Conjugate ESPRIT for DOA estimation in monostatic MIMO radar

In this paper, a novel conjugate ESPRIT (C-ESPRIT) method for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation in monostatic MIMO radar is proposed. Firstly, a reduced-dimensional matrix is employed to transform the data matrix into a low dimensional space. Then the properties of noncircular signals are utilized to construct a new virtual array, whose elements are twice that of the monostatic MIMO radar virtual array with distinct elements. The rotational invariance properties of the new virtual array are figured out to estimate DOA through ESPRIT. Compared with the reduced-dimensional ESPRIT (RD-ESPRIT), the proposed method improves the angular estimation accuracy significantly and detects more targets. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.