A More Efficient AOA Method for 2D and 3D Direction Estimation with Arbitrary Antenna Array Geometry

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is currently an active research topic in array signal processing applications. Thus, a more efficient method with better accuracy than the current subspace angle of arrival (AOA) methods is proposed in this paper. The proposed method is called subtracting signal subspace (SSS), which exploits the orthogonality between the signal subspace (SS) and the array manifold vector (AMV). A novel approach applied to the pseudospectrum extracts the correct peaks and removes the sidelobes perfectly. The principle working of the proposed algorithm is given and mathematical model derived. The computational burden of the new method is also presented and compared with other methods. The SSS algorithm is implemented with both linear and planar antenna arrays. An intensive Monte Carlo simulation is conducted and compared with other popular AOA methods to verify the effectiveness of the SSS algorithm.