Ant Colony Optimization to Design Thinned Arrays

An algorithm based on ant colony optimization has been proposed to perform array thinning. Ant based algorithms are rapidly convergent because the solution is searched using both heuristic information and positive feedback from the previously found best solution. The algorithm for array thinning was defined in association to the classical combinatorial knapsack problem. Such an algorithm allows one to define the number of elements to deactivate. Thus it is very useful when thinning is needed to reduce side-lobes of active arrays with a constraint on the reduction of the transmitted power