Optimization of the difference patterns for monopulse antennas by a hybrid real/integer-coded differential evolution method

The optimization of difference patterns of monopulse antennas is considered. The synthesis problem is recast as an optimization problem by defining a suitable cost function. In particular, in this paper, the cost function is based on constraints on the side-lobe levels. A subarray configuration is adopted and the excitations of the difference pattern are approximately determined. The optimization problem is efficiently solved by a differential evolution algorithm, which is able to contemporarily handle real and integer unknowns. Numerical results are reported concerning classical array configurations previously considered in the literature.