Particle Swarm Optimization Shapes Antenna Arrays

Nov. 8, 2011
Due to their very complicated coupling environment, the design of miniaturized phased-array antenna systems is very challenging. Among other issues, the results of steering the beam over its intended scan range come into play. The ...

Due to their very complicated coupling environment, the design of miniaturized phased-array antenna systems is very challenging. Among other issues, the results of steering the beam over its intended scan range come into play. The driving-point impedances of the antenna elements comprising the array and the associated voltage-standing wave ratios (VSWRs) are a function of the scan angle.

At Pennsylvania State University, a technique utilizing a hybrid particle-swarm-optimization (PSO) method has been introduced for the design optimization of aperiodic linear phased arrays of tightly packed, miniature meander-line dipole elements. Zikri Bayraktar, Douglas H. Werner, and Pingjuan L. Werner started with a fixed grid of reduced length. By employing hybrid PSO, they determined the optimum meander-wire shape on the grid as well as the optimal element spacing for their smaller phased array. Their approach resulted in a smaller aperture area without sacrificing the number of antenna elements found in a full-sized array.

The same number of antenna elements was maintained and tightly packed into a smaller aperture area. The hybrid PSO array could therefore be driven by a lower power level for a given transmit effective radiated power (ERP). The use of meander-line dipole elements within a predetermined grid structure offers a great deal of flexibility, as the elements can be moved along the grid to produce compact, space-filling curves. By taking advantage of this flexibility, the researchers proposed four different array configurations. See "Miniature Meander-Line Dipole Antenna Arrays, Design via an Orthogonal-Array-Initialized Hybrid Particle-Swarm Optimizer," IEEE Antennas And Propagation, June 2011, p. 42.

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