4. Optimum number of modules

The number of modules can be directly derived from the choice of antenna surface, beam pointing range and lobe-free range.

The choice of mesh and the control of the gain g (θ, ϕ ) of the radiating element to favor the gain of the main lobe to the detriment of the gain of grating lobes can, in some cases, save a few tens of percent on the number of modules.

For a transmit-only antenna, we also need to consider how to achieve the desired EIRP at the lowest cost and with the lowest power consumption. With the consumption model used in paragraph 3.8 of [E 3 294] and a cost model established in a similar way, we can also seek to optimize (generally minimize) the number of active modules.