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A Numerical Regularization of the EFIE for

Three-Dimensional Planar Structures in
Layered Media (Invited Article)
Giuseppe Vecchi, Ladislau Matekovits, Paola Pirinoli, Mario Orefice
Dipartimento di Elettronica, Politecnico di Torino, I-10129 Torino, Italy; e-mail: vecchi@polito.it
Recei¨ ed 15 January 1996; re¨ ised 26 September 1996.

ABSTRACT: The issue of transforming the first-kind, singular EFIE into a second-kind
regular equation is addressed for a general printed structure via a novel approach, with
separation of the integral operator in two parts, and numerically based inversion of their
singular parts. The improvements introduced by this procedure are described, along with
the insight given into the practical convergence of the EFIE; this appears as a consequence
of the singularity of the kernel, to be properly retained and handled in the solution process.
Q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Microwa© e Millimeter-Wa© e CAE 7: 410–431, 1997.

Keywords: planar structures; integral equation; regularization

1. INTRODUCTION EFIE ŽMPIE; see w2x and references therein . in

Printed structures, composed of planar conduc-
tors embedded in plane-stratified media, consti-
tute a wide and important class of microwave
devices, both in terms of circuits and as antennas
or arrays. In many cases, the dielectric substrate
can be considered Žtransversally . infinite, espe-
cially for the evaluation of input parameters Ž S-
parameters., that are of foremost importance in
the applications. The analysis of these printed
structures can be formulated in terms of an elec-
tric-field integral equation ŽEFIE, e.g., w1x.. Al-
though in the case of Žslightly. lossy conductors
the EFIE is a second-kind Fredholm equation, in
most of the cases, these losses are small, and the
equation numerically behaves as the first-kind
equation obtained in the limit of zero losses w1x.
Here, we will consider this lossless case, in which
the EFIE is written in terms of an integral opera-
tor, called Z henceforth, with a strongly singular
kernel. This strong singularity is cogently repre-
sented in the mixed-potential formulation of the
Correspondence to: G. Vecchi
terms of differential operations on weakly singu-
lar Green’s functions, with a number of advan-
tages for the spatial-domain solution.
The EFIE is originally formulated in an infi-
nite-dimensional space, and the first step involved
in its numerical solution is clearly the reduction
into a finite-dimensional space where the integral
operator is represented by a matrix w Z x, defining
a linear system w Z xw I x s w V x whose solution w I x
eventually yields the finite-dimensional approxi-
mation of the unknown function. The accuracy of
this approximation is clearly influenced by the
accuracy with which the operator can be ‘‘cut’’
into the finite-dimension space; from a mathe-
matical point of view, this is expressed by the
compactness of Z , and a compact operator can
be safely ‘‘cut.’’ In solving the equation, we will be
interested ultimately in the compactness of the
in¨ erse operator Zy1 : if this is compact, it is
possible to safely ‘‘cut’’ it in the numerical solu-
tion.
It is a general result that the inverse of a
compact operator is not compact w3x, and on the
other hand, a regular or weakly singular Žintegra-

Q 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC 1050-1827r97r060410-22

410

ble. kernel corresponds to a compact operator.
For this reason, the singularity in the kernel of Z
can be regarded as a blessing in disguise: prob-
lems formulated as a first-kind equation with a
smooth kernel are guaranteed to be ill condi-
tioned, as is well known in inverse problems, like
antenna synthesis. Therefore, while the singular-
ity of the kernel is responsible for the growth of
the condition number with the number of un-
knowns, it can be argued that it is also what
‘‘usually’’ allows the practical solution to the
first-kind EFIE. We remark that it recently has
been reported w4, 5x that problems can arise from
the discretization of the EFIE because of the
intrinsic ‘‘regularity’’ Žcompactness. of the dis-
cretized, spectrally truncated operator.
Here, we will show that the singularity does
warrant the inversion procedure, provided it is
correctly taken into account and handled, and the
connection between the growth of the condition
number and the increase of the number of un-
knowns will be outlined. In this paper, we will
always consider the two-norm condition number.
On the other hand, a second-kind Fredholm
equation Žlike the MFIE. has more favorable
convergence properties; this has prompted a tech-
nique, usually called regularization, that allows to
recast the original singular first-kind equation
into a second-kind equation with a smooth kernel
Žcompact operator.. The technique is based on
the explicit inversion of the operator associated
to the singular part of the kernel, and is therefore
limited to special cases where such inversion is
possible in closed form. In free space, the inver-
sion Žand subsequent regularization. of the singu-
lar part is possible for a wide class of two-dimen-
sional problems Žsee w6x and references therein .
and some symmetric three-dimensional cases, re-
lated to the solution of Riemann]Hilbert prob-
lems w7x. Another approach for the free-space
case has been proposed in w8x, based on a clever
manipulation of the singular part, viewed as an
integro-differential operator. A very recent paper
w9x has been concerned with the regularization of
the singular part of the operator for the volume
scattering problem of homogeneous bodies; in
that paper, the term ‘‘regularization’’ is employed
in a slightly different sense that it is in the pre-
sent work. For the layered media case, the tech-
nique has been successfully applied to two-dimen-
sional problems only Že.g., w10, 11, App. Ax.. Here,
we will address the regularization problem for a
general printed structure; a preliminary version of
this technique was presented in w12x.
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 411
In order to avoid confusion, we remark that
the main thrust of this paper is not on the method
of evaluating the reaction integrals associated with
the strongly or weakly singular Žintegro-differen-
tial. parts of the operator. This task can be done
directly in the spectral domain, or employing one
of the known results for the space domain w1, 2,
13]15x, as indicated in the following. Instead, we
concentrate on how to employ the singular part,
and the related information on the physics of the
problem, to ascertain the global properties of the
EFIE for the class of concerned problems, and to
improve its numerical solution.
In this paper, we consider the case of planar
conductors: consistently, the Green’s functions
employed explicitly will be those relating electric
currents and electric fields both transverse to the
direction of stratification, taken here along the
z-axis. The case in which vertical conductors Žand
thus vertical currents . andror apertures Žimplying
magnetic currents . also are present will be briefly
mentioned at the end of Section 4.
2. THE EFIE AND ITS
SINGULAR PARTS
We will consider a perfectly conducting, thin
printed structure Že.g., a patch antenna . occupy-
ing a region S, with contour g , embedded in a
layered dielectric medium stratified along the ˆz-
axis; the EFIE for the unknown Žequivalent. sur-
face currents J on the conductors can be written
in the spatial domain r in terms of an integral
operator Z :
Es Ž r . s yE0 , ;r g R 2 ;
Es Ž r . ' Z J Ž r .
2 X
s PSŽ r . HS d r G Ž r y r X . ? J Ž r X . Ž1.
where P S Ž r . s 1 on S and zero elsewhere, Es is
the ‘‘scattered’’ electric field transverse to ẑ
Žtangential to the conductors. produced by the
equivalent Žunknown. surface currents J, E0 is
the driving term Žtangential ‘‘incident’’ field times
P S ., and the kernel G is the dyadic transverse
Green’s function of the layered medium Žwithout
conductors..
We will assume a method of moments ŽMoM.
solution scheme, that implies a solution to Ž1. in a
weak sense, with a Galerkin testing scheme and
reaction-type inner product ² , :.
412 Vecchi et al.
The regularity properties will be examined from
the point of view of spatial filtering; therefore,
the discussion mostly will be in the spectral ŽFour-
ier transform. domain. However, this does not
imply that use of the spectral-domain version
should be mandatory for the practical implemen-
tation; on the contrary, at least the part of the
procedure associated with the singular parts is
recommended to be in the spatial domain Žsee
Section 5.4..
In the spectral domain s , where the trans-
formed quantities are denoted by a tilde Ž˜., the
Green’s function in Ž1. can be partitioned into a
part along Ž ˆz = sˆ .Ž ˆ
z = sˆ . and a part along ss
ˆˆ ,
both obtained as solution of Žequivalent. trans-
mission line problems Že.g., w16,17x and references
therein .; using the terms TE and TM with refer-
ence to the ‘‘guiding axis’’ ˆ z as customary, we can
write:
˜Ž s ; v . s ss
G ˆˆ g TM Ž s ; v .
z = sˆ .Ž ˆ
qŽ ˆ z = sˆ . g TE Ž s ; v . Ž 2 .
so that Z s Z TE q Z TM . Extracting the asymp-
totic behavior for s ª `, the two parts can be
expressed as:
1 Žsurface . divergence: in fact, =t ? J Y s 0 « s ? J˜Y
g TM Ž s ; v . s TM
gy1 s q g 1TM Ž s ; v . ,
j ve 0
1 need to separate the TE and TM parts.
g TE Ž s ; v . s j vm 0 g 1TE q g 3TE Ž s ; v . ,
s
g nŽ . ; 1rs n , sª`
TE
Ž gy1 and g 1TE
are constants .. The leading TM
term gy1 s gives rise to a strong singularity in
Ž TM .
the space domain that behaves like 1r< r y r X < 3
as < r y r X < ª 0, which we write Zs s Ž1rj ve 0 . S .
The remaining terms, both TE and TM, yield
integrable Žweakly singular at most. kernels, which
we denote globally as the regular operator Zr .
Both leading terms gy1 TM
s and g 1TE rs are related
to the static behavior in the spatial domain, with
the leading TM term accounting for the near
electrostatic field and the TE for the near magne-
tostatic field. Because of this, we will shortly refer
to these terms as Želectro- or magneto-. static
terms.
From the previous considerations, it is clear
that the strongly singular part acts as a high-pass
filter for the function Ž J . onto which it operates,
thereby enhancing its spatial high-frequency con-
tent. On the other hand, the regular part acts Žfor
a sufficiently high spatial frequency s . as a low-
pass filter, with reversed effect. The first key
concept behind the technique presented here is
to separate these two parts in a meaningful man-
ner.
It is important to note that the kernels arising
from the static terms are frequency independent
Ž v factors out., and thus all operations involving
these are to be performed only once for all fre-
quencies of interest.
In the formal regularization technique, eq. Ž1.
is left-multiplied by the inverse Zsy1 , therefore
leading to a ‘‘regularized’’ second-kind equation:
Zsy1 E0 ,
Ž I q A . J s yZ A ' Zsy1 Zr ,
I s identity operator. Ž4.
As detailed above, the first practical problem is
that the inverse Zsy1 cannot be found for a
general problem.
Moreoever, in a general three-dimensional
vector problem Žunlike the two-dimensional case.,
the singular operator ŽTM. is only a portion of
the total ŽTE q TM. operator; the singular oper-
ator has a nonempty null-space constituted by the
set of the purely solenoidal functions, that is, of
the functions J Y having an everywhere vanishing
s 0, and Z TM J Y s 0. Therefore, a direct inver-
sion of this singular part is not viable; instead, we
Ž3.
3. SEPARATION
3.1. Formulation
In order to effect the separation, we denote by W
the space of the solution J, by W Y the set of
purely solenoidal functions J Y , and by J X the
elements of its complement W X s W y W Y :
J Y : =t ? J Y s 0, ;r g R 2 . Ž5.
This separation of the basis is always possible,
and, in fact, recommendable; the description of
its practical implementation is postponed to Sec-
tion 3.2 so as not to deviate from the principle
outline here.
As mentioned above, it is clear that Z TM J Y s 0
and also ² J Y , Z TM J : s 0: therefore, the
solenoidal functions span the null-space of the
TM operator. Note that the solenoidal property
holds pointwise Ži.e., in a strong manner. also
 EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 413

across the boundary of the conductor surface S, We can now summarize the two split equations,
while the elements J X are not irrotational in a implying their weak sense:
strong Žpointwise. sense Žas detailed in Sections
5.4.2 and 6.. 1
S q ZrTM q Z TE J X q T ME M s yE0X
Now, since J Y is solenoidal, we can express it
in terms of a scalar function Žthe axial magnetic
ž j ve 0 /
current . M Ž r . as: 1
B q Y M q T EM J X s yHz 0 . Ž 10.
1
ž j vm 0 /
JY Ž r . s zM Ž r .
=t = ˆ Ž6. The operators in Ž10. have the same form as Z in
j vm 0
Ž1., with G replaced by the appropriate kernel,
whose spectral form is listed below:
and call M its space. The factor in front of the
curl is arbitrary, and is chosen as such for further
S l S˜Ž s . s ss TM
ˆˆ gy1 s Ž 11.
convenience.
We can likewise split the ‘‘scattered’’ field Es ˜TM Ž s . s ss
wLHS of Ž1.x and the forcing term E0 in two parts,
ZrTM l G r ˆˆ g 1TM Ž s . Ž 12 .
denoted by a prime Ž9. and a double prime Ž0 ., ˜TE Ž s . s Ž ˆz = sˆ .Ž ˆz = sˆ . g TE Ž s .
Z TE l G
belonging to W X and W Y , respectively. Note that
this procedure is evident through projection onto Ž 13.
the two subspaces, and that we will not need EX
and EY as such, but only their projections over T ME , T EM
the basis Žand test. functions JmX g W X and JmY g 1
W Y . Because of the separation of the basis into l T˜Ž s . s g TE Ž s .Ž yjs = ẑ .
j vm 0
the two sets, the boundary condition Es q E0 s 0
can be enforced separately on the two parts. Ž 14.
As for the enforcement of the solenoidal part 1
of the boundary conditions, after a few simple Y l Y˜Ž s . s s 2 g 3TE Ž s . Ž 15.
manipulations, the testing onto JmY s Ž1rj vm 0 . Ž vm 0 . 2
=t = ˆzMm g W Y yields:
B l B˜Ž s . s yg 1TEs . Ž 16.
Y
² J , E : s ² M, Hz : Ž7.
The kernels above are obtained directly by com-
parison of Ž10. with Ž9. and Ž2.; note that T EM
with: and T ME are adjoint, and they have the same
kernel: in the following, we will indicate both by
1 T , except when a distinction is necessary for clar-
Hz s =t ? Ž ˆ
z = E. Ž8.
j vm 0 ity.
In order to clarify the meaning of eqs. Ž10.,
one can remark that the first one is to be pro-
so that this Žsolenoidal. part of the EFIE can be
jected only onto the JmX g W X Žbut note that
viewed as the enforcement of the boundary con-
² J X , Z TE J : / 0., while the second one will be
dition on the conductor via the normal magnetic
tested onto the Žscalar. functions Mm that span
field, with weak enforcement effected by testing
M.
over the space M . In the spectral domain, simple
The singular operator B accounts for the
manipulations yield:
asymptotic, magnetostatic behavior, and it is im-
portant to note that its kernel B, with the spec-
1
yH˜z Ž s . s ˜Ž s .
g 1TEs M tral form in Ž16., expresses the same singular
j vm 0 behavior as the TM singular Želectrostatic . part
S , and as S is frequency independent. The re-
1
q ˜Ž s .
s 2 g 3TE Ž s . M maining kernels are all regular or weakly singular
v 2m20 Žintegrable ..
1 The starting point of a regularization is the
q z ? js = J˜X Ž s . . Ž 9 .
g TE Ž s . ˆ correct analysis of the singular behavior, and the
j vm 0 results above, summarized in Ž10. and Ž11. ] Ž16.,
414 Vecchi et al.
show that in order to analyze the singular behav-
ior of the Žvector. three-dimensional case of EFIE
for a printed structure correctly, it is necessary to
consider two ‘‘smaller,’’ coupled problems, with
the same singular behavior and spatial filtering
properties Žalthough different scaling of the con-
dition number can be expected, as detailed in
Sections 5.4.2 and 6..
3.2. Numerical Implementation
In the case of entire-domain basis functions on
simple shapes Žrectangle, circle, annulus ., the sep-
aration of W into W X and W Y is almost immedi-
ate. If the modes of the corresponding magnet-
ic-wall cavity are employed, the usual TErTM
decomposition is enough to individuate the
solenoidal subset; all orthogonal functions on such
domains Žsinrcos, Bessel functions, etc.. can be
rearranged in terms of cavity modes, except when
singular edge conditions are incorporated: in this
case, the solenoidalrnonsolenoidal decomposi-
tion is not as straightforward, and its description
is omitted here for the sake of brevity.
Instead, we concentrate on the most significant
case of a completely arbitrary geometry. There-
fore, we consider a discretization of the current J
in terms of a set  fa 4 of subdomain vector func-
tions with polygonal supports that are able to
describe an arbitrary shape. We will consider the
usual case of linear functions, having constant
divergence on each subdomain. These will be
‘‘rooftop’’ functions on a rectangular mesh, and
the functions introduced in MoM by Rao et al.
w18x on a triangular mesh. We remark that, in
order to ensure a correct solution of the EFIE,
the mesh must be able to correctly represent
zero-divergence functions, i.e., it must be div-con-
forming. In this paper, we will restrict ourselves
to the case of a rectangular mesh.
The basis function separation in W X and W Y
is immediate by considering the loop]star re-
grouping of the basis functions introduced in w19x,
and is summarized briefly below only for the
explicitly considered case of rectangular mesh
Žthe triangular case is also described in w20x..
The solenoidal subspace W Y is spanned by
closed loops LŽ r . that are the simplest div-free
combinations of basis functions; in our case Žrect-
angular mesh., they are formed by four rooftops,
as depicted in Figure 1; clearly, loops have zero
Žsurface . charge. As a byproduct, one obtains that
in a correct div-conforming mesh, the surface S
must be covered by these cells. In terms of the
Figure 1. Loop]star groupings of elemental basis
functions for the rooftop Žrectangular mesh. case. A
loop LŽ r . composed of four rooftops is shown in the
middle; the others are star functions X Ž r ., and show
the deformation of stars when at the boundary.
scalar representation Ž6., we write:
La Ž r . s =t = ˆ
zL a Ž r . Ž 17.
and it is immediate to verify that the scalar func-
tions L that span M are pyramids over the area
occupied by the Žrectangular . loop, that is, they
form a scalar linear Lagrange Žor nodal interpo-
lating. basis.
As for the remaining part W X of the space W
that represents nonsolenoidal functions, it is
spanned by the groupings of rooftops, denoted by
Xb , that form ‘‘stars,’’ i.e., outgoing currents from
a central cell along the arms; this maximizes the
charge in the central cell. Star basis functions are
depicted in Figure 1. The loops are not deformed
at the boundary of S, whereas the stars reduce to
a ‘‘T’’ or an ‘‘L’’ there.
If N is the number of rooftop basis functions
NL is the number of loops, and NS is the number
of stars, then NL q NS s N q 1, and any star has
to be omitted. This is due to the fact that the
stars are the basis for the charge Žloops have null
charge., and the total charge must be zero in an
electrodynamic problem. In this paper, only the
case of a region S without holes is considered; in
this case, additional loops around each hole have
to be included.
Note that the above star]loop grouping does
not alter significantly the filling time of the MoM

matrix. Instead, this decomposition is always
meaningful, and reduces the condition number of
the problem w20x.
4. REGULARIZATION
The formal regularization of the two coupled
equations Ž10. is effected by left multiplying the
first one times the inverse S y1 and the second
one times By1 ; the operation now makes sense
because of the restriction to the subspaces W Y ,
W X . One has:
1 tion of A Ž ., K Ž ..
I q A X J X q K ME M s yS
S y1 E0X
ž j ve 0 / To make the procedure explicit, we consider
1 as expressed in the ‘‘elemental’’ basis Žstars or
By1 H z 0 Ž 18.
I q A 0 M q K EM J9 s yB
ž j vm 0 / loops, respectively.:
with:
A X s S y1 Zr , Zr ' ZrTM q Z TE ;
A Y s By1 Y ;
K ME s S y1T ME ;
K EM s By1T EM .
We now proceed as if we knew the inverse
singular operators, and we discretize the Žso far
formal. regularized equations Ž18., testing them
onto the basis functions JmX g W X and Mn g M .
From their spectral form, it can be shown that the
singular operators S and B are self-adjoint and
positive definite; therefore, the inner products
involving any of the regularized operators can be
modified as in the following example:
AXm n s ² JmX , A X JnX : s ² JmX , S y1 Zr JnX :
s ²U m , Zr JnX : ,
U m ' S y1 JnX .
This latter transformation makes the scheme nu-
merically meaningful: in fact, the entries of the
discrete representation w A m n x of the regularized
operator A X can be viewed as an equivalent,
non-Galerkin testing onto a test function U nŽ r .
that is the solution to the static Žsingular. equa-
tion:
S U n s JnX
with forcing term specified by the chosen basis
function Jn . Since eq. Ž21. can be solved through
discretization in any desired basis, the above
scheme represents a direct way to the practical
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 415
regularization of the EFIE, as made explicit be-
low.
Note that the functions  JnX , n s 1 : N X 4 and
 Mn , n s 1 : N Y 4 that are employed to represent
the regular operators can be chosen indepen-
dently from the ‘‘elemental’’ basis functions
Xa , La Že.g., see below; Section 5., and their
number need not equal NS or NL : instead, we will
need only as many functions as necessary to rep-
resent the regular operators with the desired ac-
curacy, as explained below. It is important to note
that dealing now with a second-kind equation
with smooth kernel, the accuracy in the solution
will be dictated by the accuracy in the representa-
the functions  JnX , n s 1 : N X 4 and  Mn , n s 1 : N Y 4
NS
JnX Ž r . s Ý jn a Xa Ž r . ,
as1
NS
Un Ž r . s Ý Un a Xa Ž r . Ž 22.
Ž 19. as1
so that eq. Ž21. reads:
w S xw U x s w j x , Sab s ² Xa , S Xb :
dim Ž S . s NS = NS , dim Ž U, j . s NS = N X .
Ž 23.
As detailed later in Section 5.4, the positive-defi-
nite system Ž23. can be solved via iterative tech-
niques, employing, if necessary, the precondition-
ing mentioned in Section 5.4.
From the viewpoint offered by the above pro-
cedure, we can consider the EFIE for the three-
Ž 20. dimensional Žvector. case in the same framework
as for the two-dimensional Žscalar. case. Name-
ly, we have a part that is frequency independent,
real Žor pure imaginary., singular in space and
high-pass filtering if regarded spectrally; upon
discretization, this part will yield a symmetric,
positive-definite matrix, but responsible for the
condition number of the overall system Žimped-
ance. matrix, which is known to grow with the
Ž 21. number of unknowns Žas also detailed in Section
5.. We will see below that it is precisely this
singular part that affords the stable solution of
the first-kind equation Žprovided it is treated cor-
rectly.. The remaining part of the equation is
represented by a regular kernel with a low-pass
416 Vecchi et al.

filtering effect, is complex, frequency dependent,
and not self-adjoint.
The numerically based regularization proce-
dure described here aims at handling the two
parts separately since manipulating a symmetric,
positive-definite, ill-conditioned operator or ma-
trix is significantly easier than dealing with an
unsymmetric, complex operatorrmatrix.
In the most significant version of the method,
this procedure also will yield a different set of
basis functions for the discretization of the regu-
lar part that allows a drastic reduction of the
number of unknowns Žsee below; Section 5..
the EFIE itself. Namely, we choose the basis
functions JnX and Mn to be the eigenfunctions of
the singular Žstatic. operators S and B, to be
called w and C, respectively:
Swn s sn wn , ² wn , wn : s 1;
B Cn s bnCn , ² Cn , Cn : s 1. Ž 24.
In the following, we will assume the ascending
ordering s1 F s2 F ??? , b1 F b 2 F ??? . Using
these bases  wn4 and  Cn4 for J X s Ý n InX wn and
M s Ý nVnY Cn , one obtains the second-kind, regu-
larized linear systems:

4.1. Other Geometries 1

dm n q AXm n InX q K mME Y

Lastly, we consider how the above formulation

Ý
n
ž j ve 0 / n Vn

can be extended to include the case of vertical ² wm , E0 :

currents, as in the case of coaxial-related probes s
and via holes, andror of magnetic currents, that sm
substitute for apertures in metallizations Žas in 1
dm n q AYm n VnY q K mEM X
the case of slot coupling.. The discussion here will
be only at the general level: explicit equations
Ý
n
ž j vm 0 / n In

and related numerical examples will be the sub- ² Cm , H z 0 :

ject of a future paper. s Ž 25.
In order to proceed with the regularization of bm
the integral equations, one must first isolate strong ² wm , Zr wn : Tm n
Žspatial. singularities, corresponding to asymp- AXm n s , n s
K mME ,
totic decays of the Green’s function slower than sm sm
1rs : this can be done employing the results of ² Cm , Y Cn : Tm n
w16, 17x. We remark that if terms can be isolated AYm n s , n s
K mEM ,
that are asymptotic to a constant for both the TE bm bm
and TM parts, these correspond to spatial d ; the Tm n s ² Cm , Twn : . Ž 26.
equations in which these terms appear therefore
become explicitly of the second kind upon extrac- We recall that in the equations above, Zr , T , and
tion of this asymptotic. Y have regular kernels Žlow-pass filters..
However, in the case of vertical currents, if a Note that since the singular edge behavior is
wire Žlike a shorting pin. connects two horizontal essentially due to the static part, the use of the
conductors, the loops must include vertical as well static eigenfunction allows direct incorporation of
as horizontal basis functions, and further manipu- the edge singularity into the solution.
lations are required to separate the related oper-
ators. In this latter case, the use of explicitly
three-dimensional mixed potential forms as in 5.2. The Static Eigenfunctions
w17x may alleviate the analytical manipulation
The vector functions:
burden.
cn ' ˆ
z = =C
t n
Ž 27.

5. STATIC EIGENFUNCTION associated with Cn are clearly solenoidal; as for

REPRESENTATION
5.1. Formulation
We illustrate now a special version of the regular-
ization scheme that elucidates many important
features of the theory and important aspects of
the nonsolenoidal eigenfunctions wn , we recall
that ² J Y , S J : s 0 for any J and any solenoidal
J Y Žsee Section 3.1., and since Swn s sn wn , then
² J Y , wn : s Ž1rsn .² J Y , Swn : s 0; with the same
manipulations as for Ž7., this is equivalent to
stating a weak irrotationality of the nonsolenoidal
 EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 417

eigenfunctions, i.e., upon testing over M :
² J Y , wn : A ² M, ˆ
z ? =t = wn : s 0
also, this implies the mutual orthogonality of the
two sets of static eigenfunctions, in the sense
that:
functions, i.e., with the neglect of the curl discon-
tinuity at the boundary of each subdomain.
Ž 28. Equation Ž34. explains why no surface current
can be irrotational in a strong sense; this points
again at the values on the boundary as the key
point in the coupling between solenoidal and
nonsolenoidal terms.

² cm , wn : s 0. Ž 29. 5.2.1. Edge Singularities and Coupling Terms. The

edge singularity of fields is related to the static
On this ground, we will refer to the eigenfunc- behavior Žnear field., and appears essentially in
tions above as the Žstatic. TE Žsolenoidal. and two ways Že.g., w21x and references therein .: singu-
TM Žweakly irrotational. eigenfunctions, or Žstat- lar current J 5 parallel to edge, and singular nor-
ic. TE and TM modes. mal derivative of the perpendicular current J H ,
To probe further into the irrotationality of the both leading to a divergent edge Žsurface . charge.
TM eigenfunctions, we note that using Ž11. and The contour g of the metallization S is param-
the expressions in w16x, the TM eigenproblem Ž24. eterized by the arc length l and described by
can be written explicitly as an integro-differential r s rg Ž l .; the tangential and normal directions t̂
equation Žof the MPIE type.: and ˆ n, respectively, define a local orthogonal
system with coordinates l and t s ˆ n ? Ž r y rg ..
P S Ž r . =t Fn s sn wn Ž 30. For an infinitesimally thin planar conductor, the
singular behavior is of the kind 1r 't .
with: As it appears from Ž10. and Ž11. ] Ž16., for
v ª 0, the two parts J X , M become essentially
Fn Ž r . s F w wn x uncoupled, and thus they both must incorporate
the singular edge behavior.
TM
1 2 X
gy1 The solenoidal current component J 5Y s ˆ t ? JY
sy H dr =t ? wn Ž r X . . Ž 31. Y
2p S < r y rX < will have a singular behavior J 5 Ž l , t . ; 1r 't
when t ª 0; the condition =t ? J Y s 0 implies that
Y
Because of the equality in Ž30., the function wn near the boundary, ­ J H Ž l , t .r­ t s y­ J 5Y Ž l ,
Y
must be strongly irrotational for interior points t .r­ l , and therefore the normal derivation ­ J H
r g S y g: Ž l , t .r­ t also will have the 1r 't singularity.
Employing Ž6. and ˆ n=ˆ tsˆ z, it is immediate to
=t = wn s 0 ;r g S y g , Ž 32. verify that the above behavior implies the edge
behavior M Ž l , t . ; 't .
while this does not hold globally for all r g R 2 ; On the other hand, the surface charge is en-
tirely given by the divergence of J X ; the charge
in fact, Ž30. explicitly contains the stipulation that
has a 1r 't singularity, and this forces the normal
the current Ž wn . be zero outside the metallization X
S, and: component J H sˆn ? J X of the nonsolenoidal part
to have a 't behavior. To assess the behavior of
=t P S Ž r . s yn the parallel component J 5X , we consider that for
ˆd Ž r y rg . Ž 33.
interior points, wn is Žstrongly. irrotational; this
holds also close to the boundary, where the con-
so that: dition ˆ z ? =t = wn s 0 implies ­w H r­ l s ­w 5r­ t.
Since ­w H r­ l is regular, so also is ­w 5r­ t, and
ˆz ? Ž =t = wn . s d Ž r y rg . Ž ˆt ? wn . g
Ž 34. w 5 cannot have a 1r 't singularity.
Because of the above, a nonsolenoidal compo-
Žt ? J X s J 5X is regular at g ; see paragraph below.. nent of the solution therefore always will be cou-
We remark that the equalities in Ž32. and Ž34. pled to the solenoidal one by the singular edge
hold exactly for basis functions with regular curl, condition. This is an important property, which
like the usual entire-domain functions used on affects the solution scheme, as detailed in Sec-
simple shapes, and approximately for subdomain tions 5.4 and 6.2.
418 Vecchi et al.
5.3. Singular Part Inversion and
Regularization Effect
From Ž24., is it apparent that sn s ² wn , Swn : or
ŽParseval’s theorem.:
TM
gy1
sn s H d 2s w
˜n Žys . ? sss
ˆ ˆ ? w˜n Ž s . Ž35.
4p 2 R2
and thus, the greater the number of spatial oscil-
lations of wn , the larger the Žspatial. frequency of
the peak of w ˜n , and the larger the associated
eigenvalue sn ; the same holds for the eigenvalues
bn and eigenfunctions Cn of B. Therefore, the
division by these eigenvalues in Ž25. and Ž26.
Žarising from the inverse of the singular opera-
tors. will have a low-pass filtering effect.
In the following, we will consider explicitly only
the Ždyadic. operator S and the related equation;
the same consideration applies to the Žscalar .
operator B and related equation.
The low-pass, i.e., smoothing, effect of the
inverse S y1 ensures that the solution u of an
equation of the kind S u s f will be more regular
than the forcing term f, and therefore, if f is
conveniently approximated by a given discretiza-
tion, so also will be the solution u. This guaran-
tees the numerical invertibility of the singular
part S , i.e., the convergence of the inversion
procedure under a discretization scheme. On the
other hand, one might observe from Ž35. that the
largest eigenvalue of S is not bounded: while this
does not affect the invertibility Žlarge eigenvalues,
sn are the least important in S y1 ., it implies,
however, that the condition of the operator is not
bounded, and the condition number of its approx-
imate Ždiscretized. version becomes increasingly
large with increasingly fine discretizations. But
since the operator, or its matrix version, is real
symmetric, the eigenvalues are not sensitive to
the condition number w22, pp. 200]202x. Also,
since the operator S and the associated matrix
are positive definite, none of the eigenvalues can
be zero.
Because of the above properties of Zr , T , and
S y1 , the operators A X and K ME are surely regu-
lar, and therefore, the second-kind regularized
equations Ž18. is invertible and with good conver-
gence properties. We note that this derives from
the spectral high-pass effect of S , which is in
turn the expression of the spatially singular be-
havior: this latter appears therefore as the war-
ranty for the inversion procedure.
Otherwise said, the singularity of the kernel of
the static operators makes the related problems
well conditioned, as contrasted with the case of a
first-kind equation with a smooth kernel, which is
actually ill conditioned. Upon regularization, this
well-conditioning property carries over to the en-
tire equation, which becomes second kind with a
regular kernel. In fact, the regular part Zr is a
low-pass Žactually a bandpass. filter, further im-
proved by the low-pass filtering property of S y1 .
As for the ‘‘spectral’’ properties of the regularized
terms like I q A, one has to resort to the singu-
lar value decomposition ŽSVD. since these terms
are not self-adjoint; because of the regularity of
the kernel Žcompactness of A ., the singular val-
ues ŽSV. of I q A are bounded and accumulate
at 1 w23x.
For the EFIE in its original first-kind form Ž1.,
one can likewise perform an SVD Žas in w24x..
Again, the singular kernel is actually what makes
the equation practically solvable. There are, how-
ever, two differences with respect to the regular-
ized case. First, the intrinsically growing condition
number Ževen away from resonances . is a prob-
lem that cannot be overlooked, and that is of
pivotal importance in the context of iterative so-
lutions, especially because the involved operators
are not self-adjoint and the resulting matrices are
not hermitian.
Second, although both first-kind and second-
kind formulations experience a marked condition
number increase at resonance, they practically do
it in a very different way. At a resonance, one of
the SVs will approach zero, with consequent Žun-
avoidable. growth of the condition number. For a
structure with a finite Žalbeit high. Q, in the
second-kind Žregularized. equation, with accumu-
lation at 1 of the SVs, the condition number will
be the reciprocal of the smallest SV, and this will
be essentially independent of the employed num-
ber of basis functions. In the first-kind case, the
condition number will depend on the ratio be-
tween the smallest SV Žclose to zero because of
the resonance. and the largest SV, which is un-
bounded in the operator and growing with the
number of basis function in its discretized version
Žmatrix..
It is apparent that the regularization process
renders the regularized operator A X more regular
than Zr and considerably lowers the condition
number of Ž I q A .; this is done at the Žcomputa-
tional. expense of the inversion of the static part:
since the latter is frequency independent, sym-

metric, and positive definite, with the outlined
Žpractical. invertibility properties, the above ap-
pears as a fair trade.
5.4. Numerical Considerations
Summarizing the strategy, we employ a large set
of rooftop basis functions, further grouped in
loop and star combinations, for discretizing the
singular operators and finding their eigenfunc-
tions. These latter are then employed as basis
functions for the regular parts: only a few of
them are needed to represent their low-pass ker-
nels.
5.4.1. Eigenproblem. Using the chosen star]loop
sets, i.e.,
NS
wk Ž r . s Ý u k a Xa Ž r .
as1
NL
Ck Ž r . s Ý ¨ k a La Ž r . Ž 36 .
as1
the eigensystems can be computed by standard
MoM discretization Žtesting. of Ž24., giving rise to
the following Žgeneralized. algebraic eigenprob-
lems:
w S xw u n x s sn w P X xw u n x ,
PaXb s ² Xa , Xb : ,
Sab s ² Xa , S Xb :
w B xw ¨ n x s bn w P L xw ¨ n x , PaLb s ² L a , Lb : ,
Bab s ² L a , BLb : . Ž 37.
Note that the dimensions of the two Žseparated.
problems are NS and NL , and that NL ; NS ;
Nr2. Note also that in many practical cases Že.g.,
patch arrays., the structure lends itself to decom-
position into smaller parts, and one has to solve
several smaller eigenproblems, or only a few Žlike
in the array case. if many elements of the struc-
ture are identical.
As for the sensitivity of the solutions, we recall
that, according to Ž35. and the following discus-
sion, the most important eigenvalues sn , bn in the
solution will be those related to the low-frequency
eigenfunctions wn , Cn , and this guarantees that
the spectral truncation, both in terms of the num-
ber of employed basis functions Ž fa . and of the
approximations in the reaction integrals, will af-
fect only the least important Žhigh-frequency.
components of the solution.
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 419
With regard to the numerical implementation,
we first note that the filling time for the terms in
w S x, w B x is small Žbesides being required anyway.
since either the integration can be expressed in
closed form Žas is the case for the self-elements .,
or can be done very efficiently; closed-form ex-
pressions emerge from recent results w13]15x.
Next, we recall that all matrices in Ž37. are
symmetric and positive definite; also, the projec-
tion matrices w P L x, w P X x are highly sparse Žeach
loop or star overlaps on at most four others., and
with known sparsity. Therefore, each of the gen-
eralized problems in Ž37. can be converted into a
standard one via Cholesky decomposition of the
projection matrices, and the latter can be per-
formed taking advantage of the sparsity w22, Sec.
8.6x. For full matrices, the above scheme runs to
completion in 7n3 flops; however, a significant
reduction can be expected if, in the standard
problem, only a fraction of the eigenvaluervec-
tors is required. This is actually the case, as
detailed below, because of the low-pass effect of
both Sy1 , By1 and of the regular operators. In
this case, owing to the definiteness of the prob-
lem, iterative schemes like the Rayleigh quotient
ŽRQ. with conjugate gradient ŽCG. an be em-
ployed Žsee, e.g., w25x.. It is to be noted that while
the projection matrices have a growing condition
number with a growing number of basis functions,
their condition number grows less than linearly,
and the Cholesky-based scheme can be applied
up to large problem dimensions. The inverse of
the matrices w P Ž . x have a smoothing effect, i.e.,
they act as preconditioners, reducing the overall
condition number and rendering the use of itera-
tive schemes meaningful. As a matter of fact, the
same preconditioning can be applied to any other
choice of basis function for the regular part,
making the solution of the positive-definite Ž23.
viable through iterative algorithms Žespecially the
CG..
For really large sizes, or to achieve a higher
efficiency, the use of iterative techniques is
mandatory. For example, one can resort to the
generalized RQ w22, Sec. 8.6x, possibly in connec-
tion with a CG solution at each iteration step,
especially if storage is a problem. Alternatively, a
simultaneous iteration algorithm as in w26, Rou-
tine F02FJFx can be employed; if one wishes to
avoid the inversion of w P X x, w P L x, at each itera-
tion a system of the kind w P xw w x s w S xw z x has to
be solved for w w x, and this can be done again with
a CG scheme, with storage reduction.
420 Vecchi et al.
5.4.2. TE–TM Differences. The difference be-
tween the TE and TM singular operators and
eigenproblems, arises principally from the differ-
ent continuity requirements for the two spaces W X
and M . For rooftop basis functions, the charge is
piecewise constant, with a spectral behavior
asymptotic to 1rs ; recasting the TM terms Sab
in Ž37. in terms of charge was in Ž30.x, one ascer-
tains that the integrand in the spectral form of
the reaction integral has an asymptotic behavior
of the kind 1rs 3. On the other hand, the func-
tions L are linear interpolating functions with
asymptotic spectral behavior 1rs 2 , and the spec-
tral integrand is asymptotic to 1rs 5 for the TE
terms Bab in Ž37.. Likewise, the same considera-
tions apply to the eigenfunctions; neglecting edge
singularity considerations, the charge =t ? w will
have a step discontinuity at the metalization
boundary g , while the Žcharge-free . TE Žscalar.
eigenfunctions will go to zero at g , again yielding
1rs and 1rs 2 asymptotics, respectively. For a
given number of basis function, i.e., for a given
maximum representable spatial frequency, the
largest TM eigenvalue in Ž35. will be larger than
its TE counterpart would be in the equation for
B analogous to Ž35.. As a result, both the condi-
tion number of the matrices w B x and w S x and of
the operators B and S will be different, the
latter being rather higher than the former.
5.5. Regular Part and Static
Mode Selection
Because of the regularization, the overall accu-
racy will depend on the accuracy in representing
the operators A Ž ., K Ž .. The matrices w AX x and
w AY x represent the regular operators Zr s Ž ZrTM
q Z TE . and Y in the  wn4 and  Cn4 bases, re-
spectively. The kernels of these operators are
low-pass filters, and one can find the maximum
spatial frequency required to approximate the
operator with a given precision; the bases of the
static eigenfunctions are orthonormal and or-
dered in terms of increasing peak Žspatial. fre-
quency Žsee Section 5.3.; therefore, one can de-
termine a priori how many such eigenfunctions
are needed, and only those need to be actually
computed. While the Y is a scalar operator in-
volving only the TE part of the Green’s function,
Zr in Ž19. involves both TM terms}the same
appearing in S , which generate the eigensystem
 wn4 }and TE terms, which imply a curl operation
on the TM static modes Ž =t = J l yjs = J˜.. The
same happens for the coupling terms K mŽ .n . These
terms, involving TE operators acting onto TM
eigenfunctions, require more attention since the
spectral ordering of the TM eigenfunctions  wn4
does not, in general, imply that their curl be
likewise ordered as well.
We further note that the coupling terms K Ž .,
involving the operator T , have the strongest
asymptotic behavior, given by T˜ ; const. as s ª
`. This seems to hint at the extraction of an
identity: however, since their range and image
belong to different spaces Žone being scalar, the
other vector valued., this cannot be done. In fact,
the leading part Žfor large s , or small spatial
separations r . of the M y J X coupling is due to
the frequency-independent operator T Ž a . defined
by the kernel:
1
T˜Ž a. Ž s . s g 1TE Ž yjs = ˆ
z. Ž 38.
s
and this can be viewed as a spatial curl, smoothed
by the 1rs term. This points at coupling terms as
the most critical ones after the regularization of
the singular part is done Žtheir connection with
edge behavior and the values at the boundary is
dealt with in Section 5.2..
Therefore, we can expect that most of the
difficulties in representing the regularized opera-
tors arise from the leading terms involving T Ž a. in
Ž38., and likewise from the leading part Z TEŽ a. of
the Z TE , defined by the kernel:
1
Z˜TEŽ a. Ž s . s g 1TE Ž yjs = ˆ
z .Ž yjs = ˆ
z . . Ž 39.
s2
Note that all of these terms are frequency inde-
pendent.
From the considerations above, the necessity
emerges for a selection criterion to identify what
static modes are needed to represent the regular-
ized operators to the required accuracy in order
to deal with a small number of actually necessary
terms.
As for the TM terms, one must have as many
static modes as necessary to represent the opera-
tor A X with the required accuracy; the selection is
best accomplished by separating the considera-
tions for the Ždominant. diagonal and off-diago-
nal parts of the matrix w AX x.
The diagonal can be truncated at mode N X for
which < AXN X N XrmaxŽ AXm m .< is below the required
accuracy; as a general rule, the peak appears for
the mode closest to the patch actual Ždynamically.
resonant mode, and this sets the minimum num-

ber of terms. For off-diagonal entries, representa-
tive of TM]TM coupling, the same considera-
tions apply as for the TE]TM coupling, and the
related discussion will follow this latter point.
As detailed in Sections 5.2 and 5.4, the TE
static modes essentially will be involved in satisfy-
ing the J 5 edge condition for the employed TM
modes. Therefore, the necessary TE terms will be
those necessary to represent the TE operator Y ,
determined as for the TM diagonal, and to repre-
sent T Ž a. with the desired accuracy. Once the TM
are selected, for each wn , one can consider the
column:
K nEM Ž a. , K mEMŽ
n
a.
s TmŽ a.n rsm ,
TmŽ a.n s ² Cm , T Ž a.wn : Ž 40.
associated to the asymptotic part T Ž a. of the
TE]TEM coupling term: again, one needs the
terms for which < K mEM n
Ž a.
rmaxŽ K mEM
n
Ž a. .<
is within
the desired accuracy. Note that this selection, like
T Ž a., is frequency independent
Likewise, TM]TM intermode coupling can be
foreseen effectively by considering the matrix
w ATEŽ a. x obtained with the leading TE term
Z TEŽ a. :
ATEŽ
mn
a.
s ² wm , Z TEŽ a.wn :rsm Ž 41.
which is frequency independent, and the consid-
erations on mode selection are the same as de-
scribed above for the TM]TE coupling.
6. APPLICATION
6.1. Proximity-Coupled Dipole
In this example, the dipole is a Žnarrow. strip of
width w s 1.48 mm and length l s 10 mm,
printed on a dielectric with e r s 2.33, at a height
h d s 1.1 mm from the ground plane; it is electro-
magnetically Žproximity. coupled to a feed line
with the same width and length of 84 mm, at the
same distance h l s h dr2 from the ground and
the dipole; the line and dipole do not overlap,
and their ends are aligned. For the determination
of the input reflection coefficient S11 , we have
used a voltage-gap excitation on the feed line Žat
a distance of 10 mm from the end. with subse-
quent deembedding; this is based on a least-
squares extraction of the forward and reflected
traveling TEM waves from the total calculated
current on the line w27x.
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 421
With the usual assumption of purely longitudi-
nal currents on both microstrips, we employ a
single row of rooftop functions on both the dipole
and feed line, with Nd s 40 rooftop on the dipole
and N l s 343 on the line. With this assumption,
there can be no solenoidal components Ž J Y ., and
therefore there is no need for a loop]star decom-
position. We note, however, that if more than one
row of parallel rooftops were to be used, the need
for transverse current components and the subse-
quent loop]star grouping would be necessary to
avoid spurious results. The dipole and the feed-
line, separately taken, have, of course, similar
properties; in both cases, the eigenfunctions wn
are essentially successive spatial harmonics, with
almost-separated spectra; they incorporate the
edge behavior for J H at the ends up to the
resolution allowed by the employed basis func-
tions. The convergence to the Žreciprocal. eigen-
values 1rsn with respect to the number of basis
functions is fast and uniform, and is faster for the
most important Žfirst. eigenvalues; the relative
change passing from 10 to 50 rooftops is 1.7% for
1rs1 , 2% for 1rs2 , and 3.5% for 1rs5 .
Using the static eigenfunctions to represent
the regular part, one obtains the highly sparse
matrix w A x with highly peaked diagonals shown in
Figure 2 for the case of the line. In addition to
the issue of keeping a reduced number of static
modes, i.e., the ‘‘spectral truncation’’ of S y1 and
I q A, the strongly banded structure of the regu-
larized system suggests the possibility of ‘‘band
stripping’’ the system matrix, i.e., neglecting the
interactions between ‘‘spectrally separated’’ static
modes Žcoupling terms A m n , m / n.. The most
stringent error bound is given by the Žtwo-norm.
relative error on the in¨ erse of the system matrix
in Ž25.; this is reported in Figure 3 for the access
line Žwithout dipole., and includes both the error
introduced by ‘‘spectral truncation’’ and ‘‘band
stripping.’’ The most surprising result is perhaps
that, by keeping only the main diagonal Žwhich
means no inversion., the relative error is below
5%, both keeping all modes, or keeping only the
first 20; the minimum number of modes must be
sufficient to represent the longitudinal variations
Žoscillations. of the Žquasi-.TEM mode on the
microstrip line. In any case, a 1% error condition
is met with about seven mode-to-mode interac-
tions Žparity-excluded interactions are not counted
in this symmetric problem.. Similar results emerge
from the dipole analysis, with five modes being
enough to reduce the global relative error below
422 Vecchi et al.

Figure 2. Magnitude plot of the regularized matrix w A x for the feed line alone of the
line]dipole system; only the first 50 = 50 entries are shown for clarity. The frequency
f s 10 GHz Ž L f 2.8 l. is near the first resonance of the dipole.

1%. In the line-fed dipole case, the number of
modes on the line has to be augmented to cor-
rectly represent the local distortion due to the
dipole coupling. The comparison with measured
results for S11 of Figure 4 shows the effectiveness
of the procedure.
We also have checked the performance at the
second resonance of the dipole Žabout 19.8 GHz.,
finding that in this case six]seven modes are
necessary to reduce the inverse matrix error be-
low 1%, but with analogous results on band strip-
ping.

Figure 3. Relative error on the inverse system matrix for the feed line of the dipole as a
function of the number of kept diagonals Žparity-excluded mode couplings are not counted..
Solid line: all modes, dashed line: only 20 static modes. Frequency as in Figure 2.

Figure 4. Input reflection coefficient S11 for the line-fed dipole: effect of the number of
employed static modes; inset: comparison with measured values.
6.2. Square Patch
As an example of a more complex case, with a
fully vector unknown, we consider a square patch,
chosen because the results can be interpreted
more easily than for a nonsymmetric shape. The
current on the patch is discretized by rooftops
along the ˆ x and ˆ y directions, further grouped in
loop]star combinations as described in Section
3.2 and depicted in Figure 1; we have employed a
uniform mesh, which is simpler but less efficient
Žthe ideal mesh is finer near the edges.. The
patch under consideration has a size of 10 mm,
printed on a substrate of height 1.1 mm with
dielectric permitivity e r s 2.33. The mesh has a
square cell of sides D x s D y s 0.91 mm, with a
total of N s 220 rooftops, NL s 100 loops, and
NS s 120 stars.
In the following, we will indicate by k the
Žtwo-norm. condition number; in the case of op-
erators, this is its approximation for the employed
basis, i.e., the ratio of the largest to the smallest
computed eigenvalues or singular values.
As to the eigenproblem, with the Cholesky-
based factorization in this case the complete Žall
eigenfunctions . TE and TM cases ran in fewer
than 15 s on a 486rDX2 at 66 MHz Žwith 8 MB
RAM. and did not constitute a relevant overhead.
It is interesting to note that, as mentioned in
Section 5.4, the algorithm produces a ‘‘balancing’’
of the condition number in the sense that k Ž S . s
18 ; k Ž B . s 12, while k Žw S x. ) 10 4 and k Žw B x.
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 423
f 5. Aside from the obvious beneficial effect on
the TM part Žfor which it constitutes an effective
preconditioning., note that k Ž b . is important in
rendering the matrices w AY x and w K EM x peaked.
The convergence of the eigenvalues with respect
to the number of employed basis Žrooftop. func-
tions has the same stability properties as de-
scribed for the line]dipole case.
In addition to the scalar eigenfunctions Cn , the
TE eigenfunctions are graphically rendered via
the vector functions cn s ˆ z = =C
t n introduced in
Ž27.. The field lines of the first two nondegener-
ate TM and TE eigenfunctions wi.e., w 1Ž r ., w 3 Ž r .,
c 1Ž r . and c 3 Ž r .x are shown in Figure 5. The
plots of the magnitude Že.g., < wnŽ r .<. are reported
in Figure 6 for the first TM Ž w 1Ž r .. and second
TE Ž c 3 Ž r ...
In the vector plots of Figure 5, and in the
scalar plots of Cn Žnot shown., the static eigen-
functions are almost indistinguishable from the
modes TM 10 , TM 11 , TE 11 , TE 21 of the corre-
sponding magnetic wall cavity ŽMWC.; for ease of
reference, we can label the static eigenfunctions
with the corresponding MWC mode names. De-
spite the similarity, one can note two important
differences. The lines of the patch TM 10 are not
completely straight, thus accounting for the open
boundaries. The second, most important feature
is the presence of the Žcorrect. edge effect in the
static eigenfunctions; in accordance with the pre-
dictions of Section 5.2, Figures 5 and 6 show that
424 Vecchi et al.
Figure 5. Square patch: arrow plots for the first Žnondegenerate. static eigenfunctions. Ža.
w 1Ž r . ŽTM., Žb. w 3Ž r . ŽTM., Žc. c 1Ž r . ŽTE., Žd. c 3Ž r . ŽTE..
the static TM part adapts itself to incorporate the
singular normal derivative of J H only, while the
parallel edge current blowup is evident in the TE
terms. The arrow plots of the TE also show that
the lines of force of the current loops tend to
‘‘stay away’’ from the corners, whereas the TM
have ‘‘sources’’ and ‘‘wells’’ there, with charge
accumulation Ž =t ? J blowup..
The regularized matrices w A x are depicted in
Figure 7; they are strongly dominant diagonal,
with peaked diagonals. One can note that the
TE]TE ‘‘self-coupling’’ w AY x is almost diagonal,
while the TM]TM matrix w AX x shows a more
pronounced intermode coupling between some of
the modes. This is mainly due to the Z TE opera-
tor wsee Ž26., Ž19., Ž13.x that makes the terms
² wm , Z TEwn : depend on the curl =t = wm, n , as
discussed in Section 5.5.
The TM]TE Žasymptotic. coupling is repre-
sented in Figure 8, for the first TM mode Ž w 1 or
TM 10 ., along with the TM]TM intermode cou-
pling Ždue to Z TE .; these graphs are used to
select the necessary static modes as described in
Section 5.5. The different spectral scaling of the
eigenfunctions wn and their curl is evident from
these figures. It is also evident that the ‘‘envelope’’
of the coupling graph decays away for increasing
index, i.e., spectral location; this Žpositive. effect
is enhanced by the regularization-related terms
1rsm , and allows to truncate the sequence.
The effectiveness of the proposed mode selec-
tion criterion is clarified by the role of the static
eigenfunctions in building up the resonant mode
of the patch. The resonant behavior is assessed
via the SVD of the global system matrix w Q x
appearing on the LHS of Ž25.:
1
w 1 x q w AX x w K ME x
j ve 0
w Qx s
1
w K EM x w 1 x q w AY x
j vm 0
Ž 42.

Figure 6. Square patch: magnitude plots of first TM w 1Ž r . Žtop. and third TE c 3Ž r .
Žbottom. eigenfunctions.
with w1x being identity matrices. As detailed in
w24x, the graph of the reciprocal of the smallest
SV, which we shall term the ‘‘resonance curve,’’
has a peak in correspondence of the resonance
frequency, and the resonant mode current shape
can be determined from the singular vectors w Q x.
The reference resonance curve in Figure 9
Žlabeled ‘‘all’’. is obtained with 50 TM and 50 TE
eigenfunctions, but no difference was observed
with only 10 TM modes, or with all of the TM and
TE modes. A consistency check Žnot shown. has
been done with the solution obtained directly
with the rooftop basis. The composition of the
resonant mode is shown in Figure 10. If one
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 425
compares the static modes effectively involved in
the resonant mode and the indications emerging
from Figure 8 and the related discussion, it is
apparent that the mode selection strategy is very
effective. Because of the symmetry-induced de-
generacy of the structure, we always have kept
pairs of degenerate modes, selected from the
coupling graphs describe above for the two domi-
nant terms ŽTM 1 and TM 2 .; failure to do this
generates a Žspurious. resonance splitting. The
convergence obtained with an increasing number
of employed Žreordered. static modes is clear
from Figure 9, from which one sees that two
Žpairs of. static modes yield results virtually
426 Vecchi et al.

Figure 7. Square patch: magnitude of the TM]TM and TE]TE ‘‘self-coupling’’ matrices;
in the matrix plots, only 20 = 20 terms are shown, while the diagrams in the lower portion of
the figure show the entire main diagonals. Ža. TM]TM matrix w AX x, Žb. TE]TE matrix w AY x.
The operating frequency f s 9.2 GHz is about the first patch resonance.

undistinguishable from the reference curve. It
also is apparent that the best composition of the
basis used for the approximation has a balanced
set of TM and TE static modes; otherwise said,
the two ŽTE and TM. regular operators need to
be represented with the same accuracy.
On the other hand, without considering the
‘‘spectral reordering’’ introduced by the curl oper-
ation on the TM modes, the TE mode sequence,
and even the TM one, does not converge in a
uniform manner. The situation is rather different
if one considers the sequence formed by the
modes selected as described above.
In fact, this is a more general problem with the
use of orthogonal functions, and typically with the
MWC modes; however, the role of the TE modes
Žor related terms. is seldom addressed in the
literature, most likely because the usual resonant
modes of patch radiators are obviously TM domi-
nated ŽTE terms have null radiation in the broad-
side direction.. In many cases, and for different
Žcanonical. shapes, only the dominant TM mode
of the MWC Žor an approximation thereof. is
kept. In connection with this issue, it is important
to note that the dominant Žclosest to the resonant
mode. static TM eigenfunction introduced in this
work already incorporates one of the edge effects
Žsingular normal derivative of J H ., as contrasted
to other orthogonal functions Žwhen available for
the considered shape. like the MWC modes; in
fact, the dominant static mode yields a resonance
in close agreement with the reference one. Also,
note that the TM]TE eigenfunctions introduced
here Žobviously. can be found for any patch shape.
The neglect of the TE Žand higher TM. terms
instead is especially evident in the shape of the
resonant current, depicted in Figure 11, since the
edge current blowup is absent in the TM static
mode in Figure 6.
6.3. Numerical Efficiency
In comparing the computational efficiency of the
proposed scheme against a ‘‘standard’’ solution
 EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 427

Figure 8. Square patch: curl-related coupling between the static modes; the abscissas
indicate the mode index. Above: magnitude of the TM}TM coupling due to the asymptotic
TE part w ATEŽ a. x in Ž41. for the first TM mode ŽTM 10 .; below: magnitude of the asymptotic
TM]TE coupling w K 1EMŽ a. x for the first TM mode ŽTM 10 .. The two plots are separately
normalized to unity.

Figure 9. Resonance curve for the square patch, showing the reciprocal of the smallest SV
of the matrix w Q x. The legend shows how many Žpairs of degenerate. TM and TE static
modes are used out of those selected from Figure 8; the graph labeled ‘‘all’’ is obtained with
all of the modes.
428 Vecchi et al.
Figure 10. Square patch: composition of the first resonant mode Žcorresponding to TM 10 .,
represented by the magnitude of each static eigenfunction against its index. Above: TM
terms; below: TE.
with rooftop basis functions and LU decomposi-
tion direct solution, we note that the present
method results in a strong reduction of the num-
ber of unknowns Žabout ten per resonant radiat-
ing element., and in a drastic decrease of the
condition number. A price is paid, though, in
terms of an overhead for the computation of the
static modes, and for the evaluation of the Žmore
complicated. reaction integrals for these new ba-
sis functions. Advantages obviously come from
the reduced solution time, although the reduced
memory storage requirements and the low condi-
tion number Žimplying natural use of iterative
methods. are less obvious, but important factors
in assessing the potential of the method, espe-
cially in connection with structures like arrays or
subarrays of patches.
For the sake of exemplification, here we com-
pare the workload required to get to the solution
for the current J using the direct solution Žroof-
tops. and the static modes: only the number of
flops will be considered, disregarding memory oc-
cupation; LU decomposition will be considered in
both cases for the solution of the linear system,
and the static eigenproblems are solved as de-
scribed in Section 6.2, without any iterative or
partial technique. While the optimal approach
with the regular terms and the static modes is
likely to be in the spectral domain w28x, we con-
sider here the worst case estimate in which the
regularization scheme is regarded as a mere
change of base from rooftops to the static modes:
the common starting point is the impedance ma-
trix in the rooftop basis.
The flops required with the ‘‘direct’’ solution
are those for the solution of a linear system of the
size of the total number of employed rooftops. In
our scheme, in addition to the frequency-inde-
pendent eigenproblem flop count, there is a fre-
quency-dependent additional workload for pass-
ing from the impedance matrix in the rooftop
basis to the one in the basis of the static modes.
The estimate of the required number of flops is
straightforward, and we have considered different
scenarios w27x. The results can be summarized as
follows.
1. For a single patch, with a typical number of
basis functions as in Section 6.2, the break-
even is reached around three frequency
points, with a flop reduction of about 10 for
15 frequency evaluations.
2. There is always an advantage for the case of
an array or subarray; the reduction factor is,
of course, proportional to the number of
radiating elements.
 EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 429

Figure 11. Current distribution of the first resonant mode of the square patch Ždominant,
in-phase component.. Ža. Arrow plot. Žb. Magnitude of the current.

7. CONCLUSIONS numerical determination of the eigensystem of

We have recast the first-kind EFIE into two cou-
pled, smaller problems that exhibit the same sin-
gular, static-related behavior; this renders the
inversion of these singular parts possible. Left-
multiplication by these inverse operators leads to
a second-kind problem, called regularized. In the
presented scheme, the inversion is done via the
the singular operators, and the stability of the
procedure has been outlined. The properties of
these two classes of ‘‘static’’ eigenfunctions have
been investigated: they appear to be the general-
ization of the TM and TE modes of a waveguide,
coupled by the edge singularities. The regularized
system in this basis has favorable convergence
properties that permit us to approximate the solu-
430 Vecchi et al.
tion with a few terms Že.g., fewer than ten on a
resonant patch.. A selection criterion for the
eigenfunctions to be employed has been given.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge interesting and
fruitful discussion with Professors D. Wilton and A.
Nosich. This work has been supported in part by the
Italian Space Agency ŽASI..
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BIOGRAPHIES
Giuseppe Vecchi received the Laurea and
Ph.D. ŽDottorato di Ricerca. degrees in
electronic engineering from Politecnico
di Torino, Torino, Italy, in 1985 and 1989,
respectively. Through an Italian National
Research Council ŽCNR. fellowship, he
was a Visiting Scientist at Polytechnic
University, Farmingdale, NY, from Au-
gust 1989 to February 1990, when he
joined the Politecnico di Torino as a Researcher in the
Department of Electronics. In November 1992, he was ap-
pointed Associate Professor of Electromagnetics. His main
research activities concern analytical and numerical tech-
niques in high- and low-frequency electromagnetics, electro-
magnetic compatibility, and fractal electrodynamics.
Ladislau Matekovits received the degree
in electronic engineering from Institutul
Politehnic din Bucureşti, Romania in
1992. He is currently working toward the
completion of the Ph.D. ŽDottorato di
Ricerca. degree in electronic engineering
at Politecnico di Torino, Italy. His re-
search activity is mainly in the area of
analytical and numerical techniques in
electromagnetics, especially oriented to the analysis and de-
sign of microstrip antennas.
EFIE for 3D Structures in Layered Media 431
27. L. Matekovits, ‘‘Full-Wave Analysis of Arbitrarily
Shaped Electromagnetically Coupled Microstrip
Antennas,’’ Doctoral dissertation, Politecnico di
Torino, Torino, Italy, Feb. 1996.
28. G. Vecchi, P. Pirinoli, L. Matekovits, and M.
Orefice, ‘‘Hybrid Spectral-Spatial Method for the
Analysis of Printed Antennas,’’ Radio Sci. ŽSpecial
Issue on Computational Electromagnetics ., to be
published.
Paola Pirinoli received the Laurea and
Ph.D. ŽDottorato di Ricerca. degrees in
electronic engineering from Politecnico
di Torino, Torino, Italy in 1989 and 1993,
respectively. In October 1994, she joined
the Politecnico di Torino as a Researcher
in the Department of Electronics. Her
main research activities concern analyti-
cal-based numerical techniques, essen-
tially applied to the study of printed structures.
Mario Orefice is Professor of Electro-
magnetic Waves and Antennas at Politec-
nico di Torino, Italy, where he graduated
in 1968. He was Research Scientist of the
National Research Council of Italy at the
Center of Studies on Propagation and
Antennas ŽCESPA. from 1971 to 1983, as
well as Adjunct Professor at Politecnico
di Torino from 1976 to 1983. He was
Visiting Scholar at UCLA in 1979. In 1983, he became Associ-
ate Professor at Politecnico di Torino. He has been a Full
Professor since 1990, and was at the University of Perugia
from 1990 to 1991; since 1992, he has been Vice-Dean of the
Second School of Engineering. His technical and scientific
activity has been in the area of theoretical and experimental
studies on antennas and applied electromagnetics, in particu-
lar on waveguide discontinuities, reflector antennas, wave-
guide arrays, and printed antennas.