DOA estimation method of spatial spectrum product for distributed coprime linear array

Coprime array is a sparse array composed of two uniform linear arrays with different spacing. When the two subarrays are in a non-coherent distributed configuration, the direction of arrival (DOA) method based on the covariance analysis of the complete coprime array is no longer effective. According to the essential attribute that the distance between the elements of two subarrays can eliminate the angle ambiguity, based on the mathematical derivation, a spatial spectral product DOA estimation method for incoherent distributed coprime arrays is proposed. Firstly, the spatial spectrum of each subarray is calculated by using the snapshot data of each subarray, and then the DOA estimation is realized by multiplying the spatial spectrum of each subarray. The simulation results show that the estimation accuracy and angle resolution of the present method are better than those of the traditional ambiguity resolution methods, and the estimation performance is good in the mutual coupling and low SNR environment, with the good adaptability and stability. Moreover, by using the flexibility of distributed array, the matching error is effectively solved through the rotation angle. © 2021 Journal of Northwestern Polytechnical University.