Beamforming Visualization for Planar Arrays with Code Implementation

This article explores beamforming techniques for planar arrays, a critical technology widely used in wireless communication and radar systems. Beamforming achieves directional signal control by precisely manipulating signal amplitude and phase parameters. The implementation involves generating comprehensive visualizations and corresponding code to facilitate better understanding and practical application of these techniques. Key visualizations include contour plots that display beam patterns in 2D coordinates, polar 3D diagrams that represent radiation patterns in spherical coordinates, and various computational simulations. The accompanying code provides essential tools for array factor calculation, phase shifting algorithms, and pattern synthesis using mathematical functions like array manifold vectors and weighting functions. We will detail these visualization methods and provide practical code examples using matrix operations for array element excitation, demonstrating how to calculate and plot beam patterns through proper amplitude and phase weighting techniques. These implementations help readers understand fundamental principles and real-world applications of beamforming technology, including steering vector computation and pattern optimization algorithms.