Determining the excitation coefficients of an array using genetic algorithms

A number of methods have been proposed that define the excitation coefficients of an array antenna in order to shape the radiation pattern. The methods are usually based on beam steering or sidelobe suppression. We propose the use of genetic algorithms to determine the excitation coefficients needed yielded any desired beam pattern. A simulation, which assumed an 8 element linear array with a 4 bit infinity phase shifter, showed that 50 generations were needed find the exact solution.<>