Evolutionary algorithms for synthesis of uniform circular array with minimum Side Lobe Level and maximum directivity

In recent years, evolutionary optimization (EO) techniques have attracted considerable attention in the design of electromagnetic systems of increasing complexity. This paper describes a method of synthesis of uniform circular array antenna using three recent search heuristics: Modified Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO), Differential Evolution (DE) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) optimization algorithms. The objective of the work is to generate a pencil beam with minimum Side Lobe Level (SLL) and maximum possible directivity. Excitation of individual array elements is computed using the algorithms. Dynamic Range Ratio (DRR) of current amplitude distribution is fixed at an optimum value. Phase of excitation distribution is fixed at zero degree. Simulation results illustrate the performance of MPSO, DE and ABC regarding their applicability as numerical optimization techniques.