Full polarimetric pattern synthesis for an active conformal array

Conformal arrays offer a maximal sensor surface area for a given platform which in turn provides larger array aperture and array gain. When considering such an antenna for an airborne radar, the classical requirements for an electronically scanned antenna pattern remain, such as low sidelobe level and low cross polarization level for both sum and difference beams. This paper presents an iterative full polarimetric least-square synthesis technique for the optimization of the element excitations of an active conformal array antenna. The radiating elements are assumed to be dual polarized. Independent amplitude and phase controls are available to perform the power pattern synthesis, justifying the term of full polarimetric. For an array in its receive mode, the proposed method considers both the co-polarization and cross-polarization components of the antenna pattern, making possible further array processing such as monopulse estimation. A few synthesis examples are presented for a paraboloidal array, for the sum and difference channels.