DOA estimation algorithm for conical conformal array antenna

The pattern of every element in conformal array has a different direction because of the curvature of conformal carrier, which results in polarization diversity of conformal array antenna, therefore polarization parameters and DOA (Direction-Of-Arrival) of incident signals are contained in observations. Consequently it is usually required that the polarization parameters and DOA of incident sources are jointly estimated. A blind DOA estimation method with respect to polarization diversity is proposed on the basis of ESPRIT (Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques) algorithm for conical conformal array antenna, in which three pairs of special subarrays are designed. Azimuth and elevation angles of sources are found without knowing the polarization parameters by decoupling them. Then the CRB (Cramer-Rao Bound) of this method is derived and the validity of this algorithm is confirmed by Monte Carlo computer simulations.