Abstract
Phased array antennas, with high directivity and low sidelobe levels,
are extensively employed in radar and communication systems. As the
array scale increases, the complexity and cost of controlling each
element individually are increased significantly. To overcome this
challenge and improve the efficiency, one of the effective engineering
solutions is subarray partitioning. Traditional clustering algorithms,
such as K-means, require a predefined number of subarrays, and limits
the flexibility, especially in scenarios with complex geometries or
irregular distributions. A subarray partitioning approach is presented
in this paper using the Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis
(ISODATA) algorithm, and the proposed scheme dynamically adjusts the
number of subarrays based on the geometric characteristics of the array.
According to numerical experiments results, good performance of sidelobe
suppression, beamforming and partitioning flexibility have been
achieved, and shows better characteristic compared with the K-means.
This algorithm has potential application in large-scale phased arrays.