Maximally sparsen arrays via continuous compressive sensing

An innovative technique for the synthesis of a nonuniform sonar array with as few elements as possible is proposed. This paper introduces a new method for linear array pattern synthesis based on continuous compressive sensing (CCS). Given a reference pattern subject to aperture constraints, the proposed approach allows the exact solution of the positions of sonar sensors, whose number is maximally reduced. The excitations and positions of sensors are exactly estimated without constraints of sampling grids used in convetional CS methods. Numerical experiments show that the proposed synthesis method is able to maximally save array elements for the design of sparse linear arrays, also compared to state-of-the-art sparse array synthesis methods.