Direction Finding Using Multiple Sum and Difference Patterns in 4D Antenna Arrays

Traditional monopulse systems used for direction finding usually face the contradiction between high angle precision and wide angle-searching field, and a compromise has to be made. In this paper, the time modulation technique in four-dimensional (4D) antenna array is introduced into the conventional phase-comparison monopulse to form a novel direction-finding system, in which both high angle resolution and wide field-of-view are realized. The full 4D array is divided into two subarrays and the differential evolution (DE) algorithm is used to optimize the time sequence of each subarray to generate multibeams at the center frequency and low sidebands. Then the multibeams of the two subarrays are phase-compared with each other and multiple pairs of sum-difference beams are formed at different sidebands and point to different spatial angles. The proposed direction-finding system covers a large field-of-view of up to ±60° and simultaneously maintains the advantages of monopulse systems, such as high angle precision and low computation complexity. Theoretical analysis and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed system.