A Bi-Stage Framework for Automatic Development of Pixel-Based Planar Antenna Structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a two-stage automated framework for designing pixel-based planar antennas, combining global and local optimization techniques to efficiently generate antenna topologies that meet specific performance criteria.

Contribution

The work presents a novel bi-stage optimization approach for automatic antenna design, integrating global pixel connection optimization with surrogate-assisted local fine-tuning.

Findings

Successfully designed broadband monopole antennas.

Achieved dual-band antenna configurations.

Demonstrated effectiveness through case studies.

Abstract

Development of modern antennas is a cognitive process that intertwines experience-driven determination of topology and tuning of its parameters to fulfill the performance specifications. Alternatively, the task can be formulated as an optimization problem so as to reduce reliance of geometry selection on engineering insight. In this work, a bi-stage framework for automatic generation of antennas is considered. The method determines free-form topology through optimization of interconnections between components (so-called pixels) that constitute the radiator. Here, the process involves global optimization of connections between pixels followed by fine-tuning of the resulting topology using a surrogate-assisted local-search algorithm to fulfill the design re-quirements. The approach has been demonstrated based on two case studies concerning development of broadband and dual-band monopole antennas.