Design of Modular Radar Array Antenna for Two-Way Pattern Sidelobe Optimization

A modular phased array antenna architecture for simultaneous transmit and receive functionalities is proposed. Rectangular antenna apertures are partitioned into domino-shaped tiles, arranged according to irregular layouts fully covering the available physical aperture area. The multi-functionality is obtained by assigning to each module a single function (i.e., transmission or reception) with the aim to synthesize a two-way radiation pattern with the lowest possible sidelobe level. To this end, an innovative hybrid GA-based method is proposed for the joint optimization of the clustering scheme and the membership of each module to one of the two functions. A preliminary example is reported to show the effectiveness of the proposed irregular tiled architecture for multi-function radar systems.