Statistically designed density-tapered arrays

The design of "thinned" planar array antennas is considered in which the density of elements located within the aperture is made proportional to the amplitude of the aperture illumination of a conventional "filled" array. Density tapering permits good sidelobe performance from arrays of equally radiating elements. The selection of the element locations is performed statistically by utilizing the amplitude taper as the probability density function for specifying the location of elements. The statistical design procedures and the theoretical prediction of performance are given. Application to a 50 wavelength diameter planar aperture is discussed and the results compared to conventional amplitude-taper designs. Examples of computed patterns are shown for density tapers modeled after 25, 30, 35, and 40 db circular Taylor distributions. The properties of a planar array of 10,000 elements are examined for "natural" thinning and for 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the elements removed. The sidelobes are determined more by the number of remaining elements than by the model amplitude taper. Statistically designed density-tapered arrays are useful when the number of elements is large and when it is not practical to employ an amplitude taper to achieve low sidelobes.     

Scanning of cosecant beams generated by a tilted planar array ofnonisotropic radiators

A method of scanning a one-dimensional shaped pattern generated by a tilted circular planar array of nonisotropic elements is presented. A method of synthesis of phase function for a desired cosecant pattern and specified amplitude distribution for excitation of the elements of the array is presented. The phase distribution required in the perpendicular direction for retaining the beam shape in the scanned plane is determined. Computed results on the phase distribution and radiation pattern are presented. The appropriate correction is applied to get a better agreement between the realized and desired patterns in this scanned position of the beam     

Rapid method for obtaining footprint patterns for very large antenna arrays

A new antenna pattern synthesis technique that allows the design of large planar antenna array radiating footprint patterns of a specified boundary with controlled ripple and sidelobe levels is presented. The method synthesises the desired footprint as a composition of a set of circular Taylor patterns appropriately weighted with the samples of the pattern obtained after stretching or shrinking a continuous circular aperture distribution developed by the Elliott-Stern method. A footprint of continental Europe radiated by a planar array with a large number of elements shows the technique's performance. The synthesis procedures were completed in about 1 s using a desktop computer.     

Arbitrary footprint patterns obtained by circular apertures

The proposed quasi-analytical method undertakes the shaping of a desired footprint as a composition of several /spl phi/-symmetric circular Taylor patterns exhibiting flat-topped beams. The final pattern is obtained after sampling the obtained circular aperture for circular grid planar arrays. A square and a rectangular footprint pattern, both radiated by a planar array with 1246 elements, demonstrate the performance of the technique.     

Element Failure Correction for a Large Monopulse Phased Array Antenna With Active Amplitude Weighting

Recently a new method is introduced to synthesize low sidelobe patterns for planar array antennas with a periodic element arrangement. The method makes use of the property that for a planar array with periodic spacing of the elements, an inverse Fourier transform relationship exists between the array factor and the element excitations. This property is used in an iterative way to derive the array element excitations from the prescribed array factor. The same method is also able to partially compensate the degradation of the sidelobe and gain performance of array patterns due to element failures. Numerical examples of array-failure correction using this method are given for ultralow sidelobe sum and difference patterns of a 5800-element circular array where the failed elements are randomly dispersed across the aperture. The tapers in this array are created exclusively by active weighting in the transmit/receive (T/R) modules using variable gain control.     

A scattering matrix-based beamformer for wide-angle scanning in hybrid antennas

This paper presents a new approach to beamforming in hybrid antennas. Using a scattering matrix model for the hybrid antenna system, a bidirectional transformation is developed that relates the signals at the hybrid system feed to the signals that would be present in a planar array at the location of the reflector aperture. For example, the received fields at the feed of a hybrid antenna system may be transformed into the fields at the reflector aperture, and these reflector aperture fields may then be processed as if they were received by a planar or linear array. Similarly, the desired field or current distribution across the reflector aperture when transmitting may be transformed into the required field or current distribution at the hybrid system feed. This method allows standard linear or planar array analysis and synthesis techniques to be used with the hybrid system. Examples are provided for transmit and receive weight synthesis.     

Analysis of finite parallel-plate waveguide arrays

The radiation and phase scanning properties of a planar array are investigated using wedge diffraction theory. The TEM and TE01radiation patterns are determined assuming that each guide is excited with equal amplitude but variable phase which is specified by the desired scan angle. Since the TE01pattern can be used directly as theH-plane radiation pattern of an equivalent rectangular waveguide array, the analysis for this instance is extended to consideration of aperture reflection coefficients     

On the optimal synthesis of sparsely thinned planar array antenna with constraints using meta-heuristic optimization

The investigations related to the planar antenna array have attracted much attention due to their vast applications in the areas of advanced wireless communication and electromagnetics. This article presents an effective synthesis method of a sparsely thinned symmetric planar antenna array using three well-known meta-heuristics including symbiotic organism search (SOS) algorithm, moth fly optimization (MFO), and multi-verse optimization (MVO) algorithms. The main aim of this work is to optimize the positions of the switched-on antenna elements on the array aperture in order to reduce the value of side-lobe levels in the radiation field pattern in multiple planes for a desired first null beam width and subsequently to obtain the maximum reduced number of array-elements in the antenna array. Two different cases are performed to optimize the radiation pattern in different azimuth angles with two different examples. The proposed methods can constrain the total number of array elements, inter-element distance, and aperture area of the array. The radiation pattern characteristic and computation time linked with each example and each algorithm are recorded and compared with each other as well as with a fully populated planar symmetric rectangular array antenna of same aperture size for arriving at the conclusion. The simulation-based results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design and the efficiency of the performance using the SOS algorithm.     

FDTD analysis and measurement of aperture antennas based on thetriplate transmission-line structure

First, two aperture antennas designated as P-type and C-type antennas are analyzed using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Each antenna is made of a triplate transmission line (TTL). A square aperture is cut out of the top plate of the TTL for both antennas to allow radiation. The bottom of the TTL is a planar plate for the P-type antenna and a plate with a hollow cavity for the C-type antenna. The power flow is expressed using Poynting vectors. It is revealed that parallel-plate mode power in the TTL is lower in the C-type antenna, compared with that in the P-type antenna. Second, an array antenna composed of two C-type elements is analyzed. The Poynting vector distribution in the aperture is found to remain almost unchanged when the element spacing is varied. The input impedance of the array antenna converges at an element spacing of approximately 0.9 wavelength. The theoretical radiation patterns are in good agreement with measured data     

隙缝馈电平面阵天线

正 (一)基本要求 合成孔径雷达原理样机需要一部工作在X波段,发射水平极化波的扇形波束天线。天线的波束宽度沿飞机航向(E平面)约1,垂直于航向(H平面)为9,增益为30 dB;或在H平面上于11的波束宽度内,将波束赋形为CSC2()为波束宽度),增益为27dB。天线的结构要适于作侧视安装。 (二)方案选择 满足以上条件的天线方案有三类:(1)以线阵作照射器,柱形抛物面作反射器的复合天线;(2)以线阵作辐射器,外加有一定张角的两块板构成线阵喇叭形天线;(3)平面     

Design of planar arrays to obtain efficient footprint patterns withan arbitrary footprint boundary

An antenna pattern synthesis technique is presented that permits the design of planar antenna arrays with footprint patterns of a specified boundary. This technique is applicable to planar arrays of a wide variety of grid structures and can produce patterns with controlled ripple and sidelobe levels. The approach involves two steps: the first consists in stretching the pure real-continuous aperture (an extension of circular Taylor distributions, developed by Elliott and Stern [1990]) into a distribution with a boundary that is inversely proportional to the flat-top beamwidth; the second is the minimization of a cost function (the square of the difference between the resulting power pattern and the desired one) using the Fletcher-Powell method. A square footprint, produced by a rectangular grid (obtained by sampling this distribution) with the corner elements appropriately removed, is presented as an illustration of the method     

Design of a 5:1 bandwidth stripline notch array from FDTD analysis

A 5:1 bandwidth stripline notch array antenna is designed from parametric investigations of flare and feed dimensions. The finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method is employed to perform the parametric studies. Both linear and planar single-polarization arrays are considered with half-wavelength element spacing at the highest frequency. The linear array elements depend upon E-plane element mutual coupling to achieve wideband behavior. Edge elements, which cannot benefit from full E-plane coupling, are shown to maintain good transmit performance with the application of amplitude tapering. The planar array is shown to have a scanability (active VSWR <2) averaging 51° off broadside in the E-plane and exceeding 60° in the H-plane. As an infinite planar array, the antenna is predicted to have a bandwidth exceeding 7:1 on broadside. Measurements are in good agreement with the computations     

Synthesis of antenna arrays using genetic algorithms

In this article, two particular methods for the synthesis of the complex radiation pattern of a linear and a planar array, based on genetic algorithms (GAs), are discussed. First, we present a combination of Schelkunoff's method and GAs for linear arrays with arbitrary radiation patterns; then, we consider the synthesis of planar arrays with rectangular cells. The results show the flexibility of GAs to solve complex problems related to antenna synthesis, subject to many restrictions which are difficult to treat by classical optimization techniques. There is good agreement between the desired and calculated radiation patterns     

A simplification of the synthesis of parallel wire antenna arrays

Using the moment method, a wire antenna array pattern is expressed in a form similar to that of a point source. The synthesis is thus reduced to that using well-known methods. The method is applied to linear as well as to planar arrays. Examples presented for several arrays how excellent agreement between the desired and the resulting patterns. The uncorrected patterns (without taking into account the mutual coupling) give similar results to the desired ones for arrays with many dipoles and equidistance greater than 0.50 λ. A method to improve the uncorrected pattern is proposed that is based on the addition of two parasitic elements     

基于对数螺旋阵的波达方向估计

系统渡达方向(DOA)的估计能力受天线阵的几何结构影响很大.提出了一种新的二维天线阵列流形--对数螺旋阵,该阵列流形具有天线单元数少、天线孔径大、分辨力高的特点.通过粒子群优化方法(PSO)确定了无栅瓣的阵结构参数,计算了此阵的天线方向图并与矩形阵、圆环阵做了比较,利用MUSIC方法进行了二维空间谱估计,仿真结果表明:利用该对数螺旋多天线阵可以实现高分辨二维DOA估计.     

Near-field probe used as a diagnostic tool to locate defectiveelements in an array antenna

Results of an experimental study are presented in which the near-field probe was used as a diagnostic tool to locate the defective elements in a planar array. The near-field data were processed not only to obtain the far-field patterns of the array under the test, but also to reconstruct the aperture field for diagnostic purposes. The backward transform enables the near-field probe to identify accurately aperture faults at a distance, free of interactions and couplings with the array elements. In practice, to recover the aperture field properly from the near-field distribution, the evanescent components in the computed far-field spectrum must be excluded from the inverse process with fast-Fourier-transform (FFT) techniques. For low-gain array antennas, a correction on the far-field spectrum is required to remove the contribution of the probe and the element factor before the inverse transform, strongly enhancing the resolution     

A self-similar fractal radiation pattern synthesis technique for reconfigurable multiband arrays

A novel method for designing reconfigurable multiband linear and planar antenna arrays is presented. The technique is based on a generalized Fourier series synthesis approach that exploits the self-similarity of a specified fractal radiation pattern in order to achieve the desired multiband performance. The fractal radiation patterns are composed of scaled and shifted copies of an appropriately chosen generating window function that exhibits low sidelobe levels and rapid spectral rolloffs in the transform domain. A newly developed thinning algorithm is presented which may be employed to reduce considerably both the overall physical size and the total number of elements in a synthesized multiband array. Finally, a band-switching scheme is introduced that is well-suited for implementation in the form of a reconfigurable common aperture array.     

Aperture-Sparsity Analysis of Ultrawideband Two-Dimensional Focused Array

We investigate the effects of aperture sparsity on the focusing performance and the angular-resolution capability of a two-dimensional focused array antenna excited by ultrawideband (UWB) impulse waveforms. The UWB-focusing array is characterized by a planar square aperture and a design parameter referred to as array spatial bandwidth. Spatial bandwidth is a function of the number of array elements, inter-element spacing, and frequency bandwidth. Performance analysis is carried out by generating computer plots of three-dimensional and two-dimensional antenna patterns for different values of array spatial bandwidth that hold for large aperture sparsity and large aperture density. The antenna patterns are peak-amplitude pattern, peak-power pattern, and energy pattern, whose narrow beamwidth and low sidelobe level are robust against aperture sparsity that may be caused by removed or failed elements. The half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of the antenna patterns, the focal distance, and the far-field distance of the UWB-focused array are expressed in terms of array spatial bandwidth. Computer simulation results show that UWB-focused-array beamforming based on impulse waveforms achieves efficient focusing of the radiation energy in the radiation-near-field region and beyond, and yields improvement in focusing performance and angular resolution for increased values of array spatial bandwidth. Such practical advantages are achieved without encountering grating lobes, large sidelobe level, or distortion of the radiation beam pattern that often limit the performance of the conventional narrowband phased array antennas.      

Quasi-Analytical Synthesis of Moderate and Large Arrays Radiating Arbitrary "Star-Shaped" Footprint Patterns [Antenna Designer's Notebook]

The proposed quasi-analytical method undertakes the shaping of a desired footprint as a composition of several phi-symmetric circular Taylor patterns exhibiting flat-topped beams. The final pattern is obtained after sampling the circular aperture that is obtained for rectangular-grid planar arrays. A triangular-shaped footprint and a footprint of continental Europe, radiated by planar arrays with moderate and large numbers of elements, show the technique's performance.     

基于分区迭代傅里叶算法的稀疏阵列天线设计优化

针对迭代傅里叶算法（IFT）在对稀疏阵列天线优化时,阵元不分区域地大规模截断带来的不利影响,介绍了一种分区IFT算法。根据满阵幅度锥削分布计算每个分区域需要的激励阵元数,在算法的截断过程中,对每个分区中按照所需的阵元数对激励幅度较大的阵元进行截断,从而使阵元的密度分布更加接近于满阵的幅度分布,更容易获得相对较低的副瓣电平。将其应用于圆形孔径平面稀疏阵列天线的优化布阵,以抑制阵列天线的峰值副瓣电平为目的,仿真试验表明分区IFT算法可以得到比标准IFT算法更优的结果。