Brain Storm Optimization for Electromagnetic Applications: Continuous and Discrete

Brain storm optimization (BSO) is a swarm intelligence optimization algorithm inspired by the collective behavior of human beings in solving problems. This paper provides a conceptual overview and detailed explanation of the BSO algorithm. For the first time, the effectiveness of BSO in electromagnetic applications is demonstrated using a Yagi–Uda antenna design and a Luneburg lens antenna design, and this effectiveness is further validated via optimization, prototyping, and measurement of a dual-band slotted patch antenna design. In addition, a novel binary version of BSO (BBSO) for optimizing discrete problems is proposed, and the process of transforming the concept of BSO into a binary language is discussed in detail. A method for selecting algorithm parameter values for BBSO is shown. Finally, BBSO is applied successfully to an array thinning example and a pixelated patch antenna design.