NONEQUIDISTANT TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANTENNA ARRAYS SYNTHESIZED USING LATIN SQUARES AND CYCLIC DIFFERENCE SETS

Subject and purpose. Recently, there has been an interest in the use of non-equidistant active phased antenna arrays (AA) in airborne radars to facilitate the aerodynamics of the thermal regimes of their operation. Non-equidistant linear AAs reduce the number of antenna elements without noticeable loss of resolution (accuracy) and at the same time maintain a low level of side lobes. Almost all large antennas of radio telescopes and long-range radars are grids with non-equidistant arrangement of elements and with an unfilled aperture. The aim of this work is to develop new and non-traditional methods for constructing nonequidistant antenna arrays using Latin squares and cyclic difference sets. Results. The possibility of synthesizing large AAs based on the composition of squares using cyclic difference sets (CDS) for the formation of elements of Latin squares is shown. A method for their construction and a synthesis algorithm are proposed. The properties of this type of antenna arrays, which provide a sufficiently low side radiation at a high degree of rarefaction, are studied. The features and main characteristics of such antennas are investigated. Methods and methodology. The algorithm for calculating the coordinates of the antenna arrays using the values of the elements of Latin squares in this case is the same as in the construction of a lattice based on magic squares. It is based on the use of the value of the element of the generating matrix (the formed square) as the basis of the interferometer formed by the neighboring elements. The directivity patterns of the AAs were studied and the side lobe levels of the resulting non-equidistant antennas were estimated. Conclusions are made about the novelty of the proposed concept of constructing non-equidistant antenna arrays on the basis of Latin squares accepting the CDS as elements and its advantages in comparison with known methods. The possibility of synthesizing large antenna arrays on the basis of the composition of squares using the CDS for forming elements of Latin squares with small filling and redundancy coefficients and permissible values of lateral radiation is shown. In terms of characteristics, they are better than non-equidistant two-dimensional lattices, used up to the present time, constructed only on the basis of cyclic difference sets. The characteristics of the obtained lattices are studied. It is shown that the use of the Latin square, using the CDS as elements in the synthesized matrix, significantly improves its characteristics, and also provides a more flexible variation of the design parameters(v, k, l).