This paper applies time modulation to deal with the design of antenna arrays for UAVs formation flight using a rectangular micro-strip as antenna element in the frequency of 2.4 GHz. The motivation for this paper is to exploit the properties and advantages of time-modulated arrays in an interesting application: UAVs formation flight. This design considers the optimization of the position of the drones (or antenna elements) and the time switched sequences of the elements in a linear geometry. The design process to find the optimal positions of the drones for flight formation and the switch-on interval of each element is carried out by means of the methods of Particle Swarm Optimization and Invasive Weed Optimization. The main contribution to the field of this paper is a performance evaluation of the design problem for UAVs-based linear antenna arrays considering time modulation in terms of side lobe level (SLL) and sideband levels (SBLs). Simulation results are provided in terms of SLL, SBLs, switching time and positions of the drones. These simulation results illustrate that the time modulation could provide a SLL improvement with respect to previous results in literature.

本文采用时间调制技术，以矩形微带作为2.4 GHz频率的天线单元，进行无人机编队飞行的天线阵列设计。本文的目的是在一个有趣的应用中利用时间调制阵列的特性和优势：无人机编队飞行。该设计考虑了无人机（或天线元件）位置的优化以及线性几何中元件的时间切换序列。通过粒子群优化和入侵杂草优化的方法，进行寻找无人机最佳位置以形成飞行的最佳位置以及每个元件的开启间隔的设计过程。SLL）和边带电平（SBL）。根据SLL，SBL，切换时间和无人机位置提供了仿真结果。这些仿真结果表明，相对于文献中的先前结果，时间调制可以提供SLL改善。