Synthesis of High Directivity Beams for Conformal Sources

Abstract

<p>The<b> </b>role of the source geometry in the the radiation of focusing beams by conformal antennas is examined by the comparison of their directivity functions at different maximum directions. An inverse source problem approach is adopted, where solutions stable with respect to data uncertainties are to be found by relying on the analysis of the pertinent operator by the Singular Values Decomposition. This general framework allows to connect the mean value of the mazimum directivity function to the Number of Degrees of Freedom of the conformal source, which depends only on its electrical length. For each source geometry the focusing far field ensuring the maximum directivity for every pointing direction and the corresponding source current are obtained. The comparison with the ones achieved by the usual phase compensation technique of the source current reveals their optimal behavior. The usefulness of the approach as a tool in antenna synthesis is shown by comparing different geometries for those applications where identical beams are required to be rdiated for the coverage of a larga angular domain.</p>