Optimal Array Geometric Structures for Direct Position Determination Systems

Abstract

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) fifth-generation (5G) and beyond 5G localization enables the provisioning of extremely accurate positioning information, a feature that has attracted substantial research efforts. In this paper, we contribute to this effort by exploring optimal array geometric structures of direct position determination (DPD) systems, inspired by sensor placement problems that predominantly focus on two-step localization and have not yet been extended to DPD. Specifically, we research an optimal array placement and orientation strategy for two-dimensional (2-D) DPD systems that use sensors equipped with uniform linear arrays (ULA) to localize an agent. The A-optimality criterion in Bayesian optimal (experimental) design theory is invoked to formulate this problem. We use an optimization subproblem that optimizes array orientations when array locations are arbitrary but fixed to tackle this high-dimensional optimization problem. Then the optimization problem is converted into a typical optimal angular separation problem in two-step localization. Experimental results show that judiciously designed array geometric structures can lead to significant performance improvements.