Particle Swarm Optimization as Applied to Electromagnetic Design Problems

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a swarm intelligence algorithm inspired by the social behavior of birds flocking and fish schooling. Numerous PSO variants have been proposed in the literature for addressing different problem types. In this article, the authors apply different PSO variants to common design problems in electromagnetics. They apply the Inertia Weight PSO (IWPSO), the Constriction Factor PSO (CFPSO), and the Comprehensive Learning Particle Swarm Optimization (CLPSO) algorithms to real-valued optimization problems, i.e. microwave absorber design, and linear array synthesis. Moreover, the authors use discrete PSO optimizers such as the binary PSO (binPSO) and the Boolean PSO with a velocity mutation (BPSO-vm) in order to solve discrete-valued optimization problems, i.e. patch antenna design. Additionally, the authors apply and compare binPSO with different transfer functions to thinning array design problems. In the case of a multi-objective optimization problem, they apply two multi-objective PSO variants to dual-band base station antenna optimization for mobile communications. Namely, these are the Multi-Objective PSO (MOPSO) and the Multi-Objective PSO with Fitness Sharing (MOPSO-fs) algorithms. Finally, the authors conclude the paper by providing a discussion on future trends and the conclusion.