A Low-Complexity DOA Estimation Algorithm for Distributed Source Localization

As a key aspect of radio monitoring and positioning, direction of arrival (DOA) techniques have been widely used in wireless communications, radar detection, and radio astronomy. DOA estimation can be used to locate a source in space and provide technical support for signal enhancement. However, in complex electromagnetic environments, distributed source models have high complexity; thus, the existing DOA estimation algorithms for distributed sources cannot adapt to application scenarios that require high real-time performance. This letter derives a low-complexity distributed source model and proposes a novel DOA estimation algorithm based on the minimum variance distortionless response criterion. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is superior to some other algorithms in terms of parameter estimation accuracy and source resolution for distributed sources.