Synthesis of Pencil Beam Linear Antenna Arrays using Simple FFT / CF / GA Based Technique

Many applications such as satellite communications and radar systems where the antenna array weight and size are limiting factors favor compact antenna arrays. In this paper, a new approach for the synthesis of linear arrays featuring a minimum number of antenna elements is presented. The method is based on the combination between Fourier transform technique, curve fitting technique, and the genetic algorithm to derive the optimum element spacing and elements excitations required to synthesize a prescribed array factor. The effectiveness and simplicity of the proposed algorithm will be demonstrated by comparison with other analytical and optimization techniques. Index TermAntenna arrays, fast Fourier transform (FFT), curve fitting (CF), and genetic algorithm (GA).