A Novel Approach for Near Field Beamforming

Abstract

A novel approach for near field beamforming is proposed in this paper which is also valid for far field. Unlike the method of radial reciprocity, the proposed method does not mandate the requirement of 3D near field data of the beamforming array and the beamforming weights are applied directly to the near-field specifications. Numerous simulations with linear and planar array configurations reveal that the proposed technique yields satisfactory beamforming results even at a distance of 2 from the antenna array. At distances equal to and greater than 3, the results obtained are relatively more accurate. The paper also compares beamforming patterns of both linear and planar arrays obtained with proposed method with established techniques and indicates the close agreement in results. The proposed method is likely to find relevance in system studies such as Through Wall Imaging (TWI).