DOA Estimation for ULA Systems from Short Data Snapshots: An Annihilating Filter Approach

In this paper we derive a new method of DOA estimation for ULA configurations using the annihilating filter technique. The new method is non-data-aided (NDA) and does not therefore impinge on the whole throughput of the system. The noise components are assumed spatially and temporally white. The transmitted signals are also assumed to be temporally and spatially white (across the transmitting sources). The new method is compared in performance to the root-MUSIC algorithm, a powerful DOA estimation technique for ULA configurations. Simulations will show that the new method performs well over a wide SNR range. The main advantage of the new method is that it succeeds in accurately estimating the DOAs for fast moving sources or for short data snapshots, and even from a single snapshot where the root-MUSIC method fails completely.