A novel approach for the design of low sidelobe time modulated linear arrays (TMLAs) with uniform amplitude excitations and suppressed sidebands is presented. The approach is based on the division of the time modulation period into several time steps with variable lengths. In each time step, the switch-on and switch-off times are optimized via the differential evolution (DE) algorithm. As compared to previous approaches, such as the variable aperture sizes (VAS), pulse shifting, and binary optimized time sequences (BOTS), the proposed approach has more flexibility in the design of time sequences in TMLAs. Numerical results show that a dB sidelobe pattern with uniform excitations can be synthesized, while the sideband level (SBL) is suppressed to dB. Experimental results based on a 16-element printed dipole linear array agree with the theoretical results, thus verified the proposed approach.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.