Dealing With Uncertainties on Phase Weighting of Linear Antenna Arrays by Means of Interval-Based Tolerance Analysis

The analysis of the tolerances on the power patterns radiated by linear antenna arrays whose excitations are affected by phase errors is carried out by means of an approach based on the interval analysis (IA). The rules and the features of the arithmetic of intervals, already effectively applied to analyze the effects of errors on the amplification levels, are exploited here to derive a suitable set of analytical relationships predicting the maximum deviations (i.e., upper and lower bounds) with respect to the nominal power pattern once the phase errors are defined as belonging to intervals of values. Representative numerical examples are reported and discussed to assess potentialities and limitations of the IA-based approach. Toward this end, different configurations of the beamforming weights affording low-sidelobes and steered beam patterns are analyzed.