Theoretical design/synthesis of slotted waveguide
arrays
A.J. Sangster
A.H.I. McCormick
Indexing terms: Antennas (arrays), Antennas (slot)
Abstract: A computer aided design/synthesis pro-
cedure for array antennas of the slotted waveguide
type is described. It differs from earlier contribu-
tions to this topic in that it uses theoretically
evaluated self-admittances, rather than measured
self-admittances, for the individual broadwall slots
in the array. By adopting the moment method to
generate the slot self-admittances, it is shown that
accuracies which are comparable with those
obtained from a measurement based procedure
can be achieved.
1 Introduction
Antennas formed from one or more slotted waveguide
arrays are used widely in radar and microwave communi-
cation systems because of their flat, compact structure.
Furthermore they can be constructed to a high degree of
accuracy on modern numerically controlled milling
machines, and this permits very low side-lobe designs to
be realised.
Design methods for slotted rectangular waveguide
array antennas have been evolving for some forty years
now. The early developments were largely aimed at
understanding and formulating methods for calculating
the scattering characteristics of individual apertures in
waveguide. This work has now progressed to the point
where, through the moment method [1-4], calculated
results for broadwall slot characteristics, such as self-
admittance, differ by less than 1% from the best mea-
sured results [4], for some commonly used slot examples.
In parallel with these aperture investigations, effort has
also been directed towards evolving procedures for
forming arrays of such apertures [5], and in particular at
methods of accommodating the mutual effects [6], which
become important in low side-lobe level designs. The
outcome of this work has been the formulation of a rela-
tively sophisticated synthesis procedure for slotted-
waveguide array antennas [5].
However, the synthesis technique referred to above,
which requires that the self-admittances of individual
slots in the array be known to a high degree of accuracy,
has usually been implemented using accurately mea-
sured values for the self-admittances. This, of course,
implies that it is possible to synthesise effectively only
Paper 6377H (Ell) first received 16th May, and in revised form 26th
August 1988
A.J. Sangster is, and A.H.I. McCormick was formerly, with the Electri-
cal and Electronic Engineering Department, Heriot-Watt University,
Grassmarket, Edinburgh, EH1 2HT, United Kingdom
A.H.I. McCormick is now with Plessey Radar Ltd., Newport Road,
Cowes, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 136, Pt. H, No. 1, FEBRUARY 1989
those arrays for which measured results already exist for
the constituent slot radiators. It is the purpose of this
paper to show that this is becoming an increasingly
unnecessary restriction, and that modern high speed
computers permit the incorporation, into a synthesis
program (e.g. described by Elliott and Kurtz [5]) a
moment method computation of the self-admittance of
each aperture, as and when demanded by the synthesis
program. The technique has been verified, firstly by
repeating a broadwall slotted-waveguide array design
described by Elliott [7] and secondly by employing it to
design a 19 element shunt-slot array on which accurate
near-field measurements have been performed.
2 Synthesis of slotted waveguide array antenna
The synthesis procedure described in this Section is based
to a large extent on the method described by Elliott and
Kurtz [5], but it incorporates a number of essential
modifications to accommodate the inclusion of the
moment method, which has been introduced to compute
the self-admittances of individual apertures. Without
these modifications the resultant CAD package would be
excessively demanding on computer storage space and
processor time.
The array is assumed to be uniform, although this
need not be the case, and the required excitation levels of
the array elements, to meet the prescribed far-field
pattern, are determined using a standard technique. Such
techniques exhibit varying degrees of sophistication,
depending on the pattern constraint and array geometry.
They are well documented in the literature [8-10].
However, for the purposes of demonstrating the principle
of slotted-waveguide array synthesis using the moment
method, a relatively simple far-field pattern specification
is assumed, which can be represented by a Dolph-
Chebyshev [11] function. The Schelkunoff unit circle
technique is used to determine the number of slots
required to meet the specification. The array factor is
then deduced from the roots, hence the active scattering
parameters for each slot can be evaluated. The active
parameter for any given slot includes both the self-effect
and the mutual effect of its neighbours.
In traditional slotted-waveguide array synthesis prog-
rammes, the self-effect, usually in the form of self-
admittance values, is extracted from measured data.
Here, theoretical values, obtained using the moment
method, are calculated as and when demanded by the
synthesis program. Consequently, the program contains
three essential components, namely the formulation of
the active admittances of the slots, the calculation of the
mutual admittances andfinallythe calculation of the self-
admittances. The methods used to perform these calcu-
lations are summarised below.
39
3 Derivation of algorithms the time savings which accrue are very significant Com-
putational speeds can also be enhanced by taking advan-
The active admittances of the elements in the array may tage of the symmetry of the moment method equations.
be determined routinely once the array factor is known. This is demonstrated below.
This is achieved by realising that the weighting of the The moment method solution for aperture setting in a
waveguide can be summarised as a matrix equation
Mirrai (2)
N-2 Pl Mj
UP]]
the elements of which can be expressed in the following
integral forms:
Fig. 1 Equivalent circuit for travelling wave array
* = -7^o 11 /A * j**
coefficients of the array factor is the same as the weigh-
ting of the slot voltages across the array. The equivalent
circuit for a travelling wave array is illustrated in Fig. 1, (3)
where YL is the load admittance, and Y^,=l m are the
respective slot admittances. Their values are determined
by applying scattering theory to ascertain the element
S'
reflection coefficient pm, hence by using
(4)
(1)
1-P.
Equations relating the active admittances YA to the self- (5)
admittances YH, and the mutual admittances YM between
the m and n-th slots, are to be found in References 5-7.
To implement these equations, in computational form,
preliminary knowledge of slot spacings and off-sets is
,* =ja*o JJ/,3, • {we j Gj {r//; ) f' a, dS j
4 0 s o dS (6)
required in the case of a broadwall slot array. However,
the program can be initiated using fairly approximate
starting values for these dimensions, and these are
deduced from the array factor followed by applications of
Stevenson's conductance formula [12]. The active admit- Ga b € are the Green's functions of the waveguide, cavity
tance relations can then be implemented to yield first and halfspace, respectively, while ft andfs are the basis
pass values for the self-admittances YH. functions. Ht is the magnetic field component of the TE 10
Once a set of self-admittances for the slot array have incident mode in the waveguide.
been determined, as outlined above, new slot lengths (/J Equations 2-7 display both a considerable degree of
and slot off-sets (sj are deduced in a two stage process. repetitiveness, and a high degree symmetry. This can be
This involves both the use of the variational method used to advantage in developing a computer aided design
[13], which generates rapidly calculable closed-form sol- package. Basic solutions have been developed and
utions, followed by the use of the moment method which reported in Reference 3, and these have been used as the
does not. This two stage approach is dictated by the need starting point for algorithm formulation.
to include the moment method into a corrected Gauss- At any given slot in the array, the solution of eqn. 2
Newton root-finding routine, which searches for the slot involves multiple calculations over the very large number
length and slot off-set appropriate to any given value of 0.4
self-admittance. In order that this process should not be
excessively demanding in computing time in a multi-slot
array design, it is imperative that 'good' trial values for
03
slot length and slot off-set are available.
For the first pass through the program, and for the
first two or three slots, sufficiently 'good' trial values for
/„ and sm can be computed relatively quickly, using the
closed-form variational equations. These have been cor-
rected for wall thickness using Reference 14. The pro-
cedure adopted in the program is to eliminate sm from the 0.1
conductance part of the self-admittance equation, then to cn
solve for /„ using a bisectional root-finding routine. The o
E
slot offsets are then deduced by substitution.
U 6 TO
The variational values for /„ and sH are now, as indi- offset, mm
cated above, used as trial values in a more accurate root-
Fig. 2 Reflection coefficient magnitude asfunction of off-set from guide
finding routine which incorporates the moment method. centre line, for longitudinal slot in broadwall of WGJ6
The particular method adopted is based on the use of Frequency = 9375 GHz; wail thirlrtir*x = 1.27 mm; number of baas
trigonometric basis functions, since with these, computa- functions = 1
tion speeds can be maximised [3]. The program has been 16mm
implemented using a single cosine function as the basis 14 mm
function. While this involves some sacrifice in accuracy, L2mm

40 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 136, PL H, No. J, FEBRUARY 1989

of modes, (typically 2500), associated with the Green's dependent on off-set, while its argument is almost linearly
function Gm. Fortunately, however, many modal charac- dependent on slot length for small changes in these
teristics are invariant from slot to slot in an array dimensions near resonance.
360 r 360r

c 300 F 300

£ 240 240

•= 180 = 180

_ 120

60

A 6 11 13 15 17 19
offset, mm slot length, mm

Fig. 3 Reflection coefficient phase as function of off-set from guide Fig. 5 Reflection coefficient phase as function of slot length, for longi-
centre Urn,for longitudinal dot in broadwall qfWG16 tudinal slot in broadwall of WGJ6
Frequency = 9J75 GHz; wall HwAn^s = L27 mm; number of basis Frequency = 9375 GHz; wall thiAnfiss = 121 mm; number of basis
functions = 1 functions = 1;
Slot length: Slot off-set:
16mm 8 nun
14 mm 5mm
12 mm 2mm

03
0.2
•o 0.1
11 13 15 17
slot length, mm
Fig. 4 Reflection coefficient magnitude as function of dot length, for
longitudinal slot in broadwall of WG16
Frequency = 9375 GHz; wall thirirmess = L27 mm; number of basis
functions = 1;
Slot off-set:
.... 8mm
5mm
2mm
calculation, and consequently many of these modal com-
putations need be performed only once, for the first slot,
values being stored for re-use in subsequent slot calcu-
lations. Computational speed in evaluating the integrals
in eqns. 3-6 is also critically dependent on evolving effi-
cient convergence testing procedures.
Finally, these moment method equations are incorpo-
rated into a corrected Gauss-Newton root-finding
routine which generates improved values for /„ and sa.
However, rather than search for slot self-admittance in
this routine, it has been found that searching for reflec-
tion coefficient p is more effective. This is because with p
it is easier to separate the effect of slot length from that of
slot off-set, as a result of the differing ways in which these
dimensions influence the magnitude and the phase of p,
(Figs. 2-5). More particularly, the program makes use of
the observation that the magnitude of p is almost linearly
1EE PROCEEDINGS, VoL 136, PL H, No. i, FEBRUARY 1989
4 Program implementation
A flow diagram showing the basic steps in the synthesis
program is shown in Fig. 6. Most of the steps shown are
reasonably self-explanatory, but it is perhaps pertinent to
point out some aspects of the flow chart which have been
successful in promoting computational efficiency.
On the first pass through the program, and for the first
slot in the array, improved values for lt and st are
deduced using the variational calculation. These are then
used as trial estimates in the moment method search
routine, to generate the desired first pass values for lt and
Sj. In subsequent passes trial values for the moment
method routine are obtained from the previous pass. At
slot 2, on the first pass, lt and st are used as trial values
in a variational search for s2, which is used with lx as
suitable trial values for the moment method search for
first pass values for l2 and s2 - For slot n (n ^ 3) the pre-
vious value of slot length and an estimated slot-off-set,
deduced by interpolation from the gradient of |p|, are
used as trial values in the Gauss-Newton search for lm
and sa. The computation is repeated, as indicated on the
flow-chart, until the values of lm and sn change from their
values on the previous pass, by an increment which is set
at just less than realistic fabrication tolerances. It has
been found that 3 to 4 passes is usually enough to,
achieve this condition. *
The final step in the program involves calculating the
small radiation phase and transmission phase deviations
which occur at each slot, as a consequence of its finite
distributed length. These phase deviations are incorpo-
rated into the design by making minor compensating
adjustments to the slot separation distances (see Fig. 7).
8.oil
5 Theoretical and experimental results
nqmoo
The array synthesis package described in the preoedfag
Sections has been tested in two ways. Firstly, it
used to design an array previously described
[7] and for which directly comparable results are from forward end-fire. The frequency of operation was
available. Secondly, it has been used to design a 19 specified as 9.375 GHz. The synthesis program predicts
element shunt slot array which, once constructed, was that a 21 element array is required, dimensioned as indi-
cated in Table 1.

slot slot 2 etc.

pattern waveguide
specification dimensions IT
• frequency ex,

calculate roots
of array factor
Fig. 7 Schematic diagram of waveguide slots showing a and 5 phase
is specification increment number shifts
satisfied ? no. of roots
by 2 a = phase shift passed the slot
TyeT 5 = phase shift through the slot
determine coefficients
of array factor
Table 1: Elliott 21 element array
Stevenson estimate
for l n , s n No. Length, Offset, No. Length, Offset,
mm, mm mm mm
determine 1 15.374 1.689 12 15.167 1.794
z v 2 15.214 1.035 13 15.141 1.606
J
mn' mn 3 15.273 1.474 14 15.123 1.420
4 15.302 1.833 15 15.094 1.236
determine
5 15.306 2.131 16 15.066 1.044
6 15.313 2.315 17 15.040 0.866
7 15.308 2.375 18 14.996 0.715
8 15.296 2.353 19 14.984 0.551
9 15.270 2.273 20 15.013 0.374
10 15.243 2.144 21 14.930 0.562
11 15.212 1.978
trial values moment method
for Ij.s, using search for I ] . s {
variational method trial values from
previous pass
The slot length and slot off-set magnitudes shown in
moment method
this Table, are substantially in agreement with the corre-
search for I, , s. moment method sponding Elliott values, when due allowance is made for
search for l n , sn, n>1 the fact that Elliott's design is based on the use of mea-
trial I 2 =l,
trial l n = l n - i sured self-admittance values for round-ended slots and
trial s2 by trial s n = s n from also contains a constraint, which ensures that the result-
variational method previous pass
ant slot dimensions are consistent with data file values. In
Fig. 8, comparison is also made between theoretical and
moment method
search for l2, s 2 experimental results for this array. The Figure shows the
specified pattern (solid curve), a pattern deduced by
applying the method of Reference 7 to the slot distribu-
calculate tion of Table 1 (dotted curve), and a measured pattern
gradient of \p\
reconstructed from Elliott [7] (chain dotted curve). In
moment method
connection with this Figure, it is particularly interesting
search for l n , s n to note the discrepancy which occurs between the speci-
trial l n =l n _, fied pattern (solid curve) and the pattern associated with
trial s n from gradient the synthesised design. The discrepancy appears predomi-
of Ipl
nantly in the side lobe levels which are generally lower
than their 'ideal' value, except for those most remote
from the main beam. This error can largely be attributed
to the method used to evaluate mutual coupling, which
relies on analogy with dipole theory. This analogy neces-
sitates finding a relationship between slot voltages and
mode voltages, and currently this involves the use of the
} yes
approximate formula of Stevenson [12]. A more direct
radiation and transmission method of calculating the mutual impedances in slot
phase adjustments
arrays is clearly indicated, if this weakness in the synthe-
sis procedure is to be eliminated. However, when the syn-
thesised results are compared with Elliott's measurements
Fig. 6 Array synthesis program flow diagram (based on 144 data points; chain linked line, Fig. 8) the
degree of agreement indicated is not untypical of synthe-
comprehensively evaluated on an accurate near-field sised slot array designs.
measurement system. A nineteen element shunt slot array with staggered
The Elliott array is a Dolph-Chebyshev design with a slots has also been designed using the synthesis pro-
— 30 dB sidelobe specification with a mainbeam at 45° cedure described above. The specification for this array
42 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 136, Pt. H, No. 1, FEBRUARY 1989
required the main beam to be 9° from broadside, with
— 24 dB sidelobes and in AT-band waveguide (WG16) at a
centre frequency of 9.375 GHz. The resultant design
which uses square-ended 1.6 mm wide slots is presented
in Table 2.
coupling a staggered array suffers. This in turn means
that the Stevenson approximation which has been identi-
fied as the primary cause of these theoretical discrep-
ancies is much less significant for this array. A measured
pattern for this array is compared with the 'ideal' pattern

-45

Fig. 8 Comparison of theoretical and measured far-field patterns for 21 element linear slotted-waveguide array
Frequency = 9.375 GHz; wall thickness = 1.27 mm; waveguide = WG16; slot width = 1.6 mm
ideal pattern
predicted pattern
• • — • • measured pattern

in Fig. 10, and shows that while the main beam position
Table 2: Shunt slot array and width are in good agreement with theory, the far-out
No. Length, mm Offset, mm Separation, mm side-lobes in particular are considerably in error. The
reasons for this error are predominantly due to machin-
1 15.171 +2.034 18.36
2 15.122 -1.485 18.34
ing inaccuracies, observed using an electron microscope,
3 15.109 +1.701 18.33 of the square-ended slots. These inaccuracies are high-
4 15.121 -2.046 18.31 lighted by near-field amplitude and phase patterns for the
5 15.157 +2.280 18.30 array (Figs. 11 and 12), which show that slots 10, 15, 18
6 15.167 -2.467 18.29 and 19 are particularly poorly formed, and when they are
7 15.189 +2.564 18.29
8 15.191 -2.595 18.29 computer corrected to eliminate the gross near-field
9 15.185 +2.549 18.30 pattern deviations, indicated in Figs. 11 and 12, the far-
10 15.178 -2.447 18.31 field pattern of the array is modified as shown in Fig. 13.
11 15.159 +2.301 18.32 The adjusted pattern is represented by the solid line
12 15.151 -2.122 18.34
13 15.150 +1.918 18.35
curve, and shows that the far-out side lobes which were
14 15.146 -1.702 18.36 particularly in error, are significantly improved by this
15 15.133 + 1.466 18.37 simple re-alignment.
16 15.136 -1.226 18.38
17 15.158 +1.006 18.36
18 15.013 -0.826 18.38 6 Conclusions
19 15.206 + 1.086
A computer aided design package for the synthesis of rec-
tangular waveguide broadwall slot arrays has been
The predicted far field pattern for this array (dotted described. The package differs from preceding contribu-
curve) has been compared with the 'ideal' or specified tions in this area in that the self-admittances of the slots
pattern (solid line) in Fig. 9. The differences between the are computed, rather than taken from a data bank of
two patterns are less than those observed for the Elliott measured values. The self-admittance computations rely
array, and this is due to the lower level of the mutual on the use of the moment method, which is known to be
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 136, Pt. H, No. 1, FEBRUARY 1989 43
 - 10-

- 15 -

-20 -

-25 -

-30 -

-35 -

-40 -

-45
30 60 90 120 150
degrees
Fig. 9 Comparison of theoretical far-field patterns for 19 element linear slotted waveguide array
Frequency = 9J75 GHz; wall thickaess = 1.27 mm; waveguide = WG16
ideal pattern
predicted pattern

-30 -

-35 -

-40-

-45
30 60 90 120 150 180
degrees
Fig. 10 Comparison of theoretical and measured far-field patterns for 19 element linear slotted-waveguide array
Frequency = 9375 GHz; wal thickness = 1.27 mm; waveguide = WG16
measured patters
idea) pattern

44 IEE PROCEEDINGS, VoL 136, PL H, No. /, FEBRUARY 1989

 potentially as accurate as the best measurements in
evaluating slot self-scattering effects. To accommodate
the moment method, which does not, unfortunately, yield
rapidly calculable closed-form expressions for the scat-
tering parameters of a slot, considerable care has been
exercised in developing time saving computational pro-
cedures.
The resultant CAD package has been applied to the
design of two linear slotted waveguide arrays, and in one
case the design obtained has been shown to be compat-
ible with a more conventional design, which relied on the
so 120 180 240 300 360 use of measured slot-admittances. Near-field measure-
position along array, mm ments on the second of the two arrays have been shown
Fig. 11 Magnitude comparison of theoretical and measured near-field to be in reasonable agreement with theory, once certain
patterns for 19 element slotted waveguide array constructional limitations are taken into consideration.
theory Some continuing limitations in the CAD package have
experiment
also been identified, but these could readily be eliminated
once computational speeds permit For example, the use
1 11 of a more elaborate basis function in the moment method
300 would improve the bask accuracy of the program, as
1 12\ N would a more direct method of calculating the mutual
<b
Oi 240 ^ 3 13* impedance between the slots. This would eliminate the
t7> .4 c \ X
a> 180 14 disadvantage of requiring to relate slot voltages to mode
T3
V
\ \ 6
15V 18 voltages, which the 'indirect' equivalent dipole technique
in 16
a 120 •
17 entails.
Q. \
60
V 19V. 7 Acknowledgment
n
60 120 180 240 300 360
This work was sponsored by the UK Science and Engin-
position along array, mm
eering Research Council and the authors wish to record
Fig. 1 2 Phase comparison of theoretical and measured near-field their gratitude for this support Thanks are also due to
pattern for 19 element slotted-waveguide array Mr. J. Tanner of Ferranti pic, Edinburgh, for the care
theory and effort which he put into the experimental work.
experiment

-10 -

-15 -

-20 -

-25 -

-30 -

-35 -

-40 -

-45
60 90 120 150 180
degrees
Fig. 1 3 Comparison of measured and theoretically adjustedfar-field pattern for 19 element slotted-waveguide array
Frequency = 9.375 GHz; wall thickness = L27mm; waveguide = WG16
adjusted pattern
measured pattern

IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 136, PL H, No. 1, FEBRUARY 1989 45

8 References
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(MacMillan, London, 1968)
2 VU KHAC, T., and CARSON, C.T.: 'Impedance properties of lon-
gitudinal slot antenna in the broadface of rectangular waveguide',
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3 SANGSTER, A.J., and LYON, R.W.: 'An efficient moment method
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4 STERN, G.T., and ELLIOTT, R.S.: 'Resonant length of longitudi-
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ment', IEEE Trans., 1985, AP-33, pp. 1264-1271
5 ELLIOTT, R.S., and KURTZ, L.A.: 'The design of small slot
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46
8 MAUTZ, J.R., and HARRINGTON, R.F.: 'Computational methods
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9 NARASIMHAN, M.S., VARADARANGAN, K., and CHRISTOP-
HER, S.: 'A new technique of synthesis of near of far-field patterns
of arrays', ibid., 1986, AP-34, pp. 773-778
10 NG, T.S.: 'Generalised array pattern synthesis using the projection
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(1), pp. 44-46
11 DOLPH, C.L.: 'A current distribution for broadside arrays which
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Proc. IRE., 1946, 34, pp. 335-348
12 STEVENSON, A.F.: 'Theory of slots in rectangular waveguide', J.
App. Phys., 1948,19, pp. 24-38
13 OLINER, A.A.: 'The impedance properties of narrow radiating slots
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