Analytical synthesis technique for linear uniform-amplitude sparse arrays

Abstract

A novel analytical approach to the synthesis of linear sparse arrays with uniform-amplitude excitation is presented and thoroughly discussed in this paper. The proposed technique, based on the auxiliary array factor concept, is aimed at the deterministic determination of the optimal array element density and excitation phase tapering distributions useful to mimic a desired radiation pattern. In particular, the developed antenna placement method does not require any iterative or stochastic optimization procedure, resulting in a dramatic reduction of the antenna design times (typically on the order of a few seconds). Antenna mutual coupling is not taken into account within the developed methodology; hence, to assess the sensitivity of the design procedure to such nonideality, a dedicated numerical investigation has been carried out by using a rigorous full-wave electromagnetic field prediction technique. The obtained results prove the effectiveness and the versatility of the proposed array synthesis approach even in operative scenarios where a significant deviation from desired antenna operation is observed. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.