The most representative composite rank ordering of multi-attribute objects by the particle swarm optimization

Rank-ordering of individuals or objects on multiple criteria has many important practical applications. A reasonably representative composite rank ordering of multi-attribute objects/individuals or multi-dimensional points is often obtained by the Principal Component Analysis, although much inferior but computationally convenient methods also are frequently used. However, such rank ordering – even the one based on the Principal Component Analysis – may not be optimal. This has been demonstrated by several numerical examples. To solve this problem, the Ordinal Principal Component Analysis was suggested some time back. However, this approach cannot deal with various types of alternative schemes of rank ordering, mainly due to its dependence on the method of solution by the constrained integer programming. In this paper we propose an alternative method of solution, namely by the Particle Swarm Optimization. A computer program in FORTRAN to solve the problem has also been provided. The suggested method is notably versatile and can take care of various schemes of rank ordering, norms and types or measures of correlation. The versatility of the method and its capability to obtain the most representative composite rank ordering of multi-attribute objects or multi-dimensional points have been demonstrated by several numerical examples. It has also been found that rank ordering based on maximization of the sum of absolute values of the correlation coefficients of composite rank scores with its constituent variables has robustness, but it may have multiple optimal solutions. Thus, while it solves the one problem, it gives rise to the other problem. The overall ranking of objects by maximin correlation principle performs better if the composite rank scores are obtained by direct optimization with respect to the individual ranking scores.Rank ordering, standard; modified; competition; fractional; dense; ordinal; principal component; integer programming; repulsive particle swarm; maximin; absolute; correlation; FORTRAN; program

Orthogonal learning particle swarm optimization

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) relies on its learning strategy to guide its search direction. Traditionally, each particle utilizes its historical best experience and its neighborhood’s best experience through linear summation. Such a learning strategy is easy to use, but is inefficient when searching in complex problem spaces. Hence, designing learning strategies that can utilize previous search information (experience) more efficiently has become one of the most salient and active PSO research topics. In this paper, we proposes an orthogonal learning (OL) strategy for PSO to discover more useful information that lies in the above two experiences via orthogonal experimental design. We name this PSO as orthogonal learning particle swarm optimization (OLPSO). The OL strategy can guide particles to fly in better directions by constructing a much promising and efficient exemplar. The OL strategy can be applied to PSO with any topological structure. In this paper, it is applied to both global and local versions of PSO, yielding the OLPSO-G and OLPSOL algorithms, respectively. This new learning strategy and the new algorithms are tested on a set of 16 benchmark functions, and are compared with other PSO algorithms and some state of the art evolutionary algorithms. The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed learning strategy and algorithms. The comparisons show that OLPSO significantly improves the performance of PSO, offering faster global convergence, higher solution quality, and stronger robustness

Radiation pattern reconfigurable fm antenna

In this work, a radiation pattern reconfigurable antenna design using compact printed spiral monopoles that operates at 102 MHz is reported. The proposed antenna changes its radiation behaviour that responds towards a desired direction with the use of RF switches. The antenna is printed on a 76.6mm × 50mm PCB layer providing more than 20MHz bandwidth at -10 dB threshold and is easily fabricated with low manufacturing cost. The antenna was also simulated on 500mm × 500mm ground plane that represents the roof top of a vehicl