Sparse RF Lens Antenna Array Design for AoA Estimation in Wideband Systems: Placement Optimization and Performance Analysis

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel sparse lens antenna array architecture with an optimized placement and a max-energy selection algorithm, enabling efficient AoA estimation in wideband 5G V2X systems with limited hardware.

Contribution

It proposes a new reconfigurable antenna array design and a max-energy selection algorithm for improved AoA estimation in wideband systems, reducing hardware complexity.

Findings

Achieves effective AoA estimation with fewer antennas.

Demonstrates low complexity and hardware cost advantages.

Validates performance through simulations in vehicular environments.

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel architecture for a lens antenna array (LAA) designed to work with a small number of antennas and enable angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation for advanced 5G vehicle-to-everything (V2X) use cases that demand wider bandwidths and higher data rates. We derive a received signal in terms of optical analysis to consider the variability of the focal region for different carrier frequencies in a wideband multi-carrier system. By taking full advantage of the beam squint effect for multiple pilot signals with different frequencies, we propose a novel reconfiguration of antenna array (RAA) for the sparse LAA and a max-energy antenna selection (MS) algorithm for the AoA estimation. In addition, this paper presents an analysis of the received power at the single antenna with the maximum energy and compares it to simulation results. In contrast to previous studies on LAA that assumed a large number of antennas, which can require high complexity and hardware costs, the proposed RAA with MS estimation algorithm is shown meets the requirements of 5G V2X in a vehicular environment while utilizing limited RF hardware and has low complexity.