SYNTHESIS OF DIFFERENCE PATTERNS FOR MONOPULSE ANTENNAS WITH OPTIMAL COMBINATION OF ARRAY-SIZE AND NUMBER OF SUBARRAYS --- A MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION APPROACH

Monopulse antennas form an important methodology of realizing tracking radar. They are based on the simultaneous comparison of sum and difierence signals to compute the angle- error and to steer the antenna patterns in the direction of the target (i.e., the boresight direction). In this study, we consider the synthesis problem of difierence patterns of monopulse antennas in the framework of Multi-objective Optimization (MO). The synthesis problem is recast as an MO problem (for the flrst time, to the best of our knowledge), where the Maximum Side-Lobe Level (MSLL) and Beam Width (BW) of principal lobe are taken as the two objectives to be minimized simultaneously. The approximated Pareto Fronts (PFs) are obtained for difierent number of elements and sub-arrays using a recently developed and very competitive Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) called MOEA/D-DE that uses a decomposition approach for converting the problem of approximation of the PF into a number of single objective optimization problems. This algorithm employs Difierential Evolution (DE), one of the most powerful real parameter optimizers in current use, as the search method. The quality of solutions obtained is compared with the help of the trade-ofi graphs (plots of the approximated PF) generated by MOEA/D-DE on the basis of the two objectives to investigate the dependence of the number

[1]  P. Rocca,et al.  A Hybrid Approach to the Synthesis of Subarrayed Monopulse Linear Arrays , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[2]  Qingfu Zhang,et al.  Multiobjective Optimization Problems With Complicated Pareto Sets, MOEA/D and NSGA-II , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.

[3]  P. Rocca,et al.  A Fast Graph-Searching Algorithm Enabling the Efficient Synthesis of Sub-Arrayed Planar Monopulse Antennas , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[4]  A. Massa,et al.  Optimization of the Directivity of a Monopulse Antenna With a Subarray Weighting by a Hybrid Differential Evolution Method , 2006, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[5]  R. K. Ursem.  Multi-objective Optimization using Evolutionary Algorithms , 2009 .

[6]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  Hybrid Approach for Sub-arrayed Monopulse Antenna Synthesis , 2008 .

[7]  A. Massa,et al.  Optimization of the difference patterns for monopulse antennas by a hybrid real/integer-coded differential evolution method , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[8]  Qingfu Zhang,et al.  MOEA/D: A Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithm Based on Decomposition , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation.

[9]  A. A. Abido,et al.  A new multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for environmental/economic power dispatch , 2001, 2001 Power Engineering Society Summer Meeting. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.01CH37262).

[10]  R. Storn,et al.  Differential Evolution: A Practical Approach to Global Optimization (Natural Computing Series) , 2005 .

[11]  Mauro Birattari,et al.  Swarm Intelligence , 2012, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[12]  P. Rocca,et al.  Design of Subarrayed Linear and Planar Array Antennas With SLL Control Based on an Excitation Matching Approach , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[13]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  Excitation matching procedure for sub-arrayed monopulse arrays with maximum directivity , 2009 .

[14]  P. Rocca,et al.  Boresight Slope Optimization of Subarrayed Linear Arrays Through the Contiguous Partition Method , 2009, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters.

[15]  P. Rocca,et al.  An Innovative Approach Based on a Tree-Searching Algorithm for the Optimal Matching of Independently Optimum Sum and Difference Excitations , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[16]  L. Jain,et al.  Evolutionary multiobjective optimization : theoretical advances and applications , 2005 .

[17]  Rainer Storn,et al.  Differential Evolution – A Simple and Efficient Heuristic for global Optimization over Continuous Spaces , 1997, J. Glob. Optim..

[18]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  DIRECTIVITY OPTIMIZATION IN PLANAR SUB-ARRAYED MONOPULSE ANTENNA , 2008 .

[19]  Gary B. Lamont,et al.  Evolutionary Algorithms for Solving Multi-Objective Problems , 2002, Genetic Algorithms and Evolutionary Computation.

[20]  E. Moreno,et al.  Subarray Weighting for the Difference Patterns of Monopulse Antennas: Joint Optimization of Subarray Configurations and Weights , 2001, 2001 31st European Microwave Conference.

[21]  Kaisa Miettinen,et al.  Nonlinear multiobjective optimization , 1998, International series in operations research and management science.

[22]  Irene A. Stegun,et al.  Handbook of Mathematical Functions. , 1966 .

[23]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  An Effective Excitation Matching Method for the Synthesis of Optimal Compromises Between Sum and Difference Patterns in Planar Arrays , 2008 .

[24]  E. Bayliss.  Design of monopulse antenna difference patterns with low sidelobes , 1968 .

[25]  C.L. Dolph,et al.  A Current Distribution for Broadside Arrays Which Optimizes the Relationship between Beam Width and Side-Lobe Level , 1946, Proceedings of the IRE.

[26]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  Design of compromise sum-difference patterns through the iterative contiguous partition method , 2009 .

[27]  Qingfu Zhang,et al.  Multiobjective optimization Test Instances for the CEC 2009 Special Session and Competition , 2009 .

[28]  Samuel M. Sherman,et al.  Monopulse Principles and Techniques , 1984 .

[29]  Lakhmi C. Jain,et al.  Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization , 2005, Evolutionary Multiobjective Optimization.

[30]  Derek A. McNamara,et al.  Synthesis of sum and difference patterns for two-section monopulse arrays , 1988 .

[31]  P. Rocca,et al.  An Improved Excitation Matching Method Based on an Ant Colony Optimization for Suboptimal-Free Clustering in Sum-Difference Compromise Synthesis , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[32]  T. Isernia,et al.  An Effective Hybrid Approach for the Optimal Synthesis of Monopulse Antennas , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[33]  Paolo Rocca,et al.  Synthesis of monopulse antennas through iterative contiguous partition method , 2007 .