High‐Resolution Arbitrary Pattern Coverage Synthesis Using Adaptive and Iterative Fast Fourier Technique for Modern Satellite Applications

ABSTRACT This paper contributes an advanced methodology for arbitrary pattern coverage footprint synthesis in sparse planar arrays using the adaptive and iterative fast Fourier technique (AIFFT), aiming to generate complex radiation patterns with high accuracy in terms of control of the main beam and sidebeam regions. A large‐scale array of elements has been designed to generate a focused radiation pattern matching a regularly and irregularly shaped area. This area is defined by two mask colors derived from an outline of the map. The proposed model presents a sidebeam regions elimination of up to −30 dB, while maintaining very low ripple in the main beam coverage region, along with restricting the dynamic range ratio factor (DRRF) of the active elements' stimulus weights to a maximum value of 40 dB. The design process starts by constructing a radiation cover for two different regions in the spatial domain ( u , v ), where the main region represents the target geographic coverage area, while the side region is treated as the area to be strictly suppressed. Initial estimates for array element stimulations are obtained by performing the inverse Fourier algorithm on the softened copy version of the desired pattern coverage. Then, the AIFFT gradually optimizes the stimulations by moving between the spatial and frequency domains, imposing DRRF, ripple variation, signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR), bit error rate (BER), and sideband region constraints at each iteration step. Computer simulation measurements explained the success of the algorithmic approach in generating a high‐resolution pattern coverage that accurately matches the proposed geographic footprint. The study completed a side‐interference level of approximately −30 dB, with essentially no ripple variation in the main beam region, and a very little number of non‐zero elements, leading to reduced device complexity practically and improved energy efficiency. The results also demonstrated high SNR over the target coverage area of up to 30 dB for various assumed population densities, with a very low error rate of 10 −5 . This study demonstrates the potential of regular and irregular spatial masking regions and efficient spectral optimization for creating highly precise, tailored radiation patterns in next‐satellite antenna arrays.