14.5 Antenna Plugin (AP)

The interface AntennaGainPlugin provides, similar to the PMP, all information about the link it is assigned to, additionally all information about the parameters relevant for the antenna, for instance the height and azimuth and elevation angles as well as the local environment it is placed at.

The structure of the AP is similar to other types of plugins. It is composed of the following:

1. evaluate(): returns the calculated antenna gain;
2. consistencyCheck(): see section 8.2.2;
3. description(): the unique name of the PMP and an optional description (but highly recommended in order to show the user its characteristics and its scope of application);
4. Input: see section 8.2.1.

Figure 335: Basic structure of the AP

The referenced parameters are detailed as follow (only different to the EPP, see section ‎14.7.2, and the PMP, see section 8.6.3):

• AntennaResult:
  It contains the information about the parameters relevant for the antenna, for instance the height, azimuth and elevation angles as well as the local environment and position it is placed at
• Double:
  It is the peak gain of the antenna.

There are basically two options to create antenna plugins:

• Static:
  The plugin predefines static values of the antenna pattern and uses these for the calculation of the gain. You can, in addition, edit (i.e. modify / replace) the values on the system and / or antenna library level.
• Dynamic:
  The plugin dynamically calculates the antenna pattern (e.g. ITU-R Recommendation like ITU-R F.1336 etc…) using these for the calculation of the gain.

Simple examples are shown in section ‎14.5.1 (static) and section ‎14.5.2 (dynamic).