Direction of Arrival Estimation Using a Single Dipole Antenna and a Rotating Metasurface Reflector

Abstract

In this paper, a direction of arrival (DoA) estimation system using a passive metasurface reflector and a single dipole antenna is considered to further simplify the feeding network and control circuit configuration. The proposed method achieves DoA estimation by mechanically changing the radiation patterns and using multiple frequency responses. The numerical analysis of DoA estimation demonstrated that the proposed system achieved the root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 1.76° at the signal-to-noise ratio of 20 dB, which is comparable to the system with a programmable metasurface reflector considering switching diodes. Additionally, even with the estimation angular range set to ± 60° and ± 90°, the deterioration of the RMSE was small, indicating that the proposed method can estimate the DoA over a wider angular range compared to a 7-element array. The correct estimation results were also achieved in the experiments.