Phased Array Antenna Patterns—Part 1: Linear Array Beam Characteristics And Array Factor

With the proliferation of digital phased arrays in commercial and aerospace and defense applications, there are many engineers working on various aspects of the design who have limited phased array antenna familiarity. As phased arrays begin to include more mixed-signal and digital content, there are many engineers who could benefit from a much more intuitive explanation of phased array antenna patterns. This article is intended to help an engineer working on a subsystem or component used in a phased array to visualize how their effort may impact a phased array antenna pattern.