Virtual Antenna Array for Minimization of DOA Estimation Systematic Error Caused by Scattering of Incident Waves on Antenna Carrier Body

Abstract

The Direction of Arrival (DOA) estimations of systematic errors are caused by diffraction distortions of the measured spatial structure of a electromagnetic field. These distortions result from scattering of incident waves on the antenna system and nearby scatterers (mobile carrier body, antenna mast, underlying surface, etc.) in wide frequency band, including the resonant frequencies of nearby objects. This article proposes a method for minimizing the DOA estimation systematic error by forming an additional virtual receiving channel—a Virtual Antenna Array (VAA). The VAAs were formed by use of classical apparatus of electrodynamics—the Huygens-Kirchhoff principle, the method of equivalent fields and sources, and the quasistatic approximation of the field based on the theory of analytical functions of the complex variable (Cauchy integral, Laurent series). The proposed method does not require calibration of the antenna system or a priori information about the geometry and material properties of the scatterers (dry or wet soil, opened or closed vehicle doors, etc.). Therefore, it gives good results in cases of mobile and stationary arrays, or changing carrier body geometry.