Robust multi-fidelity simulation-driven design optimization of microwave structures

Simple and robust optimization methodology for the simulation-driven design of microwave structures is presented. Our technique exploits a set of EM-based models of increasing discretization density that are sequentially optimized with the optimal design of the “coarser” model being the initial design for the “finer” one. The final design is refined using a polynomial-based approximation model constructed from the coarse-discretization EM-simulation data and corrected using single high-fidelity EM-simulation. The presented technique is easy to implement. It is particularly suitable for structures for which simulation-driven design is a must (e.g., because of the lack of good theoretical models). Operation of our algorithm is demonstrated using two examples of planar ultrawideband antennas and a microstrip filter. In all cases, an optimal design is obtained at a low computational cost corresponding to a few high-fidelity EM simulations of the structure being optimized.