Localization using iterative angle of arrival method sharing snapshots of coherent subarrays

In this paper, we propose a localization method using iterative angle of arrival (AOA) method sharing snapshots of coherent subarrays. The conventional AOA method is restricted in some applications because array antenna used for receivers requires many antennas to improve localization accuracy. The proposed method improves localization accuracy without increasing elements of antenna arrays, and thus the lower costs and smaller devices are expected. First, we estimate rough location of source with each subarray-small number of antennas-in initial estimation. Then, we configurate virtual arrays by sharing snapshots based on the initial AOAs, estimate again with virtual arrays-large number of antennas-in update estimation, and update the location iteratively. Simulation results show that the localization accuracy of the proposed method is better than that of the conventional method using the same number of antennas if the appropriate virtual arrays are configurated and the phase synchronization error between two subarrays is smaller than 0.14 of a wavelength.