存在互耦误差时的圆台共形阵列DOA估计

Abstract

When mutual coupling error exists in the sensor array, the ideal steering vector differs from the actual steering vector, leading to degradation of the performance of some eigenstructure-based direction-finding methods. According to the truncated cone conformal array (TCCA) and on the premise of mutual coupling matrix (MCM) having a complex symmetric structure in this paper, we deduces the MCM model of TCCA by detailed analysis of its mutual coupling characteristics. We establish two models of mutual coupling error calibration, and realize the DOA estimation in the presence of mutual coupling by applying the multidimensional joint iteration method to these two models respectively. The correlation between the estimated steering vector and the actual steering vector becomes more closely, and these two proposed methods have an advantage of low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold. Theoretical analysis and extensive simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods, and results of this paper can provide a reference for the engineering applications of conformal arrays.