The number of elements in a nonplanar antenna array, their respective farfield radiation patterns, the relative spacing between the elements, and the signal processing approach determine the angle-of-arrival (AOA) estimation performance for a direction finding (DF) system. Designing an airborne DF system becomes challenging as the wavelengths of the signals of interest become large with respect to the host aircraft. Given an ensemble of structurally integrated (SI) antennas designed using a discrete number of feed points, this paper presents an analysis of AOA estimation as a function of the number of SI feed elements and their respective locations on a large, three-dimensional aircraft model at HF (2-32 MHz). Empirical results for AOA estimation errors versus the number and physical location of feed points are presented using the maximum likelihood method estimator for 4 and 11 MHz signals of interest.

Date Published: 23 May 2013
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 8745, Signal Processing, Sensor Fusion, and Target Recognition XXII, 87451H (23 May 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2016149

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8745:
Signal Processing, Sensor Fusion, and Target Recognition XXII
Ivan Kadar, Editor(s)