Thinning and Weighting of Planar/Conformal Arrays Considering Mutual Coupling Effects

Based on an improved active element pattern (AEP) technique, a novel effective method for sidelobe suppression considering mutual coupling (MC) in planar and conformal sparse arrays is proposed in this paper. A thinning and weighting process that includes the thinning module, optimization module, and far-field calculation module is presented, and three key points, namely, the modified AEP modeling, far-field calculation of planar and conformal thinned arrays, and modified thinning strategy, are highlighted. As an effective optimization algorithm, the differential evolution algorithm (DEA) is adopted in order to achieve low sidelobe. Several numerical examples are shown to validate the consistency and effectiveness of the proposed synthesis approach. With the first use of the AEP technique for the synthesis of sparse arrays, the planar and conformal microstrip arrays with the desired array filling factor are studied to obtain the expected sidelobe level (SLL).