Statistical patterns of large phased array antennas

This paper describes an efficient method for calculating the amplitude radiation pattern mean and variance of large phased array antennas. Random amplitude and phase errors in the element excitations are assumed. The results are illustrated by plots of the mean and n-sigma patterns. Key features of this method are the lack of restrictions on the error magnitudes and computational efficiency for the variance calculation. In previously published techniques, the variance calculation time is proportional to N to the 4th, where N is the number of elements in the array. The method described herein has a variance calculation time that is proportional to N. This results in significant savings for the analysis of large (N more than 1000) arrays.