An effective hybrid approach for the synthesis of pencil beams and shaped beams through 4D linear antenna arrays with constrained DRR

ABSTRACT

In this work, a novel hybrid approach combining differential evolution (DE) algorithm and convex programming (CP) is proposed for the synthesis of four-dimensional (4D) antenna arrays. To achieve ultra-low sidelobe level while suppressing sideband radiations simultaneously, the hybrid approach is applied to optimize static excitation coefficients and switch-on duration time separately. In particular, the hybrid approach fully makes use of the partial convexity of the problem with respect to the static excitation coefficients. CP is used to optimize static excitation coefficients for each set of switch-on duration time generated by the DE algorithm, while the DE algorithm is used to optimize the switch-on duration time only. Consequently, fewer optimization variables are needed and less iterations are required. The approach converges faster as compared to stochastic algorithms including all the optimization variables, especially for large arrays. Several numerical examples of the 4D antenna arrays are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid approach.

KEYWORDS:

• 4D antenna array
• differential evolution algorithm
• convex programming
• partial convexity
• hybrid approach

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported partially by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos: 61571101, 61631006), and in part by the 111 Project of China under Grant no. B07046.

Notes on contributors

Feng Yang

Feng Yang was born in Chongqing Province, China, in 1991. He received the B.S. degree in electronic science and technology from Chongqing University of post and telecommunications, Chongqing, China, in 2014. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetics and microwave technology in University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu. His research interests include antennas, antenna arrays analysis and synthesis, and optimization algorithms.

Shiwen Yang

Shiwen Yang (M'00–SM'04) was born in Sichuan Province, China, in 1967. He received the B.S. degree in electronic science and technology from East China Normal University, Shanghai, and the M.S. degree in electromagnetics and microwave technology and the Ph.D. degree in physical electronics from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, in 1989, 1992 and 1998, respectively. From 1994 to 1998, he was a Lecturer with the Institute of High Energy Electronics, UESTC. From 1998 to 2001, he was a Research Fellow at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. From 2002 to 2005, he was a Research Scientist with Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore. Since 2005, he has been a Full Professor with the School of Electronic Engineering, UESTC. Since 2015, he has been a Chang-Jiang Professor nominated by the Ministry of Education of China. He has authored or co-authored over 200 technical papers. His current research interests include antennas, antennas arrays, optimization techniques, and computational electromagnetics. Prof. Yang received the Foundation for China Distinguished Young Investigator presented by the National Science Foundation of China in 2011. He is the chair of the IEEE AP-S/EMC-S Joint Chengdu Chapter, and serves as an Editorial Board Member of IJAP and Chinese Journal of Electronics.

Yikai Chen

Yikai Chen (M'12–SM'15) was born in Hangzhou, China, in 1984. He received the B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in electromagnetics and microwave technology from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, China, in 2006 and 2011, respectively. From 2011 to 2015, he was a Research Scientist with the Temasek Laboratories, National University of Singapore, Singapore. In 2015, he joined UESTC, as a Full Professor. He has authored or co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed papers and 19 patents/patent disclosures. He has co-authored the book entitled Characteristic Modes: Theory and Applications in Antenna Engineering (John Wiley, 2015), and one book chapter to Differential Evolution: Fundamentals and Applications in Electrical Engineering (IEEE Wiley, 2009). His current research interests include antenna engineering, computational electromagnetics, and evolutionary optimization algorithms in electromagnetic engineering. Dr. Chen is a member of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES). He was a recipient of the National Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award of China in 2013. He was recognized as a Hundred Talents Program Professor of the UESTC, Thousand Talents Program Professor of China, and Thousand Talents Program Professor of Sichuan Province, China, in 2015, 2016, and 2017, respectively. He serves on the Editorial Board of the Chinese Journal of Electronics. He has also served on the review boards of many journals, including the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, and the IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS, and many international conferences as a TPC Member, a Session Organizer, and a Session Chair.

Jixin Guo

Jixin Guo was born in Sichuan Province, China, in 1989. He received the B.S. degree in electronic engineering from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, in 2012, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetics and microwave technology. During 2017, he was a visiting Ph.D. student with the ELEDIA Research Center, University of Trento, Italy. His current research interests include antenna arrays, optimization techniques and array signal processing.