Angle Estimation of a Single Source with Massive Uniform Circular Arrays

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple, real-time 2D DOA estimation method for single sources using massive uniform circular arrays, capable of estimating azimuth and elevation angles with robustness to noise.

Contribution

A novel 2D DOA estimation technique for single sources with massive UCAs that is computationally simple and effective for real-time applications.

Findings

Accurate azimuth and elevation angle estimates demonstrated.

Method remains effective under nonuniform noise conditions.

Estimates serve as initial points for higher-accuracy multidimensional searches.

Abstract

Estimating the directions of arrival (DOAs) of incoming plane waves is an essential topic in array signal processing. Widely adopted uniform linear arrays can only provide estimates of source azimuth. Thus, uniform circular arrays (UCAs) are attractive in that they can provide $360^{\circ}$ azimuthal coverage and additional elevation angle information. Considering that with a massive UCA, its polar angles of array sensors can approximately represent azimuth angles over $360^{\circ}$ using angle quantization, a simple two-dimensional DOA estimation method for a single source is proposed. In this method, the quantized azimuth angle estimate is obtained by only calculating and comparing a number of covariances, based on which the elevation angle estimate is then obtained by an explicit formula. Thus, the proposed method is computationally simple and suitable for real-time signal processing. Numerical results verify that the proposed method can obtain azimuth as well as elevation angle estimates and the estimates can be used as starting points of multidimensional searches for methods with higher accuracy. Additionally, the proposed method can still work in the presence of nonuniform noise.