Machine-coded genetic operators and their performances in floating-point genetic algorithms

Machine-coded genetic algorithms (MCGAs) use the byte representation of floating-point numbers which are encoded in the computer memory. Use of the byte alphabet makes classical crossover operators directly applicable in the floating-point genetic algorithms. Since effect of the byte-based mutation operator depends on the location of the mutated byte, the byte-based mutation operator mimics the functionality of its binary counterpart. In this paper, we extend the MCGA by developing new type of byte-based genetic operators including a random mutation and a random dynamic mutation operator. We perform a simulation study to compare the performances of the byte-based operators with the classical FPGA operators using a set of test functions. The prepared software package, which is freely available for downloading, is used for the simulations. It is shown that the byte-based genetic search obtains precise results by carrying out the both exploration and exploitation tasks by discovering new fields of the search space and performing a local fine-tuning. It is also shown that the introduced byte-based operators improve the search capabilities of FPGAs by means of convergence rate and precision even if the decision variables are in larger domains.