Thinned-array curse: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 00:21, 13 July 2019

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==Consequences==

The thinned array curse means that while synthesized apertures are useful for receivers with high angular resolution, they are not useful for power transmitters. It also means that if a filled array transmitter has gaps between individual elements, the main lobe of the beam will lose an amount of power proportional to the area of the gaps. Likewise, if a transmitter comprises multiple individual transmitters, some of which fail, the power lost from the main lobe will exceed the power of the lost transmitter, because power will be also be diverted into the side lobes.

The thinned array curse has consequences for [[microwave power transmission]] and [[wireless energy transfer]] concepts such as [[solar power satellite]]s; it suggests that it is not possible to make a smaller beam and hence reduce the size of a receiver (called a ''[[rectenna]]'' for microwave power beaming) by phasing together beams from many small satellites.