Angle finding for a detector having a paired staggered array

A method of operating a detector device, the device including a processor and an array of receiver antennas arranged in one dimension, the array including a plurality of first receiver antennas and a plurality of second receiver antennas, the first receiver antennas respectively having one of the second receiver antennas between the first receiver antenna and an adjacent one of the first receiver antennas, the first receiver antennas respectively being spaced from the one of the second receiver antennas by a first distance d1 in the one dimension, the one of the second receiver antennas respectively being spaced from the adjacent one of the first receiver antennas by a second distance d2 in the one dimension that is larger than the first distance, the first receiver antennas being spaced from each other in the one dimension by a third distance d1+d2 that is a sum of the first and second distance, the second receiver antennas being spaced from each other by the third distance, the method comprising:

• determining a plurality of first estimates of an angle of detection from the plurality of first receiver antennas;
• determining a second plurality of estimates of the angle of detection from the plurality of second receiver antennas;
• identifying which one of the first estimates is closest in value to one of the second estimates;
• and
• determining the angle of detection from at least one of the identified one of the first estimates and the identified one of the second estimates.

A detector device, comprising:

• an array of detectors arranged in one dimension, the array including a plurality of first detectors and a plurality of second detectors, the first detectors respectively having one of the second detectors between the first detector and an adjacent one of the first detectors, the first detectors respectively being spaced from the one of the second detectors by a first distance d1, the one of the second detectors respectively being spaced from the adjacent one of the first detectors by a second distance d2 that is larger than the first distance, the first detectors being spaced from each other by a third distance d1+d2 that is a sum of the first and second distance, the second detectors being spaced from each other by the third distance;
• and
• a processor that determines an angle of detection of the device, the processor being configured to:
• treat the array of detectors as a multiple-dimensional array wherein
• the first detectors are in a first dimension with the third distance between the first detectors,
• the second detectors are in a second dimension with the third distance between the second detectors,
• and the first dimension is spaced from the second dimension by the first distance;
• determine a plurality of first detection angle estimates in the first dimension;
• determine a plurality of second detection angle estimates in the second dimension;
• and
• determine the angle of detection from at least one of the first detection angle estimates that corresponds to at least one of the second detection angle estimates.