TITLE:
Expansion of a Y-Shaped Antenna Array and Optimization of the Future Antenna Array in Malaysia for Astronomical Applications
AUTHORS:
Shahideh Kiehbadroudinezhad, Jean-François Bousquet, Michael Cada, C. Ian Short, Adib Shahabi, Samiramis Kiehbadroudinezhad
KEYWORDS:
Interferometers, Telescopes, Genetic Algorithm, Array of Antennas
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Modern Physics,
Vol.10 No.8,
July
5,
2019
ABSTRACT:
To achieve high quality images from the sky by extending an existing interferometric array, in
this work, the Geometrical Method (GM), Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Division Algorithm (DA)
are compared. These methods are each applied independently to an interferometer
array starting from the same initial conditions. Using the GM method, the
spiral configuration is suggested as an optimum arrangement that provides the
desired u-v coverage with low side lobe levels (SLLs). Using the GA method, as the number of generations
is increased, the unsampled cells are reduced, enhancing the imaging quality.
As such, the algorithm improves the overlapped samples as it works with a
greater number of generations. Moreover, the GA is able to suppress the SLL.
Finally, the DA is applied to such an
array. Results show that the DA is
able to process the sampled data with less overlapping of the data in the
snapshot observations, in comparison to the other discussed configurations in
this paper; effectively the DA reduces the overlapped samples, such that it is more efficient than the GA. The configuration of antennas that arrives by applying the DA method can achieve a certain image
quality with less overlapping, as compared to the configuration arriving by applying the GA method. The
calculated SLLs for the DA configuration are used to demonstrate that the efficiency of the DA is potentially better than that of
the GA. Moreover, the GA and DA algorithms discussed in this study are applied to an array of 10
antennas with coordinates that represent the antennas deployed in Malaysia.
Results show that the DA can reduce
the overlapping of the samples more efficiently than the GA for a 6-hour tracking observation and in terms of unsampled
cells the DA has the same efficiency
of the GA.