Leccture--9

6.4 Plan
nar array
A planar array providees a large apeerture and maay be used forr directional bbeam controllled by varyinng the
hase of each element, sym
relative ph mmetrical patteerns with low
w side lobes, mmuch higher directivity (nnarrow
main beam m) than that of
o their individ
dual.

Array Factor
F

Fig.6.19 Planar arraay

If M elem
ments are initiaally placed alo
ong x-axis, th
he array factoor can be exprressed as

M
AFx1 I
m 1
m1e
j m 1 kd x sin cos x
((6.58)

It is assum med that all elements aree equispaced with an inteerval of d x annd a progresssive shift x . I m1
denotes th he excitation coefficient of o the elemen nt with coordiinates x m 1 d x , y 0. , w
nt at the point where
sin cos cos x is the directional
d coosine with resspect to the xx-axis ( x is tthe angle betw
ween r and the x-
th st
axis). In the
t figure abo he element off the m row and the 1 coolumn of the array matrixx. If N
ove, this is th
such array ys are placed d at even interrvals along thhe y-directionn, a rectangullar array is foormed. We asssume
again thatt they are equ a there is a progressive pphase shift y along eachh row.
uispaced at a distance d y and
We also assume that the normalized current distribution along each of the x-directed arrays is the same
but the absolute values correspond to a factor of I1n n 1,..., N . Then, the AF of the entire MN array is
M j n 1 kd sin sin
y y
N
AF
I1n

I m1e x
j m 1 kd sin cos x
e
(6.59)
n 1 m 1
or
AF SxM S yN

M
S xM AFx1 I
m 1
m1e
j m 1 kd x sin cos x

(6.60)

N
j n 1 kd y sin cos y
S yN AF1 y I
n 1
1n e

In the array factors above

sin cos x r = cos x
sin cos y r = cos y (6.61)

Thus, the pattern of a rectangular array is the product of the array factors of the linear arrays in the x and
y-directions.

In the case of a uniform planar rectangular array, I m1 I1n I 0 for all m and n, i.e., all elements have the
same excitation amplitudes. Thus,

M N

e
j n 1 kd y sin sin y
AF I 0
m 1
e x
j m 1 kd sin cos x

n 1
(6.62)

The normalized array factor is obtained as

x sin N y
1 sin M
2 1 2
AFn , (6.63)
M N y
sin x sin
2 2

where
x kd x sin cos x
y kd y sin cos y

The major lobe (principal maximum) and grating lobes of the terms

sin M x
S xM
1 2
M (6.64)
sin x
2
 y
sin N
S yN
1 2
N y (6.65)
sin
2
are located at angles such that
kd x sin m cos m x 2m , m 0,1,...,
kd y sin n sin n y 2n , n 0,1,..., (6.66)

The principal maximum corresponds to m = 0, n = 0.

In general, x and y are independent of each other. But, if it is required that the main beams of
S xM and S yN intersect (which is usually the case), then the common main beam is in the direction:
0 and 0 , m n 0 .

If the principal maximum is specified by 0 ,0 , then the progressive phases x and y must satisfy
x kd x sin 0 cos 0 (6.67)

y kd y sin 0 sin 0 . (6.68)

When x and y are specified, the direction of the main beam can be found by simultaneously solving
(6.67) and (6.68)
yd x
tan 0 (6.69)
xd y

2
y
2

sin 0 x (6.70)
kd x kd y

The grating lobes can be located by substituting (6.67) and (6.68) in (6.66)

sin 0 sin 0 n
dy
tan mn
sin 0 sin 0 m (6.71)
dx

sin 0 cos 0 m sin 0 sin 0 n

dx dy
sin mn (6.72)
cos mn sin mn

To avoid grating lobes, the spacing between the elements must be less than d y and d y . In order a
true grating lobe to occur, both equations (6.71) and (6.72) must have a real solution mn ,mn .