Rapid antenna prototyping method by evolutionary computation and inkjet printing

Antenna designs using evolutionary computation methods have been widely used because of the rapid development of wireless technologies. However, a large number of antennas must be analyzed when evolutionary computation methods are adopted. Running a simulation is the main method of obtaining information about an antenna, such as bandwidth and input impedance, but it is very time-consuming because complicated calculations are needed. In this paper, we proposed a method that quickly realizes optimization of structures of inkjet-printed antennas. We propose the use of inkjet technology to implement candidates generated by evolutionary computation methods and use the measurement results instead of complex calculations. This method also solves the problem in which the fitness of candidates is sometimes difficult to directly realize from simulations. This paper presents the optimization of an inkjet-printed antenna for energy harvesting from TV broadcast waves using the proposed technique and a genetic algorithm. An antenna in which the output voltage is 1.4 times that of a rectangular dipole was designed.