Null Steering in Linear Array Antennas With Electronically Displaced Phase Center Dual-Mode Antenna Elements

The potential of dynamically steering the null locations in equally spaced linear scanning array antennas using the electronically displaced phase center antenna (E-DPCA) technique is investigated for the first time in this communication. The relative coordinates, and thus, the element spacing, of the equally spaced linear array antennas are electronically varied using the E-DPCA technique to adaptively steer the null locations without any physical displacement while maintaining the same overall array length. The versatility of the proposed technique is further explored by: 1) generating consecutive nulls with a minimum resolution of 1° between them and 2) simultaneously steering the null locations and scanning the main beam.