A Multi-Source DOA Estimation Algorithm for UAV Coordinate Systems

Multi-source direction of arrival (DOA) estimation based on mobile platforms draws much attention for its extensive practical applications, among which that unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform is particularly valuable. To ensure the precision and spatial resolution, multi-source DOA estimation always relies on large-scaled antenna arrays. With the rapid development of UAV and its coordinate technology, high-accuracy multi-source DOA estimation based on UAV coordinate system becomes possible. However, due to all kinds of external disturbances, multi-source DOA estimation for the UAV coordinate system suffers the random UAV unit positions and pointing directions, and there is always unknown phase error between adjacent units. To handle these problems, a Fourth-order Cumulant (FoC) based DOA Matrix algorithm is proposed. A DOA Matrix is constructed by FoCs using the received signals, and its eigenvectors are used to acquire the manifold of the entire array, which can be used to solve the implied DOAs. The simulation results verify the availability of the proposed algorithm in the UAV coordinate system, while the traditional DOA estimation methods are disabled. Meanwhile, it gets at least the similar estimation performance as the traditional methods in their own ideal conditions.