Robust sparse antenna array design via compressive sensing

In sparse arrays, the randomness of antenna locations avoids the introduction of grating lobes, while allowing adjacent antenna spacings to be greater than half a wavelength. This means a larger array size can be implemented using a relatively small number of antennas. However, careful consideration has to be given to antenna locations to ensure that an acceptable performance level is achieved. Model perturbations can also cause steering vector errors, which in turn cause discrepancies in the array's response and this makes a robust array desirable. This paper presents a design method for robust sparse antenna arrays based on an extension of compressive sensing. An extra constraint is applied to the process to ensure that the change in response due to a norm-bounded steering vector error is kept below an acceptable level. Design examples are presented to validate the effectiveness of the method.