DOA Estimation Methods and Algorithms

Estimation of direction of arrival (DOA) from data collected by sensor arrays is of fundamental importance to a variety of applications such as radar, sonar, wireless communications, geophysics and biomedical engineering. Significant progress in the development of algorithms has been made over the last three decades. This article provides an overview of DOA estimation methods that are relevant in theory and practice. We will present estimators based on beamforming, subspace and parametric approaches and compare their performance in terms of estimation accuracy, resolution capability and computational complexity. Methods for processing broadband data and signal detection will be discussed as well. Finally, a brief discussion will be given to application specific algorithms.