Analysis and Design of (non-)Isotropic Arrays for 3D Direction Finding

A simple Cramer-Rao bound on the estimation, using an array of sensors, of the azimuth and elevation angles of a radiating source has been developed recently. It is used here to develop a methodology to design ambiguity-free antenna arrays with a desired directive positioning performance. To reduce the number of the design parameters, a family of V-shaped arrays is investigated. Its gain and directivity (compared to the most commonly used uniform circular array) are defined and analytically computed as a function of the angle between the two branches of the V-shape. We obtain a class of antenna arrays whose performance and directivity can be adapted to the specified application