Method of direction estimation for noncircular signals via decoupled optimization

Abstract

The disclosure presents a method that estimates the arrival angles of noncircular signals incident on a sensor array based on the ML principle. The complex multidimensional problem according to the ML is transformed into a series of simple problems through the separation of one from the superimposed signals, which leads to the optimization of the function of the two-variable θ and ϕ associated with, respectively, the direction and the initial phase of the separated signal. The optimum value of ϕ is theoretically solved. Then the arrival angle of the separated signal is efficiently estimated through a simple 1-D search with respect to θ. Such an optimization process, updating signal separations, is iterated until the direction estimates converge. The proposed method can be applied also in the presence of Doppler effect.

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