2D-DOA Estimation in Arc-Array with a DNN Based Covariance Matrix Completion Strategy

Two-dimensional direction of arrival (2D-DOA) estimation, or estimating the azimuth and elevation angles of sources simultaneously, is an increasingly important area in array signal processing. This paper presents a 2D-DOA algorithm together with a novel structure of array named Arc-Array (ArcA). The ArcA is enlarged to a virtual Uniform Circular Array (UCA) through a Deep-Neural-Network (DNN) based covariance matrix completion strategy; afterward, the MUSIC algorithm is performed with the completed covariance matrix. The proposed method is named as ArcA-DNN, and the performance of ArcA-DNN is evaluated by computer simulations. The simulation results indicate that the performance of 2D-DOA estimation in ArcA is able to approach that of a complete UCA; meanwhile, the number of physical elements is substantially reduced compared to the UCA. Moreover, the proposed ArcA-DNN algorithm gives access to implementing underdetermined 2D-DOA estimation with reasonable results.