Array Thinning of Beamformers using Simple Genetic Algorithm

The number of array elements of large arrays can be reduced to obtain desired beamforms with low relative side lobe level with the additional benefit of reduced power consumption. However, the traditional methods in doing so prove inefficient. This paper presents how to optimize such large array elements using Simple Genetic Algorithm. Simulations have been carried out on a 1600 element Uniform Rectangular Planar Array. Thinning has been done to achieve side lobe levels of less than -17 Db or approximately 32% improvement from the full array. The resulting beam form and array geometry has also been shown for perspective.