Pulse dispersion in phased arrays

Abstract

Phased array antennas cause pulse dispersion when receiving or transmitting wideband signals, because phase shifting the signals does not align the pulse envelopes from the elements. This paper presents two forms of pulse dispersion that occur in a phased array antenna. The first results from the separation distance between the transmit and receive antennas and impacts the definition of far field in the time domain. The second is a function of beam scanning and array size. Time delay units placed at the element and/or subarrays limit the pulse dispersion.