Novel AoA estimation method using delay profile in downlink

In LTE (Long Term Evolution) or LTE-Advanced, MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) techniques have the potential to realize high throughput. In order to design and evaluate MIMO system, it is necessary to clarify the space-time path model at mobile station. By clarifying the propagation structure from AoA (angle-of-arrival) estimation it is possible to estimate the performance of MIMO system based on the real environment. AoA estimation accuracy is deteriorated by the constraint of the degree of freedom of the array antenna in multipath environment due to the increase in the incident wave. Therefore, we propose the method to separate each incident wave using the delay profile estimation and apply to the AoA estimation. Since AoA estimation is performed for each separate path, it is possible to overcome the constraint of the degree of freedom of the array antenna. As a result, it is expected to improve the estimation accuracy. The effectiveness of the proposed method is proved by computer simulation.