Direction finding of multiple targets using coprime array in MIMO radar

Abstract

We propose a novel direction finding algorithm by exploiting a coprime array configured at the receiver of a transmit-diversity multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radar system. The algorithm uses the inter-difference set of virtual sensor positions incoprime array to construct an observation vector which behaves like a data vector obtained from a uniform linear array (ULA). Then the forward-backward spatial smoothing and shift-invariance techniques are combined to effectively estimate the angles of multiple targets. The maximum number of identifiable targets is analyzed. Compared with conventional ULA-based algorithm in MIMO radars, the proposed algorithm can achieve larger array aperture and higher spatial resolution.