Versatile Beam Forming With Concentric Excitations Based On Multiple Weighted Sinc or Bessel Function Distribution

In this paper, we propose a beam forming approach capable of synthesizing versatile, pre-specified beam shapes using concentric excitations satisfying multiple weighted sinc or Bessel function distribution. We show by both theoretical calculation and full wave simulation that by tuning different weights of a sinc or Bessel function distribution, not only radiation beams with pencil, flat-topped and bimodal shapes can be synthesized, but also the beam-width and the side lobe level can be independently adjusted. An example is provided to demonstrate how an isoflux beam aiming at a better coverage of the earth surface is synthesized, and how an optimized continuous distribution is properly discretized for a physical realization of a satellite aperture array antenna. The approach proposed in this paper can be applied to a wide range of applications that require performance optimization of concentric ring array antennas.