Designing a Compact-Optimized Planar Dipole Array Antenna

The design of an optimized planar dipole array (OPDA) antenna is presented using particle swarm optimization (PSO), a well-known global optimization method. The planar dipole array (PDA) elements´ lengths and widths and the spacing between them were the optimization parameters, and the antenna input´s VSWR and gain were optimization goals. In the optimization procedure, the fitness functions were evaluated by FEKO, which is commercial momentum-based software. A significant size reduction was achieved by exerting constraints on the optimization parameters. At the same time, the antenna characteristics, such as gain, bandwidth, and cross-polarization ratio, were not sacrificed in the compact-optimized antenna.