Clustered antenna array for compact APAA with wide-angle electronic scanning

V. V. Demshevsky; G. S. Anikin

doi:10.18127/j03209601-202603-04

Clustered antenna array for compact APAA with wide-angle electronic scanning

research article UDC 621.396.67 Pages: 37-54 doi.org/10.18127/j03209601-202603-04

¹ JSC RPC «Istok» named after Shokin (Fryazino, Moscow region, Russia)
² JSC RPC «Istok» named after Shokin (Fryazino, Moscow region, Russia); Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University) (Moscow, Russia)

Keywords: Active phased antenna array (APAA)small-sized APAA clustering algorithm «X»wide-angle electronic scanning gain side lobe level

Abstract

The paper demonstrates that for compact active phased antenna arrays, the clustering problem should not be treated as an isolated combinatorial tiling problem of the aperture, but rather as a synthesis problem of a physically optimal structure of phase centers that ensures wide-angle electronic scanning.

The proposed two-level scheme, in which algorithm “X” is used to generate aperture coverings with clusters while the final selection is made based on physical criteria, has enabled a transition from a set of formally admissible solutions to a set of functional configurations.

For compact antenna arrays with an aperture electrical size D = (4…15)λ, a system of quantitative constraints on the admissibility of clustering has been derived. For the central case of D ≈ 8λ, a configuration consisting of 112 two-element domino clusters has been justified and verified; this configuration provides a two-fold reduction in the number of transmit-receive modules compared to a traditional uniform array.

Thus, the region has been established where clustering for apertures with a characteristic size of approximately 8λ is not only combinatorially admissible but also physically rational.

Received: 27.04.2026
Approved after review: 07.05.2026
Accepted: 15.05.2026

How to cite

Демшевский В.В., Аникин Г.С. Кластеризованная антенная решетка для малогабаритной АФАР с широкоугольным электронным сканированием // Антенны. 2026. № 3. С. 37–54. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18127/j03209601-202603-04

References

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[1] Rocca P., Oliveri G., Mailloux R.J. et al. Unconventional phased array architectures and design methodologies – A review. Proceedings of the IEEE. 2016. V. 104. № 3. P. 544–560.

[2] Antennye reshetki. Metody rascheta i proektirovaniya. Pod red. L.S. Benensona. M.: Sov. radio. 1966. (in Russian)

[3] Trifonov D.A. Razrabotka rekomendatsij po proektirovaniyu antennoj sistemy dlya aerologicheskikh issledovanij atmosfery. Magisterskaya dissertatsiya. Ekaterinburg. 2020. (in Russian)

[4] Golomb S.V. Polimino: Per. s angl. V. Firsova. M.: Mir. 1975. (in Russian)

[5] Kasteleyn P.W. The statistics of dimers on a lattice. I. The number of dimer arrangements on a quadratic lattice. Physica. 1961. V. 27. P. 1209–1225.

[6] Karp R.M. Reducibility among combinatorial problems. In Complexity of Computer Computations. R.E. Miller, J.W. Thatcher (Eds.). New York: Plenum Press. 1972. P. 85–103.

[7] Anselmi N., Rocca P., Salucci M. et al. Irregular phased array tiling by beans of analytic schemata-driven optimization. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 2017. V. 65. № 9.

[8] Korn M., Pak I. Tilings of rectangles with T-tetrominoes [Elektronnyj resurs]. URL: https://www.math.ucla.edu/~pak/papers/ttet11.pdf (data obrashcheniya: 11.12.2025).

[9] Rocca P., Anselmi N., Polo A. et al. Pareto-optimal domino-tiling of orthogonal polygon phased arrays. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 2022. V. 70. № 5.

[10] Mailloux R.J., Santarelli S.G., Roberts T.M. et al. Irregular polyomino-shaped subarrays for space-based active arrays. International Journal of Antennas and Propagation. 2009. V. 2009. Art. ID 956524. DOI: 10.1155/2009/956524.

[11] Chirikov R.Yu., Roka P., Bagmanov V.Kh. i dr. Algoritm proektirovaniya fazirovannykh antennykh reshetok dlya sputnikovykh sistem svyazi. Vestnik UGATU. 2013. T. 17. № 4 (57). S. 159–166. (in Russian)

[12] Chirikov R., Rocca P., Manica L. et al. Innovative GA-based strategy for polyomino tiling in phased array design. 7th European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EuCAP). 2013.

[13] Gwee B.H., Lim M.H. Polyominoes tiling by a genetic algorithm. Computational optimization and applications. 1996. № 6. P. 273–291.

[14] Dicandia F.A., Genovesi S. Wide-scan and energy-saving phased arrays by exploiting Penrose tiling subarrays. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 2022. V. 70. № 9. P. 7524–7537.

[15] Spence T.G., Werner D.H. Design of broadband planar arrays based on the optimization of aperiodic tilings. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 2008. V. 56. № 1. P. 76–86.

[16] Dicandia F.A., Genovesi S. Analysis of performance enhancement of clustered-based phased arrays employing mixed antenna element factor. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation. 2024. V. 72. № 2. P. 1439–1448.

[17] Bagno D.V. Analiz fazovoj kharakteristiki napravlennosti i opredelenie fazovogo tsentra antenn s ispol'zovaniem metoda preobrazovaniya Fur'e. Antenny. 2024. № 5. S. 58–71. (in Russian)

[18] Klarner D.A. Packing a rectangle with congruent N-ominoes. Journal of Combinatorial Theory. 1969. V. 7. № 2. P. 107–115.

[19] Knuth D.E. Dancing links. arXiv:cs/0011047v1 [cs.DS]. 2000.

[20] Xiong Z.-Y., Xu Z.-H., Chen S.-W. et al. Subarray partition in array antenna based on the algorithm X. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. 2013. V. 12.

[21] Markov G.T., Sazonov D.M. Antenny. M.: Energiya. 1975. (in Russian)

[22] Lotov A.V., Pospelova I.I. Konspekt lektsij po teorii i metodam mnogokriterial'noj optimizatsii: Ucheb. posobie. M.: VMIK MGU. 2014. (in Russian)

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