Hindawi Publishing Corporation

International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

Volume 2014, Article ID 869192, 12 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/869192

Research Article
Two-Dimensional Time-Domain Antenna Arrays for
Optimum Steerable Energy Pattern with Low Side Lobes

Alberto Reyna,1,2 Marco A. Panduro,2 Gerardo Romero,2 Juvenal Villanueva,1

Fernando F. Rivera,1 and Aldo L. Méndez2
1
Sistemas Industriales Automatizados, Plaza Vista Hermosa, 88779 Reynosa, Tamp., Mexico
2
Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas UAMR-R, Carretera Reynosa-San Fernando, 88779 Reynosa, Tamp., Mexico

Correspondence should be addressed to Alberto Reyna; alberto.reynam@outlook.com

Received 10 December 2013; Accepted 6 June 2014; Published 2 July 2014

Academic Editor: Z. N. Chen

Copyright © 2014 Alberto Reyna et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This document presents the synthesis of different two-dimensional time-domain antenna arrays for steerable energy patterns with
side lobe levels. The research is focused on the uniform and nonuniform distributions of true-time exciting delays and positions
of antenna elements. The uniform square array, random array, uniform concentric ring array, and rotated nonuniform concentric
ring array geometries are particularly studied. These geometries are synthesized by using the well-known sequential quadratic
programming. The synthesis regards the optimal true-time exciting delays and optimal positions of pulsed antenna elements. The
results show the capabilities of the different antenna arrays to steer the beam in their energy pattern in time domain and how their
performance is in frequency domain after the synthesis in time domain.

1. Introduction in imaging applications. Moreover, the TD circular arrays

have been also studied by modeling Hermite-Rodriguez
Historically, the frequency domain antenna arrays have been waveforms and a generalized hypergeometric function for
widely developed for multibeam, shaped, and phased patterns a broadside-fixed pattern [15]. The performance tradeoffs
in narrowband applications. Lately, modern requirements associated with the selection, size, and distributions of time
lead to the use of ultrawideband (UWB) technology for high delays in large TD uniform square arrays were presented
rate data transmission and high sensitivity [1, 2]. The UWB in [16]. So far, the performance of TDTD antenna arrays
arrays can be the solution for such requirements; however, the for an optimum steerable energy pattern (SEP) is an open
performance of the power pattern varies with the frequency. research field. Here, the authors present a novel study of the
Hence, the synthesis of an UWB array is very difficult because uniform and nonuniform TDTD antenna arrays geometries,
of a frequency domain perspective. An alternative way for particularly conventional uniform square array (CUSA),
this type of synthesis is to view the problem from the time- conventional concentric ring array (CCRA), uniform square
domain perspective where it could be solved in an easier way. array (USA), random array (RA), uniform concentric ring
In this case, time-domain (TD) or pulsed antenna arrays have array (UCRA), and rotated nonuniform concentric ring array
recently been studied by regarding their advantages of low (RNUCRA). The study considers the synthesis of different
side lobes and high resolution for the modern applications geometries for a SEP with low side lobe level (SLL). To
such as radar, remote sensing, and communications [3]. this end, the well-known sequential quadratic programming
Previous works in the literature include studies mainly for the (SQP) [17] is utilized by finding out the optimal true-time
TD linear arrays, exploiting its features of fixed and scanning exciting delays and optimal positions of pulsed antenna
beam of patterns [4–13]. The research in [14] addresses a elements. This algorithm has been recently proved to be very
study of performance of large two-dimensional time-domain efficient in the synthesis of antenna arrays [18–21]. We do not
(TDTD) antenna arrays for a very narrow-fixed pattern claim SQP is the best-suited algorithm to synthesize TDTD
2 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

antenna arrays. The selection of the best-suited algorithm f2

fn−1 fN
is still an open research field. Hence, the novelties of this f1
research are (1) a study of the performance of different TDTD
antenna arrays for an optimum SEP by means of a synthesis
based on SQP and (2) a study of the performance of the
patterns in frequency domain for the best antenna array
geometries after the synthesis in time domain.

2. Time-Domain Antenna Arrays Models Σ

Let us consider the TDTD antenna arrays as a group of

𝑁 pulsed antenna elements located on a plane as shown s(t, 𝜃, 𝜑)
in Figure 1. Each antenna is receiving (or radiating) a time
short pulse in each direction. The short pulses are added
with different time delays resulting in a far-field waveform.
Figure 1: Two-dimensional time-domain antenna array.
Its distribution depends on four parameters which are the
amplitudes, the antenna positions, the waveform of the short
pulses, and the time delays among the short pulses [1, 3].
Let us assume the 5th derivative Gaussian pulse as the where
waveform of the receiving short pulse for each direction as 𝑥𝑛 𝑦
Δ𝑡 = sin 𝜃 cos 𝜑 + 𝑛 sin 𝜃 sin 𝜑,
follows [22]: 𝑐 𝑐
𝑥 𝑦
𝑡5 10𝑡3 15𝑡 𝑡2 𝜏𝑝 = 𝑛 sin 𝜃0 cos 𝜑0 + 𝑛 sin 𝜃0 sin 𝜑0 , (5)
𝑓𝑛 (𝑡) = 𝐴 (− + − ) exp (− ), 𝑐 𝑐
√2𝜋𝜎11 √2𝜋𝜎9 √2𝜋𝜎7 2𝜎2
(1) 𝜏𝑛 ∈ [0, 𝜏max ] .

where 𝐴 = 1 and 𝜎 = 51 ps are chosen to satisfy the FCC The term (𝑥𝑛 , 𝑦𝑛 ) is the 𝑛th antenna element position in
regulations [22–25]. Now, the antenna array can be modeled the plane 𝑋-𝑌. The direction (𝜃, 𝜑) represents the elevation
for uniform or nonuniform distributions of the antenna and azimuth angles and (𝜃0 , 𝜑0 ) is the maximum direction.
positions and time delays so that the far-field waveform The constant 𝑐 is the light speed. The 𝜏𝑝 and 𝜏𝑛 are the
can considerably change. This gives us the opportunity to progressive and disturbed exciting time delays of the 𝑛th
modify the radiation properties of the TDTD antenna array. antenna element, respectively. The 𝜏max is the maximum
In this case, it is preferable to take the energy pattern into value of exciting time delays. And 𝑎𝑛 is the amplitude of
account since it represents the behavior of the power pattern the 𝑛th antenna element. For this model, we propose two
in the corresponding spectrum. Hence, the energy pattern is synthesis cases: (1) a USA with equally spaced antennas and
defined as [26] symmetric-disturbed exciting delays and (2) a RA with null
disturbed exciting delays and random positions of antenna
𝑡
󵄨 󵄨2 elements.
𝑃energy (𝜃, 𝜙) = ∫ 󵄨󵄨󵄨𝑠 (𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑)󵄨󵄨󵄨 𝑑𝑡, (2)
0
2.2. Uniform and Nonuniform Concentric Ring Array. Sec-
where the 𝑠(𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) is the far-field waveform of the antenna
ondly, consider 𝑁 pulsed antennas grouped in 𝑁𝑟 rings in the
array as specified in Figure 1. The spectrum in frequency of
plane 𝑋-𝑌; the far-field waveform is
𝑠(𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) is obtained by a Fourier transformation as follows:
󵄨󵄨 ∞ 󵄨󵄨 𝑠 (𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) = 𝑎𝑐 𝑓 (𝑡 − 𝜏𝑐 , 𝜃, 𝜑)
󵄨 󵄨
𝑃 (𝑓𝑟 , 𝜃, 𝜑) = 󵄨󵄨󵄨∫ 𝑠 (𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) 𝑒−𝑗2𝜋𝑓𝑟 𝑡 𝑑𝑡󵄨󵄨󵄨 , (3)
󵄨󵄨 −∞ 󵄨󵄨 𝑁𝑟 𝑁𝑚 (6)
+ ∑ ∑ 𝑎𝑛𝑚 𝑓 (𝑡 − Δ𝑡 + 𝜏𝑝 − 𝜏𝑛𝑚 , 𝜃, 𝜑) ,
where 𝑓𝑟 is the frequency from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz according 𝑚=1 𝑛=1
to the FCC regulations for an UWB system [22–25]. The
formulations of the far-field waveform 𝑠(𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) for the USA, where
RA, UCRA, and RNUCRA geometries are detailed in the next 𝑁𝑚
𝑟𝑚 2𝜋𝑛
subsections. Δ𝑡 = sin 𝜃 cos (𝛾𝑛𝑚 − 𝜑) , 𝛾𝑛𝑚 = ∑ ( + 𝛽𝑚 )
𝑐 𝑛=1 𝑁𝑚
2.1. Uniform Square and Random Array. Firstly, consider 𝑁 𝑟𝑚 (7)
pulsed antennas in the plane 𝑋-𝑌; the far-field waveform is 𝜏𝑝 = sin 𝜃0 cos (𝛾𝑛𝑚 − 𝜑0 )
𝑐
[27]
𝜏𝑛𝑚 ∈ [0, 𝜏max ] .
𝑁
𝑠 (𝑡, 𝜃, 𝜑) = ∑ 𝑎𝑛 𝑓𝑛 (𝑡 − Δ𝑡 + 𝜏𝑝 − 𝜏𝑛 , 𝜃, 𝜑) , (4) The term 𝑁𝑚 is the number of antennas in the ring 𝑚 and
𝑛=1 𝑟𝑚 is the radius of the 𝑚th ring. The angle 𝛾𝑛𝑚 is the angular
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 3

position of the element 𝑛 in the ring 𝑚; 𝜏𝑛𝑚 and 𝜏𝑐 are the subproblems. The statement for these subproblems is the
disturbed exciting delay of the element 𝑛 in the ring 𝑚 and the following:
disturbed exciting delay of the central element, respectively.
The term 𝛽𝑚 is a rotation angle for the ring 𝑚. And 𝑎𝑐 and min of𝑠 (𝑑) : 𝐶 (𝑧) + 𝐴(𝑧)𝑇 𝑑 ≤ 0, 𝑖 ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 𝐼}
𝑑
𝑎𝑛𝑚 are the amplitudes for the central element and the 𝑛th
antenna element in the ring 𝑚, respectively. We also propose 1
two synthesis cases: (1) a UCRA with equally spaced rings, of𝑠 (𝑑) = ∇(of (𝑧))𝑇 𝑑 + 𝑑𝑇 𝐻𝑑
2 (10)
null rotation angles, and disturbed exciting delays and (2) a
𝑇
RNUCRA with null disturbed exciting delays, nonuniform 𝐶 (𝑧) = {𝑐1 (𝑧) , 𝑐2 (𝑧) , . . . , 𝑐𝐼 (𝑧)}
radii of the rings, and nonuniform rotation angles.
𝑇
𝐴 (𝑧) = {∇𝑐1 (𝑧) , ∇𝑐2 (𝑧) , . . . , ∇𝑐𝐼 (𝑧)} ,

3. Problem Statement where the of𝑠 (𝑑) is the objective function of each subproblem.
This function is a quadratic approximation to the Lagrangian
The synthesis problem consists in obtaining a SEP with low function [28]. The constraints of each subproblem are
side lobe level by using different geometries of TDTD antenna linearizations of the constraints in the original nonlinear
arrays. We propose the next objective function: problem. And the 𝐻 is a Hessian approximation of the
Lagrangian function of the objective function [21]. In order
of (𝑧) to solve a constrained nonlinear problem, the SQP algorithm
iteratively obtains the solution 𝑥𝑘 in the direction 𝑑𝑘 at the
𝑁𝐷
iteration 𝑘, where the 𝑑𝑘 is the search direction vector which
= ∑ (𝑃energy (𝜃SLL , 𝜑SLL ) + (𝜃0𝑚 − 𝜃obt ) + (𝜑0𝑚 − 𝜑obt )) . represents the solution of the subproblem defined in (10). The
𝑚=1
solutions for the next generation (𝑧𝑘+1 , 𝑑𝑘+1 ) are obtained by
the current solution 𝑥𝑘 in the direction 𝑑𝑘 :
(8)
𝑧𝑘+1 = 𝑧𝑘 + 𝜇𝑝 𝑑𝑘 , (11)
The 𝑧 is the vector of the design variables. The content of
this vector depends upon the TDTD antenna array geometry, where 𝜇𝑝 ∈ [0, 1] is a suitable step length parameter. Then,
that is, disturbed exciting delays for uniform geometries the algorithm converges toward the optimal solution (𝑧𝑘∗ , 𝑑𝑘∗ )
(USA and UCRA) and antenna positions for nonuniform by solving the quadratic programming subproblems defined
geometries (RA and RNUCRA). The term 𝑃energy (𝜃SLL , 𝜑SLL ) in (10). In the next section, the obtained results are described
is the maximum side lobe level and (𝜃obt , 𝜑obt ) is the maxi- by applying this algorithm in the synthesis of TDTD antenna
mum direction of the energy pattern that is obtained in each arrays.
iteration. The objective function regards 𝑁𝐷 directions of the
main beam. The (𝜃0𝑚 , 𝜑0𝑚 ) is the desired main lobe direction. 4. Simulation Results
To solve this nonlinear problem, our procedure consists in
minimizing the above objective function by using the SQP The well-known SQP is applied to optimize different antenna
algorithm which is described in the next subsection. array geometries with similar configuration as in [21]. The
SEP is targeted to 𝑁𝐷 = 64 directions by considering
the 𝜃0 = {15∘ , 25∘ , 35∘ , 45∘ , 55∘ , 65∘ , 75∘ , 85∘ } and 𝜑0 =
3.1. Sequential Quadratic Programming. We opted to use {15∘ , 25∘ , 35∘ , 45∘ , 55∘ , 65∘ , 75∘ , 85∘ } for the synthesis process.
the SQP algorithm as an approach for the synthesis of the We consider only 64 directions as a discretization of the
TDTD antenna arrays for its good performance in solving infinite number of directions in the space within the synthesis
constrained optimization problems with nonlinear multivari- process. Moreover, we consider 𝑁 = 16 elements for the
able functions. The efficiency of this algorithm has been different geometries in order to do a fair comparison. Their
demonstrated in different antenna optimization problems as amplitudes are uniform for all the geometries. Figures 2, 3,
in [18–21]. Here, the SQP algorithm considers the nonlinear 4, and 5 show the obtained results for USA, RA, UCRA,
problem as follows: and RNUCRA, respectively. In these Figures we present (a)
the positions and arrangement of disturbed exciting delays
𝑐 (𝑧) ≤ 0, 𝑖 ∈ {1, 2, . . . , 𝐼} for the optimized SEPs; each color represents a different
min of (𝑧) such that { 𝑖 disturbed exciting delay, (b) the SEP targeted to the direction
𝑧 𝑧min ≤ 𝑧 ≤ 𝑧max .
𝜃0 = 𝜑0 = 45∘ , (c) the main cuts in azimuth during steering
(9)
beam with 𝜃0 = 45∘ , and (d) the main cuts in elevation during
steering beam with 𝜑0 = 45∘ . It shows sweeps of the main
The 𝑐𝑖 (𝑧) is the 𝑖th nonlinear constraint function. The 𝐼 beam in azimuth and elevation planes for a better illustration.
is the maximum number of nonlinear constraints. The 𝑧min The USA geometry utilizes four different disturbed
and 𝑧max are the limits of the search space for each element of exciting delays in Figure 2. The value of these delays is in
the vector 𝑧. The SQP algorithm solves the above nonlinear accordance with a maximum of 𝜏max = 100 ps. The uniform
problem by using a succession of quadratic programming spacing is fixed among the antenna elements with a value of
4 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

200 0

150
−5
SLL = −8.33 dB
100

−10
50

Penergy (dB)
Y (mm)

0 −15

−50
−20
−100

−25
−150

−200 −30
−200 −100 0 100 200 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
X (mm) 𝜑
(a) (b)
0 0

−5
−5

−10
−10
Penergy (dB)
Penergy (dB)

−15

−15
−20

−20
−25

−30 −25
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 30 60 90
𝜙 𝜃

Φ0 = 15 ∘ Φ0 = 55 ∘ 𝜃0 = 15 ∘ 𝜃0 = 55 ∘
Φ0 = 25 ∘ Φ0 = 65 ∘ 𝜃0 = 25 ∘ 𝜃0 = 65 ∘
Φ0 = 35 ∘ Φ0 = 75 ∘ 𝜃0 = 35 ∘ 𝜃0 = 75 ∘
Φ0 = 45 ∘ Φ0 = 85 ∘ 𝜃0 = 45 ∘ 𝜃0 = 85 ∘

(c) (d)

Figure 2: Result of USA: (a) antenna and delay distributions, (b) SEP in 𝜃0 = 𝜑0 = 45∘ , (c) azimuth cuts with 𝜃0 = 45∘ , and (d) elevation cuts
with 𝜑0 = 45∘ .

100 mm. This value can be enough to avoid serious coupling SLL = −10.45 dB during the steering beam. This is achieved
effects according to [4]. The performance of this geometry by increasing slightly the beamwidth in the search of the
permits a SLL = −8.33 dB during the steering beam. optimum solution within the synthesis process. We restrict
The RA shown in Figure 3 is an alternative geometry that the minimum spacing among the elements to 50 mm. This
can perform the SEP with null disturbed exciting delays. This can also be enough to avoid serious coupling effects according
geometry can permit a better performance of the SEP with a to [5].
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 5

200 0

150
SLL = −10.45dB
−5
100

−10
50

Penergy (dB)
Y (mm)

0 −15

−50
−20
−100

−25
−150

−200 −30
−200 −100 0 100 200 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
X (mm) 𝜑
(a) (b)
0 0

−5
−5

−10
−10
Penergy (dB)

Penergy (dB)

−15

−15
−20

−20
−25

−30 −25
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 30 60 90
𝜑 𝜃

Φ0 = 15 ∘ Φ0 = 55 ∘ 𝜃0 = 15 ∘ 𝜃0 = 55 ∘
Φ0 = 25 ∘ Φ0 = 65 ∘ 𝜃0 = 25 ∘ 𝜃0 = 65 ∘
Φ0 = 35 ∘ Φ0 = 75 ∘ 𝜃0 = 35 ∘ 𝜃0 = 75 ∘
Φ0 = 45 ∘ Φ0 = 85 ∘ 𝜃0 = 45 ∘ 𝜃0 = 85 ∘

(c) (d)

Figure 3: Result of RA: (a) antenna and delay distributions, (b) SEP in 𝜃0 = 𝜑0 = 45∘ , (c) azimuth cuts with 𝜃0 = 45∘ , and (d) elevation cuts
with 𝜑0 = 45∘ .
6 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

200 0

150
−5 SLL = −10.65 dB

100

−10
50

Penergy (dB)
Y (mm)

0 −15

−50
−20
−100

−25
−150

−200 −30
−200 −100 0 100 200 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
X (mm) 𝜑
(a) (b)
0 0

−5
−5

−10
−10
Penergy (dB)

Penergy (dB)

−15

−15
−20

−20
−25

−30 −25
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 30 60 90
𝜑 𝜃

𝜑0 = 15 ∘ 𝜑0 = 55 ∘ 𝜃0 = 15 ∘ 𝜃0 = 55 ∘
𝜑0 = 25 ∘ 𝜑0 = 65 ∘ 𝜃0 = 25 ∘ 𝜃0 = 65 ∘
𝜑0 = 35 ∘ 𝜑0 = 75 ∘ 𝜃0 = 35 ∘ 𝜃0 = 75 ∘
𝜑0 = 45 ∘ 𝜑0 = 85 ∘ 𝜃0 = 45 ∘ 𝜃0 = 85 ∘

(c) (d)

Figure 4: Result of UCRA: (a) antenna and delay distributions, (b) SEP in 𝜃0 = 𝜑0 = 45∘ , (c) azimuth cuts with 𝜃0 = 45∘ , and (d) elevation
cuts with 𝜑0 = 45∘ .

Figure 4 shows the SEP of UCRA. This synthesis resulted This geometry utilizes a different disturbed exciting delay per
in a value of SLL = −10.65 dB. An interesting behavior of ring. The radii of the rings are fixed as 𝑟𝑚 = {75 mm, 150 mm}
this geometry is a considerable reduction of the energy in the with null rotation angles 𝛽𝑚 = {0, 0} which are enough to
opposite direction of the main beam as shown in Figure 4(b). avoid serious coupling effects [4, 5].
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 7

200 0

150 SLL = − 9.54 dB

−5
100

−10
50

Penergy (dB)
0 −15
Y (mm)

−50
−20
−100

−25
−150

−200 −30
−200 −100 0 100 200 0 60 120 180 240 300 360
X (mm) 𝜑
(a) (b)
0 0

−5
−5

−10
−10
Penergy (dB)
Penergy (dB)

−15

−15
−20

−20
−25

−30 −25
0 60 120 180 240 300 360 0 30 60 90
𝜑 𝜃

𝜑0 = 15 ∘ 𝜑0 = 55 ∘ 𝜃0 = 15 ∘ 𝜃0 = 55 ∘
𝜑0 = 25 ∘ 𝜑0 = 65 ∘ 𝜃0 = 25 ∘ 𝜃0 = 65 ∘
𝜑0 = 35 ∘ 𝜑0 = 75 ∘ 𝜃0 = 35 ∘ 𝜃0 = 75 ∘
𝜑0 = 45 ∘ 𝜑0 = 85 ∘ 𝜃0 = 45 ∘ 𝜃0 = 85 ∘

(c) (d)

Figure 5: Result of RNUCRA: (a) antenna and delay distributions, (b) SEP in 𝜃0 = 𝜑0 = 45 , (c) azimuth cuts with 𝜃0 = 45∘ , and (d) elevation ∘

cuts with 𝜑0 = 45∘ .

8 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

−10 −10

−10.2 −10.2

−10.4 −10.4
SLL (dB)

SLL (dB)
−10.6 −10.6

−10.8 −10.8

−11 −11
90 90
80 80
60 60
40 80 90 40 80 90
𝜃 40 60 60
20 𝜑 𝜃 20 40
0 20 20 𝜑
0 0 0
(a) (b)

Figure 6: Behavior of peak SLL when the main beam is steered in the optimized directions for (a) RA and (b) UCRA.

The RNUCRA geometry in Figure 5 performs the SEP Figure 9 depicts the SLL values by varying the frequency
with SLL = −9.54 dB during the steering beam. It utilizes null for all the array geometries when the main beam is steered
disturbed exciting delays and nonuniform spacing among the into 𝜑0 = 180∘ and 𝜃0 = 45∘ . The UCRA reached the best
rings. The radii of the rings are restricted in the range of SLL reduction from 4 GHz to 10.6 GHz in this illustration.
𝑟𝑚 ∈ [50 mm, 75 mm] in order to avoid serious coupling Nonetheless, the RNUCRA, RA, and CCRA have more SLL
effects [5]. Moreover, the rings are rotated with an angle in reduction in the first frequencies rather than the UCRA. This
the range of 𝛽𝑚 ∈ [0, 2𝜋]. behavior is very similar to that of the main beam when it is
It is important to state that the SLL in these TDTD steered to other directions.
antenna arrays remains similar when the main beam is Table 1 summarized the SLL values for the different
steered to any direction (𝜃0𝑚 , 𝜑0𝑚 ) of the space. Figure 6 TDTD antenna arrays. The performance of those geometries
shows the normalized SLL’s values when TDTD arrays focus is compared with one another and with respect to the
the main beam for azimuth and elevation planes in steps of nonoptimized geometries (CUSA and CCRA). The USA
ten degrees. has the worst performance in the SLL reduction of the
The above behavior of SLL during steering beam can energy pattern because the antenna positions are fixed and
also be achieved for any direction of the main beam such the optimum disturbed exciting delays do not provide the
as (𝜃0 , 𝜑0 + 90∘ ), (𝜃0 , 𝜑0 + 180∘ ), and (𝜃0 , 𝜑0 + 270∘ ). Hence, capability to reduce more the SLL. The RA and UCRA provide
the TDTD antenna arrays give us the opportunity to obtain good performances for the SEP with low SLL. There is a
a high resolution steering with low SLL in the energy pattern slight difference between RA and UCRA geometries in SLL
in time domain. Now, in order to observe what effect we have reduction. It is worthy to note that the RA geometry has a
in frequency domain after the time-domain synthesis, we simpler beamforming instead of the UCRA geometry due
calculate the spectrum for the best synthesized geometries. to the use of null disturbed exciting delays. Nonetheless,
Figures 7 and 8 depict the spectrum in frequency of the strictly speaking, the UCRA geometry has a better SLL
far-field waveform in time domain of the RA and UCRA reduction in time domain and frequency domain. The UCRA
geometries, respectively. The normalized elevation cuts with and RNUCRA provide a discrepancy of SLL about ≈0.2 dB
𝜑 = 180∘ are shown by sweeping the frequency when the main and SLL ≈ 1 dB, respectively, in the SEP, with respect
beam is steered to 𝜃0 = 0∘ and 𝜃0 = 45∘ . The normalization is to the RA. An important guideline is that comparisons
with respect to the maximum of the pattern in each frequency. among these geometries for a bigger initial fixed aperture and
A SLL reduction is notably observed for all the frequencies greater numbers of antenna elements are similar. Otherwise,
with respect to the nonoptimized or conventional cases. The although the mutual coupling was neglected in the synthesis
optimization of the energy patterns in time domain resulted process, these results show the capabilities of different TDTD
in a good performance in steerable patterns in frequency arrays for a SEP under the same conditions of aperture and
domain. number of antenna elements. Finally, Table 2 presents the
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 9

90 90

60 60

30 30

𝜃 0 𝜃 0

−30 −30

−60 −60

−90 −90
3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6 3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(a) (b)

90 90

60 60

30 30

𝜃 0 𝜃 0

−30 −30

−60 −60

−90 −90
3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6 3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(c) (d)

Figure 7: Spectrum in frequency of (a) CUSA at 𝜃 = 0∘ , (b) RA at 𝜃 = 0∘ , (c) CUSA at 𝜃 = 45∘ , and (d) RA at 𝜃 = 45∘ .

Table 1: SLL values for the TDTD array geometries.

Design SLL in energy pattern in time domain Maximum SLL in frequency domain Minimum SLL in frequency domain
CUSA −4 dB −0.7108 dB at 8.125 GHz −7.8806 dB at 3.1 GHz
CCRA −8.3 dB −4.7612 dB at 8.875 GHz −10.0255 dB at 3.1 GHz
USA −8.33 dB −1.2898 dB at 10.6 GHz −8.1213 dB at 6.55 GHz
RNUCRA −9.54 dB −4.9929 dB at 10 GHz −12.0673 dB at 3.1 GHz
RA −10.45 dB −6.1251 dB at 10.45 GHz −10.4407 dB at 3.25 GHz
UCRA −10.65 dB −8.3842 dB at 10.225 GHz −10.4315 dB at 4.9 GHz
10 International Journal of Antennas and Propagation

90 90

60 60

30 30

𝜃 0 𝜃 0

−30 −30

−60 −60

−90 −90
3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6 3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(a) (b)
90 90

60 60

30 30

𝜃 0 0
𝜃

−30 −30

−60 −60

−90 −90
3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6 3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6
Frequency (GHz) Frequency (GHz)
(c) (d)

Figure 8: Spectrum in frequency of (a) CCRA at 𝜃 = 0∘ , (b) UCRA at 𝜃 = 0∘ , (c) CCRA at 𝜃 = 45∘ , and (d) UCRA at 𝜃 = 45∘ .

design variables after the synthesis for the array geometries; resulted in good performance of all the patterns in frequency
these values may be rounded to an accuracy of 10−2 without even with steering properties. This proposed approach is very
degrading the performance of the geometries. useful to design UWB antenna arrays. The TDTD arrays have
the capability to steer the beam with low SLL in azimuth and
5. Conclusions elevation planes for a very high resolution; this can be accom-
plished by using uniform and nonuniform distributions of
This paper addressed the synthesis of energy patterns for disturbed exciting delays and antenna positions. The results
different TDTD antenna arrays. The study presented the showed a better behavior of the UCRA geometry with respect
performance of the optimum values of SLL of energy patterns to the other geometries in terms of SLL reduction. And the
and their effects in the spectrum in frequency for the best RA has a very similar performance in the energy pattern but
array geometries. The synthesis of arrays in time domain with a simpler beamforming. Future works can be oriented
International Journal of Antennas and Propagation 11

Table 2: Design variables for the TDTD array geometries.

𝜏1 𝜏2 𝜏3 𝜏4
CUSA 0 ps 0 ps 0 ps 0 ps
𝜏𝑛1 𝜏𝑛2 𝜏𝑛3 —
CCRA 0 ps 0 ps 0 ps —
𝜏1 𝜏2 𝜏3 𝜏4
USA 55.0914 ps 100.0000 ps 100.0000 ps 83.6333 ps
𝑟1 𝑟2 𝛽1 𝛽2
RNUCRA 51.9890 mm 75.0000 mm 3.2700 rad 6.0967 rad
(𝑥1 , 𝑦1 ) (𝑥2 , 𝑦2 ) (𝑥3 , 𝑦3 ) (𝑥4 , 𝑦4 )
RA 76.0423 mm, 44.1441 mm 149.4227 mm, 61.1663 mm 25.0000 mm, 140.7737 mm 41.0591 mm, 93.4228 mm
𝜏𝑛1 𝜏𝑛2 𝜏𝑛3 —
UCRA 50 ps 50 ps 47.1491 ps —

0 [2] A. Shlivinski, “Antenna characterization in the time domain,”

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−2
[3] H. D. Griffiths and A. L. Cullen, “Sidelobe response of antennas
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−4 ference, pp. 85–90, May 2003.
[4] X. H. Wu, A. A. Kishk, and Z. N. Chen, “A linear antenna array
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[5] S. Chamaani, S. A. Mirtaheri, and M. S. Abrishamian, “Time-
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3.1 5.1 7.1 9.1 10.6
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Figure 9: SLL values for the TDTD arrays in the frequency.
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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests pulsed arrays,” IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation,
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