Solution of electrically large antenna problems on scalable personal computer clusters

Solution of electrically large problems requires the choice of an appropriate numerical method along with the appropriate computational tools. It is not very often recognized that for electromagnetic analysis of both conducting and practical linear piecewise homogeneous isotropic bodies, integral equations are still one of the most versatile techniques that one can use in both efficiency and accuracy to solve challenging problems including analysis of electrically large structures. However, solution of integral equations leads to resolution of large dense complex matrix equations. The objective of this paper is to illustrate how these problems can be best handled on scalable affordable personal computer clusters. We propose to achieve this goal through the use of out-of-core matrix solvers. Since, we do not require RAM but hard disk to deal with the storage, now the problem can be handled at an affordable personal level. Examples are presented on how this goal can be accomplished.