Proposed Method for Estimating the Number of Sources Arranged in Linear Array via Correlation Analysis

Abstract

For the wireless communication system based on an array antenna with a large number of elements, it is important to accurately estimate the number of signals included in a received signal, because the information for the number of signals is required for determining the minimum number of active elements in the received antenna. [1] Also estimating the number of sources received by an antenna array have been well known and investigated since the starting of array signal processing. Accurate estimation of such parameter is critical in many applications that involve prior knowledge of the number of received signals and array signal processing, also they are important in phased array radar, brain imaging, speech signal separation, and the direction of arrival (DOA) estimation. [2,3] In this paper, we offer an efficient algorithm for estimating the number of signals in a given range: the beamspace based Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Minimum Description Length (MDL). Through computer simulation, the suggested algorithm's estimation performance is assessed and examined.