On the Effectiveness of Rotation-Based Arrangement Optimization in the Pattern Synthesis of Subarrayed Phased Array

This letter presents a rotation-based optimization method for pattern synthesis of subarrayed phased arrays. In order to keep a good beam scanning ability at different steering angles, the optimization problem is reasonably defined where the objective is taken as minimizing the maximum sidelobe level at a series of steering angles, and both the arrangement variables and the scanning variables are optimized simultaneously. The mutual coupling of the iteratively rotated arrays is rigorously considered in the synthesis. In order to solve the synthesis problem effectively, the design sensitivities are derived analytically and the synthesis is actualized by using a gradient-based algorithm. Typical examples, with considering different regular subarray configurations and the state-of-art irregular subarray configurations, are provided to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.