Boresight slope optimization of subarrayed linear arrays through the contiguous partition method

The optimization of the normalized boresight slope of the difference pattern in subarrayed linear monopulse antennas is presented. The knowledge of the independently optimum difference excitations, which provide the maximum normalized boresight slope, is exploited with an efficient excitation matching technique based on the contiguous partition method. A set of numerical experiments are provided to assess the effectiveness of the proposed method in reaching the best achievable performances even with a small number of subarrays.