Lightweight Deep Learning for AoA-Based 5G Multi-Source Localization in Low SNR Conditions

In future mobile networks, the demand for real-time, accurate localization of multiple signal sources is paramount, but the facilities are often resource-constrained and the deploying environments are complex. In this context, we present a lightweight deep neural network in this work, which is tailored for multi-source angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation under low signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) conditions. The network employs mobile inverted bottleneck convolution (MBConv), known for its enhanced feature extraction capabilities and resilience to noise. By leveraging a scale attention mechanism, we effectively integrate the outputs of each layer without the need for neural architecture search. Trained on multi-channel data under low SNR, the network formulates angle estimation as a multi-label classification task. Experimental results confirm that, the proposed network demonstrates superior accuracy in extreme noise conditions and with limited snapshots, outperforming existing methodologies in multi-source scenarios.