Efficient Combined Array Thinning and Weighting for Pattern Synthesis With a Nested Optimization Scheme

A novel procedure to thin an antenna array which synthesizes a desired pattern with the minimum number of active elements is introduced. The proposed method yields both the active elements and their corresponding excitations of a thinned array having the minimum number of active elements needed to meet several prescribed design specifications of the radiated far-field pattern. Specifications such as achieving a minimum gain, obtaining a pattern with a maximum allowable sidelobe level or synthesizing a shaped beam pattern confined into a mask are considered. Null field directions can also be added. In order to carry out the thinning, a genetic algorithm is used, while computing the excitations is carried out through linear or quadratic programming. The procedure incorporates the generalized scattering matrix analysis of an array made up of elements whose radiated field can be expressed as a spherical mode expansion, thus taking all electromagnetic effects inherently into account. Therefore, since the presence of an element can substantially alter the array features because of mutual coupling, two types of thinning are considered: removing elements or turning them off. Numerical results of arrays made up of isotropic sources, dielectric resonator antennas and microstrip patch antennas are presented.