Particle swarm optimization and finite-element based approach for microwave filter design

A novel approach is proposed for compact planar microwave filter design. The powerful particle swarm optimization (PSO) and finite-element method (FEM) are combined together to allow optimal filter design with arbitrary geometries. This approach is much more flexible than traditional ones. An example using this PSO-FEM approach shows that this approach is effective to make the structure variation converge to the desired target and the final optimal filter structure has much smaller size.