Application of the Taguchi method to the design of circular antenna arrays

The main consideration in circular antenna array (CAA) design is to suppress the maximum sidelobe level (MSL). Also, lower dynamic range ratio (DRR) and smaller physical size (circumference) of CAA are preferable in some practical applications. In this paper MSL, DRR, and circumference of 10-element non-uniform CAA designs are examined using Taguchi method (TM). TM is a design optimization method and developed on the basis of the orthogonal array (OA) concept. TM can effectively explore the search space and select optimal values for design parameters. Optimal set of excitation amplitudes and element positions of CAAs for three different instances are determined by TM. The experimental results of TM show better performances compared to those of Genetic Algorithm, Particle Swarm Algorithm, standard ABC, and modified ABC algorithm.