Geometric-optic synthesis of dual-reflector antennas with distributed sources

The problem of synthesising a dual offset reflector antenna system when illuminated by a distributed source, to satisfy prespecified conditions on power and phase distributions over the output aperture are examined under the assumptions of geometrical optics. The formulation shows that the synthesis hinges on solving a system of two coupled nonlinear partial differential equations, one of which is the Monge-Ampere equation. The relationship of this study with previous point-source treatments is examined in detail. Uniqueness properties of the design are extracted from the equations and new features introduced by the distributed source are indicated. Possible applications to contoured-beam reflector antennas fed by real sources are envisaged.