Beamsteering and Beamshaping Using a Linear Antenna Array Based on Particle Swarm Optimization

This paper discusses the architecture of an adaptive transmitting microstrip array that allows highly flexible beamsteering and beamshaping. The antenna array is digitally controlled by a field programmable gate array (FPGA) board. The power and phase of the excitation signals delivered to the array elements are optimized using an algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO), which includes all electromagnetic effects such as mutual coupling and installed performance. Further, the efficiency of the proposed approach is validated by synthesizing various beam patterns, including side lobe level control and beam shaping for cosecant squared and isoflux contours. Very good agreement between simulated and measured results is thereby observed. The paper also addresses implementation aspects that are not reported in detail in literature, such as the compensation for the faulty antennas or transmitting channels, as well as the calibration procedure applied for the experimental validation of the proposed architecture.