A PATTERN SYNTHESIS APPROACH IN FOUR-DIMENSIONAL ANTENNA ARRAYS WITH PRACTICAL ELEMENT MODELS

This paper introduces a novel approach for the synthesis of array patterns in four-dimensional (4-D) antenna arrays, taking into account practical element models. The approach is based on the combination of the differential evolution (DE) algorithm and full-wave simulation software HFSS. The DE algorithm is used to optimize the time sequences and static phase excitations, and then the equivalent amplitude and phase excitations are transferred to HFSS automatically by an interface program. The patterns at the center frequency and sideband frequencies are all obtained through full-wave simulation of practical antenna arrays in HFSS, thus many non-ideal effects such as mutual coupling can be taken into account. Numerical simulation results for the synthesis of low sidelobe sum-difference patterns in a 16-element printed dipole linear array and a 16-element microstrip patch conformal array are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.