Novel application of FO-DPSO for 2-D parameter estimation of electromagnetic plane waves

Parameter estimation of plane waves emitted by sources lying in Fraunhofer zone is one of the active areas of research for last few decades. In this study, Fractional Order Darwinian Particle Swarm Optimization (FO-DPSO) algorithm is designed for direction of arrival and amplitude estimation of plane waves impinging on uniform linear array representing the scenario of monostatic Multiple Input and Multiple Output (MIMO) radar. Approximation theory in the mean square error sense is exploited to develop a fitness function of the problem. Design parameters of the system model are optimized by utilizing the strength of the FO-DPSO algorithm in case of various numbers of non-coherent sources, and analysis is performed in terms of fitness, mean square error, Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency, and computational complexity operators. Worth of the proposed FO-DPSO based optimization mechanism is established by consistently achieving the near to optimal values of performance metrics in all three scenarios for monostatic MIMO radar systems.