Null control by position perturbation of selected elements for phased antenna array using hybrid EPSO/DE optimization

This paper describes the null steering method by position perturbation of selected elements with minimum sidelobe level using a proposed hybrid Enhanced Particle Swarm Optimization (EPSO) / Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm. EPSO and DE algorithms are proved to be high-performance evolutionary algorithms capable of solving nonlinear optimization problems. Therefore, in this paper the two algorithms are combined and a robust EPSO/DE hybrid method is developed. This newly developed optimization algorithm is then applied to find the optimum number and the position of selected perturbed elements in the array to control the null towards the interference direction. The position perturbations of antenna elements are performed over the axial direction, elevation direction or combination of both. The hybridized algorithm has shown to give best result compared to each individual algorithm when applied to optimize different configurations.