Central Force Optimization with Gravity < 0, Elitism, and Dynamic Threshold Optimization: An Antenna Application, 6-Element Yagi-Uda Arrays

This paper investigates the effect of adding three extensions to Central Force Optimization when it is used as the Global Search and Optimization method for the design and optimization of 6-elementYagi-Uda arrays. Those extensions are Negative Gravity, Elitism, and Dynamic Threshold Optimization. The basic CFO heuristic does not include any of these, but adding them substantially improves the algorithm’s performance. This paper extends the work reported in a previous paper that considered only negative gravity and which showed a significant performance improvement over a range of optimized arrays. Still better results are obtained by adding to the mix Elitism and DTO. An overall improvement in best fitness of 19.16% is achieved by doing so. While the work reported here was limited to the design/optimization of 6- element Yagis, the reasonable inference based on these data is that any antenna design/optimization problem, indeed any Global Search and Optimization problem, antenna or not, utilizing Central Force Optimization as the Global Search and Optimization engine will benefit by including all three extensions, probably substantially.