Performance analysis of a novel antenna array calibration approach for direction finding systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of the direction of arrival (DoA) estimation in the presence of an uncalibrated array, i.e. when phase offset, carrier frequency offset and phase noise occur among the array signals. The method that we propose consists in the use of a particular antenna array that comprises the elements for the DoA estimation and a common antenna that is shared with a splitter among the receivers. The signal that impinges on the common antenna is acquired by every receiver and allows the estimation of the phase ambiguity. After the calibration step is performed, analogue switches select the array elements for the DoA estimation. A method that enables the phase ambiguity estimation is presented, and several simulated performance results are illustrated. Furthermore, we show the effect on calibration due to the presence of different carrier frequency offsets among the receivers and propose an approach for their compensation. The presence of phase noise is also considered and its effect is analysed.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.