A novel calibration algorithm with auxiliary signal source for sensor array errors

The presence of sensor array errors due to mutual coupling and channel mismatch among array sensors severely degrades the performance of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation algorithms. This paper proposes a novel sensor array errors calibration algorithm based on iterative least squares with projection (ILSP) algorithm, which suits for arbitrary array and only needs one auxiliary signal source. This algorithm firstly estimates the true steering vector by using ILSP, then estimates the sensor array errors by solving the equation between the nominal steering vector and the true steering vector. Comparative computer simulation results are presented to illustrate that the proposed algorithm still has lower computational complexity and higher calibration accuracy on the condition of less snapshots and minor DOA intervals of different sampling time.