A generalized three-parameter (3-P) aperture distribution for antenna applications

A versatile three-parameter (3-P) elliptical aperture distribution, which encompasses many of the existing circular aperture distributions, is presented. Characteristics of the 3-P distributions such as the edge taper, the taper efficiency, the aperture power, the closed-form far fields, the sidelobe levels, the beamwidth and beam efficiency are analyzed. Also derived is an asymptotic form of the far-field, based on which the far-angle features of the 3-P distributions such as the far-field envelope, the decay rate, and the positions of nulls are determined. Examples are presented to illustrate the improvements resulting from the enlarged parameter space for aperture models obtainable from the 3-P distributions. Issues concerning the total power associated with an aperture distribution are studied and the inadequacy of some commonly used approximation is demonstrated.< >