EE522 NOTES (5): ANTENNA ARRAY

Array: a set of antennas working together to produce

certain radiation pattern.
Each antenna in an array is called an element antenna (or
simply an element).
The elements in an array can be the same or different. In
most practical cases, they are identical in construction (with
different feedings).
Configuration of arrays: Linear (1D), planar (2D), and
conformal (3D).
Array analysis: to obtain array factor (AF) given array
configuration and element feedings.
Array synthesis: To determine the array configuration
and/or element feedings to achieve desired array factor.
For array made up of identical elements,
(Array pattern) = (Array factor) X (element pattern)
Array analysis:
d
Consider an array of two identical elements. When the
element is placed in the origin of the coordinate, the
radiation is

( , )
j r
e
e
E eC I F
r

If the two elements are placed in new positions, one at

(0,0,d/2), and the other in (0,0,-d/2), and excited by
1
I
, and
2
I
, respectively, then the far-field from the elements are:
1
1 1
1
( , )
j r
e
e
E eC I F
r

2
2 2
2
( , )
j r
e
e
E eC I F
r

Using far-field approximation:

1 2
r r r
for the amplitude
factors, and
1 2
cos , cos
2 2
d d
r r r r +
for the phase factors. The combined radiation is
( cos ) ( cos )
2 2
1 2
( cos ) / 2 ( cos ) / 2
1 2
( , ) ( , )
( , )
d d
j r j r
e e
j r
j d j d
e
e e
E eC I F eC I F
r r
e
eC I e I e F
r

+
] +
]
Hence the radiation pattern is
( )
( cos ) / 2 ( cos ) / 2
1 2
( , ) ( , ) ( , )
j d j d
e e
F I e I e F AF F

] +
]
where the array factor (AF) is given by

( cos ) / 2 ( cos ) / 2
1 2
AF
j d j d
I e I e

+
It depends on:
(1) the relative location of the elements
(2) the relative excitation of the elements.
Example: if the two elements are half-wave dipole, they
are placed on z-axis and oriented parallel to z-axis. Find the
array factor (AF) and the array pattern for the following
cases:
(1)
1 2
1, / 2 I I d
(2)
1 2
1, , 0.25 I I j d
Solution:
For both cases, the element pattern is

( ) cos[( / 2) cos ] / sin
e
F
(1)
2 / 2
/ 2
2 2
d

,

( / 2)cos ( / 2)cos
2cos[( / 2) cos ]
j j
AF e e

+
The array pattern is
2
( , ) cos[( / 2) cos ] cos[( / 2) cos ] / sin
cos [( / 2) cos ] / sin
F

(2)
/ 2 / 4 d
,
[ ]
( / 4)cos / 2 ( / 4)cos ( / 4)
2cos ( / 4) cos / 4
j j j j
AF e e e

+
Array pattern is
( ) [ ]
, cos ( / 4) cos / 4 cos[( / 2) cos ] / sin F
Example 2:
Two identical isotropic source
Equal excitation (for both amplitude and phase)
Separation:
/ 2
Location: z-axis.
z
d
z
(1) Sketch the polar radiation pattern by inspection
(2) Derive the exact array factor.
Solution:
(1) Since the excitations are the same,
/ 2 / 2 or
have maximum radiation.
At
0
, the phase difference from the source to the
observation point is 180 (deg) out of phase because of
half-wave distance. Hence at this angle, the radiation
is 0. The same is true for

.
The radiation at other angles are between 0 and
maximum. Hence we have the sketch as shown.
(2)
( / 2) cos ( / 2) cos j d j d
AF e e

+
Since
/ 2, / 2 (2 / )( / 2) / 2 d d

[ ]
cos ( / 2) cos AF
As expected, the radiation is 0 at
0,
, and is
maximum for / 2 t .
Example 3:
Two identical isotropic
source
Equal Amplitude
90 (deg) phase difference,
Separation:
/ 2
Location: z-axis.
d
z
1 -j
(1) Sketch the polar radiation pattern by inspection
(2) AF=?
Solution: (1) As shown in the figure.

(1,j)
1 -j
-1,-j
(1,-j)
(1,-j)
(-j,-j)
(-j,-j)
1,-1
1,-1
(2)

[ ]
[ ]
( / 2) cos / 2 ( / 2) cos
1 2
/ 4 ( / 2) cos / 4 ( / 2) cos / 4
0
/ 4
/ 4
0
2 cos ( / 2) cos / 4
0
2 cos ( / 2) cos / 4
j d j j d
j j d j j d j
j
j
I d
AF I e I e
I e e e
e
e I

+
] +
]

The exact plot is shown on next page.
0.25
0.49999
0.74999
0.99999
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Array factor of linear arrays.
For a linear array, the array factor can be obtained similarly
as the two-element array case. Assuming an N-element
array, the element excitations are:
0 1 1
, , ,
N
I I I

!
. If the
location of the elements are
0 1 1
, , ,
N
z z z

!
, then the n-th
element contribution to AF is given by
cos
n
j z
n
I e

, and the
AF is the summation of these terms:

0 1 1
cos cos cos
0 1 1
N
j z j z j z
N
AF I e I e I e

+ + !
Equal space case:
0 1 2 1
0, , 2 , , ( 1)
N
z z d z d z N d

!
1 1
( cos ) cos
0 0
| |
n
N N
j nd j nd
n n
n n
AF I e I e


+



Uniformly excited, equal spaced linear array with linear
phase progression:
2
0 1 2
1, , , ,
j j jn
n
I I e I e I e

!
The array factor in this case have a closed form

1 1
( cos )
0 0
1
1
jN
N N
jn d jn
j
n n
e
AF e e
e

Reference:
2 3 1
2 3 1
1
(1 ) 1 (1 ) /(1 )
N
N N
N N
S x x x x
xS x x x x x
x S x S x x

+ + + + +
+ + + + +

!
!
Consider

( )
/ 2 / 2 / 2 / 2
/ 2 / 2 / 2
/ 2
1
2 sin( / 2)
jN jN jN jN jN
jN jN jN
jN
e e e e e
e e e
e j N

Ignoring the phase, the uniform excited (UE), equal spaced

linear array (ESLA) has the array factor

sin( / 2)
sin( / 2)
N
AF
N

, UE, ESLA
Observations:
(1) Main lobe is in the direction so that
cos 0 d +
(2) The main lobe narrows as N increases.
(3) Number of side lobes is N-1 in one period of
( ) AF
.
(4) SLL decreases as N increases.
(5)
( ) AF
is symmetric about

.
Electriconic beam scanning
The maximum radiation direction for UE-ESLA array is in
direction 0

such that
0
cos 0 d
. For fixed spacing
(d), the main beam direction is controlled by the phase
progression parameter

. Thus beam scan is realized by

varying

.
Pattern parameters for UE-ESLA
(for isotropic elements)
Half-Power beam width HP: When
Nd >>
,
0
0.886 csc , Near Broadside
2 0.886 , Endfire
Nd
HP
Nd

'

Directivity: Need numerical integration.

Distance
difference
Phase difference
Beam forming in an arbitrary direction is realized by
compensation of the distance differences with the phase
differences in the excitations.
Look at the sin(Nx)/(Nsinx) plot, there are two main beams
in general (one at x=0, and the other at
2 ) x
. In many
practical applications, a single pencil beam is desired.
How to select array parameters so that the array produces a
single pencil beam?
Ordinary endfire array:

1
2 2 , 1
2 2
d or d
N N


]

]
]
Non-uniformly excited, equally spaced linear array
(NE,ESLA)
Recall the AF for equally spaced linear array:

cos ( 1) cos
0 1 1
j d j n d
N
AF I I e I e

+ + !
For linear phase progression, we define

, cos
jn
n n
I A e d

+

( 1)
0 1 1
j j N
N
AF A Ae A e

+ + + !
Denote
j
Z e

, then
2 1
0 1 2 1
N
N
AF A A Z A Z A Z

+ + + + !
Binomial distribution:
1
(1 )
N
AF Z

+

2
2 3
2 3 4
2 : 1
3: 1 2
4 : 1 3 3
5 : 1 4 6 4
N AF Z
N AF Z Z
N AF Z Z Z
N AF Z Z Z Z
+
+ +
+ + +
+ + + +
The amplitude distribution is symmetric. The AF for
binomial distribution has no sidelobes.
20.0043
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20.0043
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20.0043
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20.0043
40.0087
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Two dimensional array
Example: Four isotropic elements are placed on the four
corners of a rectangular region as shown below. Find the
AR for this array (Assuming that the excitations are
identical for the four elements).
d
d
d d
y
x
0
Solution:

3 1 2 4

1 2 3 4
j r r j r r j r r j r r
AF I e I e I e I e

+ + +
sin cos sin sin cos r x y z + +
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
, sin (cos sin )
, sin ( cos sin )
, sin ( cos sin )
, sin (cos sin )
r xd yd r r d
r xd yd r r d
r xd yd r r d
r xd yd r r d




+ +
+ +


( ) ( )
( )
( )
sin (cos sin ) sin (cos sin )
sin ( cos sin ) sin ( cos sin )
sin cos sin cos
sin cos sin cos
2cos sin sin 2cos sin sin
2cos sin sin
4cos sin sin c
j d j d
j d j d
j d j d
j d j d
AF e e
e e
e d e d
d e e
d







+
+

+
+ +
+
] +
]

( )
os sin cos d
Generally, 2D rectangular arrays have the AF given by

'
( )
1 1
( , )
mn mn
M N
j r r
mn
m n
AF I e


+

Where
'
mn
r
is the location of the (m,n) element.

' ' ' '

mn mn mn mn
r xx yy zz + +

sin cos sin sin cos r x y z + +
( )
' ' ' '
sin cos sin sin cos
mn mn mn mn
r r x y z + +
Main bean pointing direction
0 0
( , )
is given by
( )
' ' '
0 0 0 0 0
sin cos sin sin cos
mn mn mn mn
x y z + +