Study and improvement on virtual array method of beam forming

Virtual array extension methods of the actual linear array were researched. The number of arrays and aperture length were increased in a virtual sense, so the higher space gain and a spatial resolution were gained. This paper introduced the basic principle of forming virtual array beam and the method of constructing the virtual array; with the existing virtual array beam-forming methods were compared. Simulation results show that the algorithm can get a narrower main lobe beam map, thus overcome the limitations of the low resolution of conventional beam-forming and improve the directional resolution of the array.