Design of non-uniform antenna arrays using genetic algorithm

The performance of a single-element antenna is somewhat limited. To obtain high directivity, narrow beamwidth, low side-lobes, point-to-point and preferred-coverage pattern characteristics, etc., antenna arrays are used. An antenna array is an assembly of individual radiating antennas in an electrical and geometrical configuration. Nowadays, antenna arrays appear in wireless terminals and smart antennas, so robust and efficient array design is increasingly becoming necessary. In antenna array design, it is frequently desirable to achieve both a narrow beamwidth and a low side-lobe level. In linear antenna arrays, a uniform array (having uniform inter-element spacing and uniform amplitude excitation) yields the smallest beamwidth and hence the highest directivity. It is followed, in order, by the Dolph-Chebyshev and Binomial arrays. In contrast, Binomial arrays usually possess the smallest side-lobes followed, in order, by the Dolph-Chebyshev and uniform arrays. Binomial and Dolph-Chebyshev arrays are typical examples of non-uniform arrays. Non-uniform linear antenna arrays have uniform inter-element spacing and non-uniform amplitude distributions. In this paper we deal only with linear arrays and it is shown that using genetic algorithm it is possible to design a non-uniform array that approximates the beamwidth of a uniform array and having smaller side-lobe level than the Dolph-Chebyshev array. The result is that the designed antenna array exhibits the largest directivity as compared to the uniform, Binomial and Dolph-Chebyshev arrays. In the design, the genetic algorithm is employed to generate the excitation amplitudes of the antenna array.