Abstract:Conformal arrays, with more flexible placement than traditional array, are widely used in many areas. However, pattern synthesis of conformal array is more complex and some traditional pattern synthesis methods are not applicable. Applying virtual interference in the region of the side lobe is proved to be feasible. Then the critical issue is to find effective methods to determine the power of virtual interference in each azimuth through an iterative process. Generally, existing iterative methods have slow convergence rate or heavy computation. An improved method for conformal array pattern synthesis is proposed based on linearly constrained minimum variance (LCMV) criterion and the method is applicable to any array placement. Moreover, it can accelerate the convergence rate and reduce the dependence on the iteration coefficient for adaptive beam-formers. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method.