Super Nested Sparse Circular Array for High Resolution DOA Estimation

Abstract

In this paper, a super nested sparse circular array (S-NSCA) is presented for high resolution direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. The proposed array configuration has all the properties of nested sparse circular array (NSCA) while yielding the sparsest possible array configuration similar to super nested arrays. For a fixed number of sensors, the proposed array has the same physical aperture and degrees of freedom as nested sparse circular array. However, it considerably reduces number of sensor pairs with small inter-sensor spacing which significantly improves DOA estimation resolution. Numerical simulations demonstrate the the effectiveness of the proposed array.