kernel performs an export of data for the radiation pattern with the CFieldIntegrated::ExportToDirectionalPattern function (TMCIndan): from the accumulated field, the amplitude and phase of the radiators along the area boundaries (Xmin/Xmax/Ymin/Ymax) are computed. It is at this stage that the amplitude/phase distribution files and the array description are formed.
3. The resulting files are opened in TMC_DN, where the radiation pattern is built and analyzed from them.

Ready-made examples for practice are in samples/SAMPLE_R/KIRILL/HIPERSOUND/ (r7.dop, r7.DAT, r7.AMP, r7.FAZ).

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8. Possible problems and their solutions