Sparse Array Configurations for DOA Estimation of Non-Circular Sources: A Review

In this paper, a comprehensive review is carried out of existing sparse arrays for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of non-circular sources. We know that for DOA estimation of non-circular sources like binary phase shift keying (BPSK) or pulse amplitude modulation (PAM), we can explore the sum difference coarray (SDCA) of the array when the spatial smoothing MUltiple SIgnal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm is applied. There are a number of sparse arrays exist in the literature for this purpose. Here, the properties of each of these arrays are discussed with its merits and demerits. Different assessment parameters of the arrays like the degrees of freedom (DOF), mutual coupling, and estimation accuracy are looked into in the simulations, where we compare the performance of the arrays.