Nonuniform array antenna design incorporating the mutual coupling between rectangular aperture antennas

Abstract

An effective procedure for accounting for the mutual coupling between rectangular apertures in the design of nonuniform array antennas is discussed. The central element of the procedure is a two-dimensional interpolation scheme allowing the evaluation of the coupling admittance between arbitrarily located rectangular apertures based on 9 pre-computed values. The manner in which the interpolation strategy can serve a purpose in optimisation schemes for reaching certain radiation pattern or active reÁection coefÀcient design requirements is focused upon. The method's effectiveness is illustrated by examining the case of some medium-large nonuniform placements with demonstrated superior performance. The inclusion of the mutual coupling is shown to affect pronouncedly the performance predicted by means of the array factor, only. Indications on the computational costs of including the computational strategy in iterative optimisation schemes are also given.