NUS/ECE

EE6832

Array Synthesis
1 Introduction
The array synthesis is the reverse process of array analysis.
It starts from a given requirement specified on the array
radiation pattern and ends with an array design to
approximately (or exactly) satisfy the requirement and the
other system constraints.
The synthesis method depends on the category of
requirements. Two categories of requirements are studied:
1. The array radiation pattern exhibits a desired
distribution in the visible region - beam shaping.
2. The array radiation pattern has low sidelobes and a
narrow main beam.
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2 Synthesis Methods
1. The Fourier series method is used to synthesize for the
first category of requirements.
2. The Dolph-Chebyshev method is used to synthesize for
the second category of requirements.
We will only consider synthesis of linear arrays with
identical elements which are equally spaced along the x
axis. We will focus on realizing the array factor while the
individual element patterns are assumed to be isotropic.
The effect of the non-isotropic individual element patterns
can be studied separately.
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Far field
observation
point

Element 2

Element 1
d

x
Element M

A M-element equally spaced linear array with identical elements

and uniform element separation d (sited at the plane of = /2)

For an M-element linear array with the array center

coincident with the origin of the coordinate system, the
array factor can be written as follows:
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f array w

m N

ime jmkdw , for M 2 N 1 (odd number) (1)

where im are the element currents and w = cos. Or as:

1
1
j m kdw
j m kdw

f array w i me 2 im e 2 ,
m 1

for M 2 N (even number)

The element locations are at:
xm md , N m N (for M 2 N 1)
N

m 1 2 d ,
xm
m 1 2 d ,
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1 m N
N m 1
4

(2)

(3)

(for M 2 N ) (4)
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2.1 Fourier Series Method

The array factors in (1) and (2) are similar to the
expression of the exponential Fourier series expression.
The required array factor, fd(w), can be expanded by an
exponential Fourier series as follows:
fd w

bme jmkdw

(5)

where the range of w is:

1 w cos 1
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(6)
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And in order to satisfy the orthogonal property of the

complex exponential functions, the value of kd has to
satisfy the following requirement:
2

, d .
kd
1 1
2

(7)

The expansion coefficients are given by:

1

1
bm f d w e jmkdw dw
2 1

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(8)

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Hence we can approximate (1) by (5) by a truncated

Fourier series with a finite number of terms, M terms.
The element currents are then made equal to bm in (8). In
summary, the element currents for a Fourier series
synthesis method are:
1

1
im f d w e jmkdw dw, for M 2 N 1
2 1

(9)

1
m 1 kdw
j

1
2

dw,
1 m N
im f d w e
2 1

M
N
(for
2
)
(10)

1
1

j m kdw
1

i
f
w
e
dw, N m 1

m 2 d

1
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Example 1
Determine the element currents of a linear array with 21
isotropic elements and the element separation d = /2 which
produces approximately the following desired radiation
pattern.
1, 4 3 4
f d w cos
0, eleswhere

Solution
Since the number of elements is odd, the excitation currents
are determined by (9).
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4 3 4 1 2 w 1 2
m

sin
1 2
1 2

1
1
1
jmkdw
jm w
2
im e
dw e
dw
2 1 2
2 1 2
2 m
2
i0 1.0000, i1 0.3582, i2 0.2170, i3 0.0558,
i4 0.0578, i5 0.0895, i6 0.0518, i7 0.0101,
i8 0.0496, i9 0.0455, i10 0.0100

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EE6832

The synthesized radiation pattern is shown below:

farray(cos)

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2.2 Dolph-Chebyshev Method

For an equally-spaced linear array with identical
elements, if the element currents are symmetrically
distributed with i-m = im, the array maximum radiation
direction is at the broadside ( = 90) and the array factor
is given by:
f array w
N

i0 2 im cos( mkdw), for M 2 N 1 (odd number)

m 1
N
(11)
2 i cos m 1 kdw, for M 2 N (even number)

m 1
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Chebyshev Polynomials
The Chebyshev polynomials are defined by:
1n cosh n cosh 1 x , for x 1

1
Tn x cos n cos x , for 1 x 1

1
cosh
n
cosh
x
,
for
1

T0 x 1

(12)

T1 x x
T2 x 2 x 2 1

(13)

T3 x 4 x 3 x
3

T4 x 8 x 4 8 x 2 1
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T5 x 16 x5 20 x 3 5 x
T6 x 32 x 6 48 x 4 18 x 2 1
T7 x 64 x 112 x 56 x 7 x
7

(13)

T8 x 128 x 256 x 160 x 32 x 1

8

T9 x 256 x 9 576 x 7 432 x 5 120 x3 9 x

Higher order Chebyshev polynomials can be generated

from the following recursive formula:
Tn1 x 2 xTn x Tn1 x
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(14)
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The first five Chebysheve polynomials

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Array Factor in Terms of Chebyshev Polynomials

Now in (11), put

kdw, ( 1 w 1 kd kd )

(15)

f array

i0 2 im cos(2m 2 ), for M 2 N 1
m1
N
2 i cos 2m 1 , for M 2 N
m

2
m1
Using the formula,
N

cos m Tm , with cos , ( 1 1)

2
2
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15

(16)

(17)
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we have:
f array
N

i0 2 imT2 m , for M 2 N 1
m1
N
2 i T , for M 2 N
m 2 m1

m1

(18)

Hence the array factor can be expressed as a summation

of Chebyshev polynomials. The highest order of the
Chebyshev polynomial in the summation series is M-1.
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Determination of the Element Currents im

The realization of the Dolph-Chebyshev array is to equate
the expression of the array factor in (18) to a Chebyshev
polynomial with the order M-1. As (18) is in terms of =
cos(/2), we first make the following substitution in the
(M-1)th order Chebyshev polynomial:

kd
x x0 cos , ( kd kd x0 cos x x0 ) (19)
2
2

That is,

TM 1 x TM 1 x0 cos
2

Note that x in (20) can be greater than 1.

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17

(20)

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Then equate

f array TM 1 x0 cos
2

(21)

The value of x0 in (19) is fixed by the main beam-tosidelobe ratio, R. farray in (21) is greatest (main beam
value) when cos(/2) = 1 (see next page). Thus, the
sidelobe level (SLL) relative to the main beam level is:
1
1

R TM 1 x0

( SLL(dB) 20log R )

Hence
1

cosh 1 R
R TM 1 x0 x0 cosh
M 1

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18

(22)

(23)
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The 4th order Chebysheve polynomials with the value of x0 and R shown
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19

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The element currents im in (18) are then determined by

comparing the coefficients of the respective terms with the
same power of cos(/2) in the expressions of farray and
TM-1(x0cos(/2)) in (21). This is illustrated in Example 2
on next page.
Note that using the Dolph-Chebyshev Method, the
element separation d is not fixed to /2 as in the Fourier
series method. d can be varied and the result is that the
range of in (15) is also changed.

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Example 2
Determine the element currents of a linear array with 5
isotropic elements and an element separation d = /2 by using
the Dolph-Chebyshev synthesis method. The radiation
pattern of the array must have a sidelobe level of -20 dB.
Solution
M 5, N 2

SLL 20 dB R 10 SLL 20 10

From (16), the array factor is:

f array i0 2i1 cos(2 ) 2i2 cos(4 )

2
2
kdw cos
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Using (17) & (18), the array factor becomes:

4
f array (i0 2i1 2i2 ) (4i1 16i2 )cos 16i2 cos
2
2
The (5-1)th order Chebyshev polynomial is:
2

T4 x 1 8 x 2 8 x 4

2
2
4
4
T4 x x0 cos 1 8 x0 cos 8 x0 cos
2

2
2
Comparing the coefficients of the cos(/2) terms with a
same power in farray and T4(x0cos(/2)) successively, we can
determine the element currents to be:
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i0 3 x 4 x 1
4
0

2
0

i1 2 x04 2 x02
1 4
i2 x0
2

The value of x0 is determined from SLL as:

1

1
x0 cosh
cosh R
M 1

cosh cosh 1 10
4

1.293
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Hence,

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i0 2.6978
i1 i1 2.4640
i2 i2 1.3975

The array factor produced by these element currents is

shown on next page after normalizing the main beam to 0
dB.

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The array factor for Example 2 with a sidelobe level of

-20 dB (rectangular plot)
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The array factor for Example 2 with a sidelobe level of

-20 dB (polar plot)
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References:
[1] W. L. Stutzman and G. A. Thiele, Antenna Theory and Design, Wiley, New
York, 1998.
[2] C. A. Balanis, Antenna Theory - Analysis and Design, John Wiley & Sons,
New Jersey, 2005, pp. 478-481.
[3] John D. Kraus, Antennas, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1988.

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Array Synthesis