Impact of a purina fractal array geometry on beamforming performance and complexity

Karagiannakis, Philippos and Weiss, Stephan and Punzo, Giuliano and Macdonald, Malcolm and Bowman, Jamie and Stewart, Robert (2013) Impact of a purina fractal array geometry on beamforming performance and complexity. In: 21st European Signal Processing Conference, 2013-09-09 - 2013-09-13.

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Abstract

This paper investigates the possible benefits of using a Purina fractal array for beamforming, since this particular fractal has recently been suggested as the flight formation for a fractionated space craft. We analyse the beam pattern created by this, and define power concentration as measure of focussing the main beam of a multi-dimensional array. Using this performance metric and the computation cost of the array, a comparison to full lattice arrays is made. We quantify the significant benefits of the Purina array offered over a full lattice array of same complexity particularly at lower frequencies, and the complexity advantages over full lattice arrays of same aperture, particularly if energy is to be concentrated within a small angular spread.