Particle Swarm Optimization for Correlator Antenna Array Designs in Radio Astronomy Applications

This paper presents a novel design methodology of correlator antenna arrays based on particle swarm optimization (PSO). The figure of merit in correlator antenna array designs for imaging purposes are illustrated and discussed, and PSO is applied to optimize locations of antenna elements in arrays with representative open-ended and closed configurations. Different optimizations are executed in order to obtain either the maximum u-v coverage or a synthesized beam with the lowest sidelobe level (SLL). The optimized arrays are observed to outperform periodic arrays and the existing VLA configuration designed by power-law.