Range-Angle-Dependent Beamforming of Pulsed Frequency Diverse Array

• Published in: IEEE transactions on antennas and propagation Vol. 63; no. 7; pp. 3262 - 3267
• Main Authors: Xu, Yanhong, Shi, Xiaowei, Xu, Jingwei, Li, Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.07.2015
• Subjects: Array signal processing; Arrays; Frequency diversity; Frequency modulation; Pulsed frequency diverse array; quasistatic beampattern; Radar; Radar antennas; range-angle-dependent beamforming; transmit/ receive beamforming; quasi-static beampattern; transmit/receive beamforming; range-angle-dependent beamforming; Pulsed frequency diverse array (FDA)
• ISSN: 0018-926X; 1558-2221
• DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2015.2423698

Different from the conventional phased array, frequency diverse array (FDA) can provide electronic beam scanning without phase shifters and its beam steering is range-angle-dependent. Nevertheless, reported studies on FDA are most in continuous waveforms and the corresponding beampattern is time-variant, which increases difficulty in controlling the mainbeam direction and complexity of signal processing. To alleviate this problem, a pulsed-FDA is proposed with an aim to generate quasi-static beampattern in this communication. The corresponding constraint is derived together with the method to control the mainbeam direction. Moreover, the range-angle-dependent characteristics of the quasi-static transmit/receive beampattern are addressed considering the radar applications. Besides, range-angle-dependent beampattern significantly enhances the flexibility of beam scanning and its signal processing. Simulation results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.