SPARSE CANTOR RING ANTENNA ARRAYS WITH NON- UNIFORM ELEMENT SPACING

This research project is based on previous work done by Dwight L. Jaggard and Aaron D. Jaggard on fractal ring arrays. We utilize fractals in the fabrication of a class of Cantor ring arrays. Fractal descriptors such as dimension, stage of growth, and lacunarity are applied in designing and characterizing these Cantor rings. Using the continuous arrays developed by Jaggard and Jaggard as a point of reference, we examine the design of analogous discrete arrays. We examine various ways of periodically and randomly thinning and building up these arrays azimuthally. The arrays are compared to their periodic and random counterparts as well as the continuous case to evaluate performance. Mainbeam quality, sidelobe level, and visible range are used to rate the arrays. The Cantor ring arrays and the corresponding array factors are simulated using programs developed in MATLAB. Our goals include developing fractal arrays that have low sidelobes comparable to those of periodic arrays while maintaining the robustness of random arrays. We aim for superior fractal performance at an equal number of elements as the periodic and random cases, as well as comparable performance using fewer elements.