Thinning of 2D and 3D Fractal Antenna Arrays with Bounded and Unbounded Fractal Distribution Functions for Celestial Communications

Abstract

Fractal antenna arrays are geometry‐based thinned arrays having multiband applications. The major challenge of these arrays is their large number of elements at higher expansion factors. This article presents the thinning of fractal antenna arrays while maintaining an appropriate balance between the side lobe level and beam width by using various quantized fractal distribution functions. A 2D square fractal antenna array and 3DSierpinski gasket antenna array are considered in this article to validate the proposed distribution functions. Nearly one third of the antenna elements are thinned in each successive iteration except in the case of a one‐count distribution function. The proposed technique can simplify practical implementation and exhibits better performance for various parameters such as the side lobe level, side lobe angle, and half power beam width than fully populated fractal antenna arrays.