An Effective Approach for the Synthesis of Unequally Spaced Antenna Array by Estimating Optimum Elements Density on the Aperture

In this letter, a simple, effective, and computationally efficient approach for the synthesis of uniformly excited unequally spaced linear antenna (USLA) arrays is proposed. The proposed approach deals with determination of optimum elements’ density on the aperture, which empowers the synthesis technique with flexibility and increased search competency in attaining maximum possible reduction in peak sidelobe level (PSLL). In the present study, an inertia-weight particle swarm optimization (IW-PSO) algorithm is employed for the synthesis of USLA arrays. Numerical analysis on 16- and 32-element linear arrays is carried out to evidence the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The numerical results obtained through our technique are compared to those employing other techniques available in the literature, which reveals that the proposed scheme outperforms other schemes and offers great flexibility as well as enhances the global search ability of the IW-PSO algorithm in achieving the lowest possible PSLL at reduced computational effort.