Research on simplified array manifold based on ideal subarray patterns

Spatial spectrum methods at subarray level break through the limitations of the presented methods at element level and have an important application in phased array radar. The methods at subarray level based on exact array manifold need to calibrate the whole array. In order to reduce calibration cost and expense, constructing a simplified array manifold is a key problem. In this paper, we post-process the digital subarray output by introducing a weighting network and find out the simplified array manifold based on “ideal” subarray patterns. Compared with the method based on direct simplified array manifold, this method can control the available direction finding range flexibly and suppress uninteresting sidelobe sources better. Theory analysis and simulation results demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.