Two-dimensional angle-of-arrival estimation for uniform planar arrays with sensor position errors

The one-dimensional bearing estimation problem of linearly periodic arrays with sensor position errors has been tackled by the Toeplitz approximation method (TAM), iterative TAM, modified TAM, and iterative MTAM without calibrating the sensor positions. The paper extends these methods to the two-dimensional situation using a uniform planar array with sensor position errors to estimate the 2-D angle-of-arrivals (AOAs), azimuth and elevation angles of the emitting sources. Based on the block Toeplitz property and eigenstructure of the ideal covariance matrix observed by the unperturbed array, the authors extend the methods to alleviate the effect caused by the random perturbations in sensor position. The Music algorithm incorporating a 2-D AOA searching is applied for bearing estimation. Further, the 1-D processing approach presented earlier for solving the 2-D AOA estimation problem can also be applied to reduce the computational burden of 2-D AOA searching