Improved Calibration Method of Amplitude and Phase Errors Based on Diagonal Loading

Abstract

The amplitude and phase errors deteriorate the low-sidelobe level characteristic of phased array antenna, which degrades radar performance seriously. Therefore an improved calibration method of amplitude and phase errors based on diagonal loading is proposed to address the problem of amplitude and phase errors in this paper. Initially, the mathematical models of amplitude and phase errors are developed and the impact of amplitude and phase errors is analyzed. It is found that although the interference can be suppressed when there is amplitude and phase errors in the array, the low-sidelobe level characteristic of adaptive antenna is badly deteriorated. An improved calibration method of amplitude and phase errors based on diagonal loading is proposed. Compared with traditional calibration method, proposed method can reduce the sidelobe level efficiently. At last simulations were carried out to verify the effectiveness of proposed method.