Null steering in planar arrays by controlling only current amplitudes using genetic algorithms

In this paper, a technique to steer the array nulls for planar arrays by controlling only the excitation current amplitudes based on genetic algorithms is investigated. The proposed technique is found to be capable of steering the array nulls to the prescribed interference directions with prescribed null depth and simultaneous sidelobe level minimization. In addition, the technique is simple, easily implemented, and versatile compared with other analytic methods for this problem. To verify the validity of the technique, illustrative examples for both rectangular and circular planar arrays are demonstrated. Numerical results show that for planar arrays, even with large elements for cases of a large number of interferences, the proposed technique does succeed in steering the array nulls with satisfactory nulling performance, as desired.