High Resolution 3-D Angle of Arrival Determination for Indoor UWB Multipath Propagation

• Published in: IEEE transactions on wireless communications Vol. 7; no. 8; pp. 3047 - 3055
• Main Authors: Yongwei Zhang, Brown, A.K., Malik, W.Q., Edwards, D.J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway, NJ IEEE 01.08.2008; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Angle of arrival; Angle of arrival estimation; Antennas; Antennas and propagation; Applied sciences; Arrays; Azimuth; Clustering algorithms; Clusters; Detection, estimation, filtering, equalization, prediction; Elevation; Exact sciences and technology; Frequency dependence; Frequency measurement; Gaussian distribution; High resolution; Indoor environments; Information, signal and communications theory; Laplace equations; multipath scattering; Radiocommunications; Signal and communications theory; Signal, noise; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Ultra wideband antennas; Ultra wideband technology; Ultrawideband; ultrawideband (UWB); unitary ESPRIT; MIMO system; Frequency dependence; Parameter estimation; High resolution; Signal estimation; ultrawideband (UWB); Adaptive antenna arrays; Information rate; Gaussian distribution; Multipath propagation; Two dimensional model; Algorithm; Information transmission; Laplacian; Ultra wide band; multipath scattering; Elevation; Azimuth; Frequency band; Indoor installation; Arrival angle; unitary ESPRIT; Angle of arrival estimation
• ISSN: 1536-1276; 1558-2248
• DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2008.060979

Propagation measurements using a large array are used to study the angle of arrival (AOA) across the ultrawideband (UWB) frequency range of 3.1 to 10.6 GHz. A two-dimensional Unitary ESPRIT algorithm is employed to give a high resolution estimation of AOA including both the azimuth and elevation angles of multipath components. The frequency dependence of AOA is investigated over the UWB frequency band. The multipath rays form clusters in both angular and temporal domains. Within a cluster the azimuth and elevation AOAs are determined to follow Laplacian and Gaussian distributions respectively. In the indoor environment considered, a typical cluster extends over an angular sector of approximately 14 degrees in azimuth and 9 degrees in elevation, with up to 5 clusters observed. We note that these propagation characteristics will allow UWB systems to utilise smart antennas or MIMO structures to improve overall throughput.