A comparison of external array self-calibration algorithms using experimental data

Two recently published external array self-calibration algorithms are applied to experimental data obtained using a surveyed 12-element large sparse aperture array operating at 980 MHz. Though the algorithms are similar in that they use iterative methods to attempt to estimate the angle-of-arrival (AOA) of incoming signals with an imperfectly calibrated array, they are formulated quite differently. The performance of these algorithms is evaluated through their ability to reduce spurious peaks in direction finding (DF) spectra and accurately estimate the AOA of an incoming signal.