Near-field source localisation using a velocity sensor array

This study presents a new algorithm for near-field source localisation by using a uniform linear array consisting of velocity-sensor pairs (VSPs). Two schemes are used for range and direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in the proposed algorithm. The first one exploits the acoustic velocity vector field´s two Cartesian components and the triangular location relationship among the near-field sources and the VSPs. The resulting range and DOA estimates are ambiguity-free, regardless of the inter-sensor spacing. Whereas the second scheme uses the so-called electric angles to determine the ranges and DOAs. Although the derived estimates may be ambiguous in the case of the inter-sensor spacing larger than a quarter wavelength, this ambiguity can be removed by using the estimates obtained in the first scheme. Therefore the proposed algorithm can offer high estimation accuracy by increasing inter-sensor spacing (because of array aperture extension). In addition, the proposed algorithm does not require multidimensional search, pairing parameters or high-order statistics, hence, has a low computational complexity.