APPLICATION OF TAGUCHI'S OPTIMIZATION METHOD AND SELF-ADAPTIVE DIFFERENTIAL EVOLUTION TO THE SYNTHESIS OF LINEAR ANTENNA ARRAYS

In this paper, the problem of designing linear antenna arrays for specific radiation properties is dealt with. The design problem is modeled as a single optimization problem. The objectives of this work are to minimize the maximum side lobe level (SLL) and perform null steering for isotropic linear antenna arrays by controlling different parameters of the array elements (position, amplitude, and phase). The optimization is performed using two techniques: Taguchi's optimization method and the self-adaptive differential evolution (SADE) technique. The advantage of Taguchi's optimization technique is the ability of solving problems with a high degree of complexity using a small number of experiments in the optimization process. Taguchi's method is easy to implement and converges to the desired goal quickly in comparison with gradient-based methods and particle swarm optimization (PSO). Results obtained using Taguchi's method are in very good agreement with those obtained using the SADE technique.