Chapter 4.

0 Antenna Arrays

An antenna array is a set of closely spaced antenna elements, offering greater flexibility than a
single antenna element can provide. Features of antenna arrays include the following:

higher gain than can be obtained from a single element
the ability to steer the main beam
the ability to control the sidelobe level of the pattern

In this chapter we will first discuss a simple two element array to show the basic principles
involved with antenna arrays, then generalize the discussion to linear arrays of N elements. We
will also discuss grating lobes, beam scanning, and planar arrays.


4.1 The array factor

A two-element array:
We begin with a basic array consisting of two electrically short dipole elements, as shown in
Figure 4.1:



d
2
2
cos

d
d
2
z

y
field point
r


Figure 4.1 Geometry of a two element dipole array.
The dipoles are oriented along the y-axis, and spaced a distance d apart along the z-axis. Each
dipole has a length L, and is fed with an excitation current of amplitude I
0
, and phased such that
the top dipole has an excitation phase of e
j/ 2
and the bottom dipole has an excitation phase of
e
j / 2
. Using superposition and the far-field approximation of (3.12), the far-zone field from
these two dipoles can be written as,

E
j kI L
r
e e e e e
jkr j
jk
d
j
jk
d

= +

(


0 2
2
2
2
4
/
cos
/
cos
cos (4.1)

The cos factor is due to the pattern of a single dipole oriented parallel to the y-axis (nulls along
the axis of the dipole at = 90, beam maxima at = 0 and 180), and is called the element
factor. The term in square brackets includes the phasing of the two dipoles as well as the effect
of their offset along the z-axis, and is a function of , and d. This term is due to the arraying
effect of the two dipoles, and is thus called the array factor. Equation (4.1) can be written more
simply as below:

( ) ( )( )
0 1
2
cos cos cos
4
jkr
j kI L
E e kd C EF AF
r

= + = (

(4.2)

where C is a constant, EF = cos is the element factor, and ( )
1
2
cos cos AF kd = + (

is the
array factor.

The above result, where the total array pattern is expressed as a product of the element factor and
the array factor is called pattern multiplication. It offers a convenient and intuitive way to view
the radiation pattern of an array, since the separate roles of the element pattern and the array
effect can be clearly distinguished. We will now look at several examples to see the effect of
element spacing and phasing.


Example 4.1:
Consider a two-element dipole array (as in Figure 4.1), with d = /4 and = 0. Plot the element
pattern, the array factor, and the total array pattern.

Solution:
In the plane of the array, that is, the y-z plane, the element factor is EF = cos. Since = 0 and
kd = /2, the array factor is AF =
|
\

|
.
| cos cos

4
. These patterns are plotted below:
element factor array factor total pattern


In this case, because the array element spacing is relatively small, the array factor is almost an
omnidirectional pattern, and the element factor therefore dominates the total pattern.



Example 4.2:
Consider a two-element dipole array, with d = /2 and = 0. Plot the element pattern, the array
factor, and the total array pattern.

Solution:
In the plane of the array, the element factor is EF = cos. The array factor is now
AF =
|
\

|
.
| cos cos

2
. These patterns are plotted below:

element factor array factor total pattern


In this example, the nulls of the element factor occur at angles where the array factor has its
maxima, and vice versa, resulting in a total pattern that has nulls every 90 and narrow maxima
in between. Such a case would have little practical interest.

Example 4.3:
Consider a two-element dipole array, with d = /4 and = -90. Plot the element pattern, the
array factor, and the total array pattern.

Solution:
In the plane of the array, the element factor is still EF = cos. The array factor is now
( ) AF =

(
cos cos

4
1 . These patterns are plotted below:

element factor array factor total pattern


In this example the array factor is asymmetric due to the phasing of the elements. Combining
with the element factor produces a total pattern having directionality in a preferred direction.



PCAAD Exercise:
Verify the above examples using PCAAD. From the main menu, select Arrays, then Uniform
Linear Array. Enter a frequency of 3 GHz ( = 10 cm), 2 elements, and a spacing of 2.5 cm
(/4). Select a polar pattern, then click Compute. Click the E-phi check box to plot only the E-
theta component, then click Plot Patterns. The resulting pattern should have the same shape as
in Example 4.1. (The resulting plots in this exercise will be rotated 90 from those above,
because the array in PCAAD is assumed to lie along the x-axis.) Next, close the plot window,
and change the spacing to 5 cm (/2), and click Compute and Plot Patterns. The resulting
pattern should have the same shape as in Example 4.2. Finally, close the plot window and set the
spacing back to 2.5 cm, and click the phase taper Select button to set the phase taper to -90.
Click Compute and Plot Patterns. The resulting pattern should have the same shape as in
Example 4.3. Try other values of spacing and phasing.
4.2 Linear arrays

Having discussed some of the basic properties of arrays using the two-element dipole array in
the previous section, we now generalize to the case of a uniform linear array of N isotropic
elements. By the term uniform, we mean that all elements in the array are of the same type and
orientation (e.g., dipoles aligned along the y-axis), and have a constant spacing. It also means
that all the elements have an excitation of constant amplitude, with possibly a uniform phase
progression along the array. The term linear means that all the array elements are arranged in a
line, in this case along the z-axis. We only need to consider isotropic elements because the
overall pattern of the array can be expressed as a product of the element factor and the array
factor (pattern multiplication), and the array factor is independent of the element type. Thus, the
overall pattern of a linear array of arbitrary elements will be expressed as the product of the array
factor (derived for isotropic elements), and the element factor for the particular element type.


z
1
2
4
3
5
d
N

3
r
1
r
2
x
r
r
4
r
5
N
r

Figure 4.2 Geometry of an N-element uniform linear array on the z axis.

The geometry of a uniform array of N isotropic elements is shown in Figure 4.2. The spacing
between the elements is d. We assume the excitation of the elements is such that the amplitudes
are constant, with a progressive phase shift of along the elements. Thus we can write the
excitation current of the n-th element (n = 1, 2, 3, N) as,

( )
I I e
n
j n
=

0
1
(4.3)

so that the phase reference of zero is taken at the n = 1 element.

Applying the far-field approximation of (3.12) allows r
n
, the radial distance from the n-th
element to the far-field point, to be expressed as,

( ) r r n d
n
= 1 cos (4.4)

where r is the radial distance from the origin to the field point. Then the field from all N
elements of the array can be expressed as the following summation:

( ) ( ) ( )
( )( ) ( )
cos 2 cos cos
0 0 0 0
1 cos 1
0 0
1 1
j kd j kd jN kd
N N
j n kd j n
n n
AF I I e I e I e
I e I e


+ + +
+
= =
= + + + +
= =


(4.5)
where
= + kd cos . (4.6)

In the above results we have suppressed the e r
jkr
propagation factor, since this does not affect
the pattern of the array. The summation in (4.5) can be summed in closed form to give a very
simple expression for the magnitude of the array factor:

AF
N
N
=
sin
sin

2
2
(4.7)

The direct derivation of this result actually includes a phase term of unit magnitude, which is
omitted here since it does not affect the shape of the array factor pattern.

Basic properties of the linear array pattern:
Maximum values of the array factor will occur when = 2 m, for m = 0, 1, 2, etc. As we
will see, the value of m = 0 corresponds to the main beam of the array factor, while other values
of m may correspond to additional maxima, called grating lobes. For the main beam, with m = 0,
(4.6) can be used to find the angle of the main beam, for a fixed spacing and phase shift:

m
kd
=

|
\

|
.
|

cos
1
(4.8)

This result indicates that the main beam of the array can be steered by changing the phase shift,
, applied to the elements of the array.

The most commonly used array is the broadside array, where the angle of the main beam is
m
=
0, obtained when all elements are driven in phase ( = 0). In this case = kd cos , and beam
maxima (main beam and grating lobes) will occur at the angles given by,

m
m
kd
m
d
=
|
\

|
.
| =
|
\

|
.
|

cos cos
1 1
2
(4.9)

Thus for m = 0 we have
m
= 90, for a main beam broadside to the axis of the array. If m > 0
and d < , then the argument of the inverse cosine function will be greater than unity, and there
will be no other real values of
m
for which (4.9) is satisfied. This implies that there will be only
a single main beam when d < ; this is generally the preferred situation in practice. When d > ,
then there will be nonzero values of m for which the argument of the inverse cosine is less than
unity, and grating lobes will occur at real angles. Such grating lobes are generally undesirable.
The following example shows the effect of element spacing on the patterns of broadside arrays.
Scanned arrays will be discussed in Section 4.4.


Example 4.4:
Consider a 10 element broadside array (N = 10, = 0). Compute and plot the array factor
patterns for element spacings of d = 0.5 and d = 1.3.

Solution:
The patterns for these two cases are plotted below. Note that the first pattern, for d = 0.5, has a
single main beam broadside to the array (in these plots, the array is oriented in the horizontal
plane). This case represents a well-behaved array pattern that could be useful in a variety of
applications. The second pattern, for d = 1.3, still has a broadside main beam, but has additional
maxima (grating lobes) at symmetric angles about the main beam. The angle of the grating lobes
can be predicted from equation (4.9) to be
m
= 40 for m = 1, which is in agreement with the
angle shown in the plots (measured from the horizontal axis). The presence of grating lobes
implies that significant radiated power is lost, in the sense that not all input power will be
radiated in the direction of the main beam.





Directivity of linear arrays:
Since the pattern of a linear array is the product of the element factor and the array factor, the
directivity of a linear array will be a function of both the element type and the array parameters.
If the element pattern is broad and the array is large (so that the array factor is sharply peaked),
the overall pattern will be dominated by the array factor, and the directivity can be computed
from the array factor alone. Otherwise, the calculation of array directivity must include both
element and array factors. In general, this requires numerical integration. This is a
straightforward calculation, and is a feature of most of the array routines contained in PCAAD.
There is one special case, however, where array directivity can be expressed in a very simple
form. For a broadside linear array of isotropic elements, having /2 spacing, the directivity is
given by,
D = N (4.9)

For example, a 100 element linear array of isotropic sources would have a directivity of 100, or
20 dB, if the spacing is /2 and the array is radiating a broadside main beam. It is important to
note that this result only applies to the special case of broadside isotropic arrays with /2
spacing. Other cases must typically be dealt with by numerical integration.


PCAAD Exercise:
Test the above result for the directivity of a 100 element isotropic array using PCAAD. From the
main menu, select Arrays, then Uniform Linear Array. Enter a frequency of 3 GHz, 100
elements, and a spacing of 5 cm. (Make sure that the phasing is set to broadside, and the
elements are selected as isotropic.) Click Compute, then click Compute Directivity. The result
should be 20.2 dB (the difference from 20.0 dB is due to the precision of the numerical
integration).
4.3 Planar arrays

Extending the concept of the linear array to a two-dimensional grid results in a planar array.
While a linear array typically yields a fan-beam type of pattern, a planar array can produce a
pencil beam pattern.

We consider a uniform planar array lying in the x-y plane, with N elements in the x direction and
M elements in the y direction, so that the total number of elements is NM. Let the spacing in the
x direction be d
x
, and the spacing in the y direction be d
y
. Then we can use pattern multiplication
to view the array as a linear array having elements that are linear arrays, and arrive at the
following array factor for the planar array:


AF
N
N
N
N
x
x
y
y
=
sin
sin
sin
sin

2
2
2
2
(4.10)

with
cos cos
x x x
kd = + (4.11a)
cos sin
y y y
kd = + (4.11b)

In (4.11)
x
and
y
are the interelement phase shifts in the x and y directions, respectively. With
phase shifts independently controllable along the two axes of the array, the main beam can be
steered to any angle , . The scan angles are related to the phase shifts according to the relations
given below:

tan

=
y x
x y
d
d
(4.12a)
sin
2
2
2

=
|
\

|
.
| +
|
\

|
.
|
|
x
x
y
y
kd kd
(4.12b)

The form of (4.10) shows that the principal plane patterns of a planar array are equal to the
patterns of the corresponding linear array in those planes. For example, the elevation plane
pattern in the = 0 plane (the x-z plane) of a planar array is equal to the pattern of a linear array
having the same number of elements, spacing, and phasing as does the planar array in the x
direction. This is because the variable
y
is a constant for = 0, so only the first factor of (4.10)
contributes to the pattern as varies, and this is the array factor for a linear array. A similar
result applies for the = 90 pattern plane.

Thus, grating lobes and other pattern characteristics of linear arrays also apply to planar arrays.
Therefore, to avoid grating lobes in a broadside array, the element spacings must be less than .
Additionally, the directivity of a planar array can be computed by numerically integrating the
total planar array pattern (product of array factor and element factor). For small arrays, the
element factor will have a significant effect on the directivity. For larger planar arrays, when the
array factor becomes peaked, the element pattern will have less effect. As we shall see later in
our discussion of aperture antennas, the directivity of large planar broadside arrays can be well
approximated by the formula,

D
A
NMd d
x y
= =
4
4
2 2

(4.13)

where A = NMd
x
d
y
is the aperture area of the array. Note that this result assumes a one-sided
radiation pattern, where a single main beam is located at = 0.


PCAAD Exercise:
Test the above approximation for a planar array of 1010 X-band waveguides. From the main
menu, select Arrays, then Uniform Rectangular Array. Enter a frequency of 8.5 GHz, 10
elements in x and y, and spacings of 2.29 cm in x and 1.02 cm in y. Click the Element Type
Select button, select Rectangular Waveguide, and enter dimensions of 1.02 cm and 2.29 cm for
the E and H plane dimensions. Close the element window, click Compute, then click Compute
Directivity. The result from PCAAD is 23.5 dB, while equation (4.13) gives 23.7 dB.


4.4 Beam scanning

The ability to scan the main beam of an array is one of the most interesting features of array
antennas. As we have seen above, the main beam of a linear or planar array can be scanned off
broadside by imposing a progressive linear phase shift across the elements of the array. This can
be done by using either fixed phase shifts, or by using electronically controllable phase shifters.
In the former case the phase shifts can be obtained by proper design of the feed network for the
array, resulting in an array having a fixed beam position that is offset from broadside. An
adjustable beam position requires variable phase shifters located in series with each array
element. This is conceptually a simple arrangement, but in practice is very expensive due to the
relatively high cost of phase shifter components.


Example 4.5:
Consider a 20 element linear array with /2 element spacing. Compute the interelement phase
shift required to steer the beam 30 from broadside, and plot the resulting pattern.

Solution:
From (4.8), the required phase shift is given as,

= =

= kd
m
cos cos
2
2
60 90

Note that
m
= 60 as measured from the axis of the linear array. The resulting pattern is plotted
below.



Review Questions for Chapter 4:

Q4.1 What is the element factor for a two-element array of isotropic sources with /2 spacing?
(a) cos
(b) omnidirectional
(c) sin
(e) sin
2


Q4.2 What is the array factor for a two-element array with an element spacing of zero?
(a) cos
(b) sin
(c) omnidirectional
(d) sin
2


Q4.3 What is the maximum allowable spacing for a uniform linear broadside array if grating
lobes are to be avoided?
(a) /10
(b) /2
(c)
(d) 3/2

Q4.4 What is the directivity of a 20 element linear broadside array of isotropic elements having
/2 spacing?
(a) 10 dB
(b) 13 dB
(c) 16 dB
(d) 20 dB

Q4.5 A planar broadside array has 2020 elements, with /2 spacing. What is the directivity of
this array?
(a) 20 dB
(b) 26 dB
(c) 30 dB
(d) 31 dB
Problems for Chapter 4:

P4.1 Plot the element factor, the array factor, and the total pattern for the two-element dipole
array of Figure 4.1 when d = /4 and = +90.

P4.2 Derive equation (4.7) from (4.5).

P4.3 A linear array has an interelement spacing of 1.5. If the elements are fed in-phase,
compute the angles of all beam maxima.

P4.4 Plot the array factor for a 16 element broadside array with a spacing of 0.7.

P4.5 Find the interelement phase shift required to scan the main beam of a linear array to an
angle of 50 from broadside. Assume the array has 16 elements with a spacing of 0.55. Plot the
resulting array factor.