Radar Angle of Arrival System Design Optimization Using a Genetic Algorithm

Abstract

An approach for using a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to select radar design parameters related to beamforming and angle of arrival estimation is presented in this article. This was accomplished by first developing a simulator that could evaluate the localization performance with a given set of design parameters. The simulator output was utilized as part of the GA objective function that searched the solution space for an optimal set of design parameters. Using this approach, the authors were able to more than halve the mean squared error in degrees of the localization algorithm versus a radar design using human-selected design parameters. The results of this study indicate that this kind of approach can be used to aid in the development of an actual radar design.

Localization of a Mobile Device with Sensor Using a Cascade Artificial Neural Network-Based Fingerprint Algorithm

“…The simulator output was used as a part of the GA objective function investigating the range of solutions for optimal design parameters. By means of this approach, the quadratic error obtained by the radar design using the parameters selected by a human was decreased by half with the proposed localization algorithm [20]. Gholami et al proposed an ANN-based structure to minimize location error in real environments.…”

“…In a 200 × 300 m 2 test area, the location of a mobile node was determined at a 95% confidence interval. The accuracy and effectiveness of the results obtained were compared to those of the trilateration algorithm, and successful results were obtained [21]. Tuncer et al developed an ANN model to determine the location of a mobile phone in an indoor environment.…”

Radar and Radio Signal Processing

“…In the category of radar design and optimization, Egger et al investigated genetic algorithms to aid in the radar design of a multi-beam angle of arrival estimation system [3]. By utilizing properties of Sodoku puzzles, Bufler et al developed novel waveforms with desirable ambiguity functions and developed methods for antenna array interleaving, thinning, and random element spacing [4].…”

“…Two papers were selected as feature papers for the special issue: "Radar Angle of Arrival System Design Optimization Using a Genetic Algorithm" by Egger et al [3] and "Knowledge-Aided Covariance Matrix Estimation in Spiky Radar Clutter Environments" by Bang et al [6].…”

“…This special issue [2] has eight papers covering a diversity of categories in radar signal processing, including three papers on radar optimization and system design [3][4][5], one paper on parameter estimation [6], three papers in the area of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and inverse SAR (ISAR) processing [7][8][9], and one paper on harmonic radar [10].…”