Novel Sparse Array Design Based on the Maximum Inter-Element Spacing Criterion

• Published in: IEEE signal processing letters Vol. 29; pp. 1754 - 1758
• Main Authors: Shi, Wanlu, Li, Yingsong, de Lamare, Rodrigo C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 2022; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Constraints; Couplings; Covariance matrices; Criteria; direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation; Fitting; Floors; Linear arrays; maximum inter-element spacing constraint; Mutual coupling; Sensor arrays; Signal to noise ratio; sparse array (SA); Uniform degrees of freedom; Weighting functions
• ISSN: 1070-9908; 1558-2361
• DOI: 10.1109/LSP.2022.3194814

A novel sparse array (SA) structure is proposed based on the maximum inter-element spacing (IES) constraint (MISC) criterion. Compared with the traditional MISC array, the proposed SA configurations, termed as improved MISC (IMISC) has significantly increased uniform degrees of freedom (uDOF) and reduced mutual coupling. In particular, the IMISC arrays are composed of six uniform linear arrays (ULAs), which can be determined by an IES set. The IES set is constrained by two parameters, namely the maximum IES and the number of sensors. The uDOF of the IMISC arrays is derived and the weight function of the IMISC arrays is analyzed as well. The proposed IMISC arrays have a great advantage in terms of uDOF against the existing SAs, while their mutual coupling remains at a low level. Simulations are carried out to demonstrate the advantages of the IMISC arrays.