Phase characteristics of frequency diverse array radar: Phase radiation pattern, phase period, and phase centre

Abstract

Abstract Considering the signal model of the frequency diverse array (FDA), the amplitude and phase characteristics cannot be ignored. The beampattern mainly reflects the amplitude characteristics. Existing investigations show that the angle‐range dependence of the beampattern offers the FDA several benefits regarding detection and location. However, for the FDA, the phase characteristics that have not been studied are significant when considering the imaging and anti‐jamming. In this work, the authors investigate the phase characteristics of the FDA based on the proposed generalised FDA structure. Then, based on the structure, the authors derive the general closed form of the signal model, the phase‐radiation function, and the phase‐radiation pattern. Moreover, the periodicity of the phase radiation pattern is analysed using the recursive algorithm as compared with the rational analysis. Finally, using the three‐point method, the phase centre of the generalised FDA is derived. Furthermore, the proposed signal model and the derived phase characteristics of the FDA are verified by extensive numerical results.

Keywords

• frequency diverse array (FDA)
• generalised FDA
• phase centre
• phase period
• phase radiation pattern