Recent Progress on the Design of Aperture Arrays for Radio Astronomy

Design considerations and contemporary methods for analyzing and designing aperture arrays for radio astronomy are reviewed, with reference to the SKA. The use of computational electromagnetic tools to evaluate array performance, including embedded element patterns is addressed, as well as an approximation which includes some effects of mutual coupling. The subsequent inclusion of network models of the RF front-ends and including the beamformer are also considered. The analysis of receiving systems is specifically discussed.