Design methods for ULA-based directional antenna arrays by shaping the Cramér-Rao bound functions

This study focuses on the design methods for uniform linear array (ULA) based directional antenna arrays by optimising the radiation characteristics of elements. To improve the performance of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation in a predetermined objective spatial sector which includes all the potential directions of incidence, Cramer–Rao bound based optimisation models are established by utilising the least squares fitting technique. Besides, a modified simulated annealing (SA) algorithm with the iteration of parameters is proposed, aiming to solve the optimisation problems when the classic SA is invalid. Compared with the corresponding conventional ULA, an optimised array can obtain higher accuracy of DOA estimation in the objective spatial sector with little fluctuation. Additionally, the optimised design of radiation characteristics can also suppress the ambiguities, and remains effective for the arrays with different aperture. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed methods and the superiority of the optimised arrays.

[1]  D.E.N. Davies,et al.  Effect of directional elements on the directional response of circular antenna arrays , 1982 .

[2]  Qing Huo Liu,et al.  Resolving ambiguities in DOA estimation by optimizing the element orientations , 2013, 2013 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium (APSURSI).

[3]  Thomas Kailath,et al.  ESPRIT-estimation of signal parameters via rotational invariance techniques , 1989, IEEE Trans. Acoust. Speech Signal Process..

[4]  P. P. Vaidyanathan,et al.  Super Nested Arrays: Linear Sparse Arrays With Reduced Mutual Coupling—Part I: Fundamentals , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[5]  Petre Stoica,et al.  MUSIC, maximum likelihood, and Cramer-Rao bound , 1989, IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing.

[6]  P. P. Vaidyanathan,et al.  Nested Arrays: A Novel Approach to Array Processing With Enhanced Degrees of Freedom , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[7]  Sérgio M. Jesus,et al.  Improved direction finding using a maneuverable array of directional sensors , 2015, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP).

[8]  Shing-Chow Chan,et al.  Frequency Invariant Uniform Concentric Circular Arrays with Directional Elements , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems.

[9]  J.F. Bohme,et al.  Direction of arrival estimation in uniform circular arrays composed of directional elements , 2002, Sensor Array and Multichannel Signal Processing Workshop Proceedings, 2002.

[10]  Sreeraman Rajan,et al.  Direction of Arrival Estimation Using Directive Antennas in Uniform Circular Arrays , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[11]  C. D. Gelatt,et al.  Optimization by Simulated Annealing , 1983, Science.

[12]  Houcem Gazzah,et al.  Optimum Ambiguity-Free Directional and Omnidirectional Planar Antenna Arrays for DOA Estimation , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[13]  Petre Stoica,et al.  Maximum likelihood methods for direction-of-arrival estimation , 1990, IEEE Trans. Acoust. Speech Signal Process..

[14]  Zaiping Nie,et al.  Resolving Manifold Ambiguities for Sparse Array Using Planar Substrates , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[15]  S. Gazor,et al.  On Proper Antenna Pattern for a Simple Source Detection and Localization System , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

[16]  Cheng Chang,et al.  Fast direction finding algorithm for circular array based on directional antenna , 2012, The 2012 International Workshop on Microwave and Millimeter Wave Circuits and System Technology.

[17]  Yimin Zhang,et al.  Generalized Coprime Array Configurations for Direction-of-Arrival Estimation , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[18]  Petre Stoica,et al.  MUSIC, maximum likelihood, and Cramer-Rao bound: further results and comparisons , 1990, IEEE Trans. Acoust. Speech Signal Process..

[19]  Alex B. Gershman,et al.  Sparse Array Design for Azimuthal Direction-of-Arrival Estimation , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[20]  Rahmat Sanudin,et al.  Analysis of DOA estimation for directional and isotropic antenna arrays , 2011, 2011 Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference.

[21]  R. O. Schmidt,et al.  Multiple emitter location and signal Parameter estimation , 1986 .

[22]  Houcem Gazzah,et al.  Cramer-Rao bounds for antenna array design , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing.

[23]  Rahmat Sanudin,et al.  Capon-like DOA estimation algorithm for directional antenna arrays , 2011, 2011 Loughborough Antennas & Propagation Conference.

[24]  Randolph L. Moses,et al.  On the geometry of isotropic arrays , 2003, IEEE Trans. Signal Process..

[25]  Pierre Comon,et al.  Tensor DoA Estimation With Directional Elements , 2017, IEEE Signal Processing Letters.