Practical Performance of Regular Sparse Array Direction of Arrival Estimation in 1-D

Citation

De Villiers DIL, Louw R, Weideman R, Cuyt A, Knaepkens F & Lee W (2019) Practical Performance of Regular Sparse Array Direction of Arrival Estimation in 1-D. In: 9th IEEE-APS Topical Conference on Antennas and Propagation in Wireless Communications, APWC 2019. IEEE-APS Conference on Antennas and Propagation for Wireless Communications, Granada, Spain, 09.09.2019-13.09.2019. Piscataway, NJ: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. pp. 112-112. https://doi.org/10.1109/APWC.2019.8870566

Abstract
Recently, a new algorithm for robust direction of arrival (DoA) estimation, using regular sparse array antenna systems, was described in [1]. Aliasing (grating lobes) is removed through the use of two sparse arrays - one a shifted version of the other. Minimum spacing between any two elements is not required to be smaller than a half wavelength. The method completely removes the dense Nyquist spacing requirement, allowing improved resolution for a fixed number of sensors and reduced mutual coupling between antenna elements. Because of a shared structured linear system of equations between the two arrays, as a consequence of the shift between the two, the analysis of both is automatically paired, thereby avoiding a computationally expensive matching step as is required in the use of so-called coprime arrays. Furthermore, the method provides an accurate estimate of the number of signals impinging on the system without any prior knowledge, while there is no requirement that the respective signals be uncorrelated. Distinct, fully coherent signals, such as those that occur in a multipath environment, can thus be accurately distinguished. Several examples were presented in [1], investigating both the performance in increasing noise, as well as increasing mutual coupling scenarios. In all of these, the new method performs better than standard techniques on a variety of metrics.

Keywords
Antenna arrays; Direction-of-arrival estimation; Mutual coupling; Calibration; Estimation; Directive antennas; Gratings

Notes
Output Type: Meeting Abstract