An Antenna Array with Wide Flat-Top Beam and Low Sidelobes for Aerial Target Detection

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics
• Antenna Theory and Design
• Electromagnetics

Background:

• Drone misuse poses safety risks, necessitating advanced aerial target detection.
• Conventional beam-synthesis methods for antenna arrays are often computationally intensive or require numerous elements.
• Interference from undesired directions and randomly distributed targets challenge current detection systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an accurate and computationally efficient method for designing antenna arrays for aerial target detection.
• To achieve a shaped beam with uniform gain and suppressed sidelobe levels (SLLs).
• To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in mitigating interference and improving detection capabilities.

Main Methods:

• An analytical approach is used to derive the excitation distribution by solving a novel weighted-constraint problem.
• A 10 × 4 planar microstrip antenna array is designed using the extended method of maximum power transmission efficiency.
• Mutual coupling between array elements is fully accounted for in the design process.

Main Results:

• The designed antenna array achieves a shaped beam with uniform gain and low sidelobe levels (SLLs).
• The E-plane exhibits a wide half-power beamwidth (HPBW) of 51.2° and an SLL of -30.1 dB.
• The H-plane shows a narrow HPBW of 20.1° and an SLL of -30.5 dB.

Conclusions:

• The proposed analytical method provides an efficient and accurate design for antenna arrays.
• The designed array demonstrates significant capabilities for aerial target detection and airborne tracking.
• This approach offers a viable solution for enhancing safety and security against drone misuse.