Randomly Overlapped Subarrays for Reduced Sidelobes in Angle-Limited Scan Arrays

A phased array architecture based on uniformly overlapped subarrays allows to obtain a radiation pattern with low sidelobes for an angle-limited scan. The improvements provided in terms of sidelobe reduction by resorting to randomly overlapped subarrays are analyzed, and the performance of this novel configuration is compared to those achieved by other subarray arrangements. The proposed structure is theoretically analyzed, and the results are also assessed by full-wave simulations in order to include the effect of mutual coupling among the radiating elements.