A novel approach to the design of Generalized Plane Wave Synthesizers

We present an approach for the synthesis of array-based generalized plane wave synthesizers (GPWSs) to generate plane waves in the quiet zone (QZ) region of a test-range. The method allows flexibly accounting for disconnected QZ domains and for disconnected panels of radiators. It permits dimensioning, locating and orienting the panels. By optimizing the singular values behavior (SVB), corresponding to a singular value decomposition (SVD) of the relevant linear, parametric radiation operator, it further enables determining the proper locations of radiators and QZ grid points (enforcing the synthesis constraints) to mitigate the problem ill-conditioning of determining the radiators' excitation coefficients. A proper strategy is also employed to control the overall computational burden. The validity and performance of the method are verified following a numerical analysis, by choosing examples aimed at enlightening the key points of the problem.