Efficient Computational Method for Fast Extraction of Faulty Elements From Multipattern Time-Modulated Arrays

A new technique for fast and accurate extraction of faulty element position from multipatterned time-modulated arrays (TMAs) has been proposed in this article. The strategy incorporates a novel rank-based population (RBP) for generating nonrepeated integers from the continuous population set of differential evolution (DE) algorithm. This enables to solve the discrete optimization problem of finding the defective elements in antenna arrays. Instead of considering the conventionally used single pattern, the degraded dual-beam patterns of TMA are utilized to enhance the convergence speed in detecting the faulty elements. Finally, a phasor matrix that stores the phasor components of the array factor is defined for the fast computation of error-free and failed array factors. Through rigorous simulation results, it is shown that the combination of the two-the RBP-based DE (DE-RBP) and fast computation of array factor-are more efficient in diagnosing faulty elements in multipattern TMA. This brings forth higher convergence speed, improved success rate, and less computation time than the previously reported methods.