Synthesis of Very Large Planar Arrays for Prescribed Footprint Illumination

Footprint patterns can be efficiently synthesized by means of planar arrays with hundreds or thousands of elements: an efficient combination of Woodward-Lawson and Orchard-Elliott-Stern roots optimization procedure is suggested. This hybrid technique is applied to a footprint covering Europe by using planar arrays with isotropic elements and linearly polarized circular patches. The proposed method keeps under control both the side lobe and ripple level of the synthesized pattern.