Spherical ESPRIT-based 2-D direction finding with different distributions of a spherical array antenna

Some of the basic applications to benefit from the omni-directional beam steering capabilities of spherical array antennas are to be found in LEO satellite communications. Various direction finding methods can be applied using a spherical array antenna in order to estimate the direction of a signal and locate the satellite. The spherical ESPRIT algorithm is one of the main DOA estimation algorithms used with spherical arrays. It is based on the spherical phase mode excitation and it can estimate the elevation and azimuth direction angles of a wave incident on the spherical array. In this paper, the spherical ESPRIT algorithm is applied to three different distributions of a spherical array antenna (t-design distribution, the Leopardi´s algorithm distribution and the spiral distribution), demonstrating low computational complexity. The simulated ESPRIT performances for the three distributions are presented, compared and discussed.