Thinned planar antenna array synthesis using a hybrid approach combining almost difference sets and weighted total least squares method

This paper introduces a hybrid approach for designing thinned planar antenna arrays with low peak sidelobe levels (PSLLs). The standard almost difference set (ADS) approach allows the analytical determination of the turned-on element positions within the array configuration, but it provides suboptimal performance in PSLL reduction. To address this limitation, a hybrid method is presented by integrating the ADS approach with the weighted total least squares (WTLS) method. Simulation results from various case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the hybrid ADS-WTLS method in designing thinned planar antenna arrays with low PSLLs. Additionally, the performance of the synthesized designs obtained through the hybrid method is validated using electromagnetic (EM) simulations.