An improved MUSIC algorithm for angular superresolution in scanning antenna

Angular resolution of real aperture radar is limited by antenna beam width. Because of the constraints of antenna size and other physical factors, it is difficult to obtain high azimuth resolution. In this paper, angular superresolution method in array signal processing is applied to scanning antenna model, and an extension and improvement of the well-known Multiple Signal Classification (MUSIC) algorithm is proposed when a real beam scanning antenna is used. Different from the classical MUSIC algorithm, the new method is realized in the framework of beamforming, which is not based on subspace decomposition and the number of sources is hence not required for direction finding. This enables us to avoid performance deterioration caused by incorrect source number estimation. To verify the theoretical analysis, computer simulations are implemented and comparisons with other algorithms are made.